Training to Become an Air Gunner
Heroes Remember
Training to Become an Air Gunner
Basic Training. Well, #5 Manning Depot, of course, was just
a sort of a introduction to service. We did all sorts of drill,
even though those of us who were air-minded wondered why
we didn't get a plane the first few days we were there.
It wasn't that way to be, of course. So, a lot of drill, we
did precision, and of course there were the basic, very, very
basic courses in preliminary meteorology and that sort of
thing, but that was to come later on in our, in the more intense
training when we went to our specific trades.
The Specifics: Well, this is where we stared to go into
specifics: Morse code had to take Morse. I'd say engines,
meteorology, principles of flight, and navigation. Navigation
was a big one too. How to dissemble a Browning 303
blindfolded and assemble it again.
Not Meant to be a Pilot
I went to Pre-ITS in Hamilton at ITS, Initial Training School,
and I spent some, month and a half, I think in, in Hamilton.
And then it was #6 ITS, Initial Training School, in Toronto, and
that's where I found out that I was not meant to be a pilot.
So they gave me a couple of weeks leave. I came home on,
on leave and when I went back, I went to Quebec City, #1 AGGTS:
Air Gunners Ground Training School.
Were the Instructors More Serious?
Yes, very much so because they themselves had experienced, of
course, service overseas, and they were very much bent on
making us, if we were to be air gunners, they were very, very
much bent on making us the best air gunners that could possibly
be produced.
Oh, the enthusiasm was the same. We were still air crew. We
were going to be air crew and that was a big thing. It wasn't
that there was such a, a disparaging feeling about ground staff,
but air crew were always considered the elite of the air force,
naturally, and this is the thing to which we aspired
and this is what we wanted. So as long as we
were on the air crew route, we were quite happy.
Following the six weeks in Quebec City, we were posted to Mont-
Joli, that was #9, Bombing and Gunnery School. And that went on
for another, another six weeks. And funnily enough, at the Air
Gunners Ground Training School, I had one day more service than
the guy next to me in seniority. So when we were posted to
Mont-joli, they gave me a Corporal's Rank, acting.
So I was in charge of the particular flight that we had in,
in Mont-Joli. In fact, I have a picture of the, of the group,
our course, and I'm there in the centre, you know, with the arm
out like this, naturally with the, showing my rank, pulling
rank even at that stage.
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