Enlisting with the RCAF

Heroes Remember

Enlisting with the RCAF

Transcript

I guess, that I kind of was inclined to go for the RCAF principally because I thought it would be a learning curve and maybe a little better than the army in that sense. I got an idea from the corporals and what not, what the army was like and, I sort of decided "Hey, if I'm going to join up, I'll join the RCAF." And at that time you just joined as aircrew, you didn't have a choice of whether you wanted to be a pilot or a navigator or whatever, you joined as air crew. And unfortunately when I did my eye test, I have one eye that's a little shorter- sighted than the other, and so that negated me as a pilot. So I was sent to, the first station I went to was to Winnipeg to the wireless air school there and I can't remember how long, how long we were there. I would say, about four months and then we, then we were shipped to Lethbridge where we went to a bombing and gunnery school outside of Lethbridge. And then we were assigned to, to air crews on the Lockheed Hudsons.

Description

Mr. Wonnacott talks about signing up, and about his early training in Canada.

Eri (Bill) Wonnacott

Eri Wonnacott was born in Edmonton, Alberta on September 16, 1919. He was the oldest of 3 siblings; one sister and two brothers. His family lived through some very rough times during the Depression. He joined the RCAF air crew and became a navigator. He also spent some time as a training officer. After leaving the service, Mr. Wonnacott worked for Lever Brothers and later become a CEO of one of their companies.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:07
Person Interviewed:: Eri (Bill) Wonnacott
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: Bomber Command
Occupation:: Navigator

Language selection

Enlisting with the RCAF

Heroes Remember