RCAF Duty

Interviewer: After you had resumed your own civil life, events in Europe again overtook you, and World War II broke out. What was your reaction when you realized that the Germans had to be fought all over again? First of all is that we didn't finish the job. There were those in the United States, you know that were very, very, very, very sure that we should have gone further in the First World War. But I think we had had enough of it. But that didn't hinder the recruiting in the Second World War. Every town had a battalion or part of a battalion or company, platoon or, recruited. And ah, it was very high, very high emotionally. Interviewer: What did you do? In the Second World War? Interviewer: Yes, sir. I was recruited for signals in the Second World War and I was offered

Mr. Spear went on to serve his country during the Second World War as an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Thomas Spear

Thomas Spear was born on October 22, 1896 in Alberta. His father was Reverend David Spear, a pioneer missionary in the Northwest Territories. As a youngster, Thomas often accompanied his father travelling in winter by horse and sleigh. When the First World War started, Mr. Spear was living in Emerson, Manitoba working for the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a telegraph operator. In January 1916 he enlisted in the Canadian Signal Corps and in April of that year sailed aboard The Baltic to England. Before heading to the battlefields of France, Mr. Spear was given additional training. One of the things he had to learn was the Continental Code or semaphore, which had a number of different characters from Morse Code. Mr. Spear was one of the first to learn wireless communication and eventually manned a wireless truck near the front.