OCTOBER m. 1940

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BOMBIN G COMMON WEAL TH

NEARS COMPLETION A T

{HE

'7"AR!;QTTEI°.Y!¥ JFUARPIéN

AND GUNNERY SCHOOL . AIR TRAINING

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‘PAGE NTNE

PLA 1v HARL 0 TTETQWN

(“tnii-‘i- '1i'\i‘ (if 5'"- 5 Bomblﬂl and Gunnery Ichool at the Charlotte town Airport, taken Sept. ‘l. The buildings illllWI .' ll\‘\\Z shit!" “meet-s quarters; 0. R. quarters; N.C.0.'| quart; rs; N.C.0.'s mess; 0. R. quarters; hospital; (‘Jlllr-J] iiHliilli mess; A.l\l.L. teachers; watch office and observation tower: civilian quarters;

;..i;il liiiasi- anil post. office. The airport runways are ghown in the centre background of the picture.

iComp Provides iiilery Facility

w Air

Force

M ii nicipal AirE-rt Develops, In F cw Short Months, Into Huge Establishment For Training Oi Empire Air Gunners

'l - Charlottetown Airport, l‘. lii-iuiirtiiiiiiiit for the duration of the war by the City ' ~ti _l.'lllllIil'_\' 23 of tliis year, has been transferred from

i ‘ airport to a large bombing and gunnery school lliiti~li Uiiiiiiiiiiiivczilth .~\ir 'ilraiiiing‘i’lziii.

t"\.

which was turned over to the

ll." .2: illt‘ Flllllllltfl‘ moiitlis the place ivas a hive of activity

l lraiiliiiia,

li:~ : it ii s :i

ilii)». i‘ iii tiriwt

i rivrt the liiiililiiigs.

tlic runways and many million The '5 of \\'ilii‘ll are taken up by tlie buildings alone, and is i l '.._i~ Zl iii-wiy PIiYWl highway from the city. The airport is

rs :iiiii labourers worked day and night building large Illll erecting 36 biiiiiliiigs and six hangars at the airport. l \\.‘.s ii-it tiiiislittil when the Government took charge but lri- l).t‘li ruslii-il in ortlcr to have it ready for the Royal . .\ii- l-'iiii~i= to occupy this autumn. lt is expected that ‘ ' ‘ iig< \\ ill lie l'(‘i":Kl_\' for occupation within a few weeks and ii ii ‘VIlH 1's iii the R.C..~\.F. are noiv on guard duty at the -. \‘*il~il'llt'l:<lll wurlt will fittisli about Nov. l5.

i anii KiillllPF)‘ school has cost over a million dol- l i‘lll'iti\‘.'1llil lias given ciiiploynieiit to over 700 men while of construction. Many tons of earth were re-

tcet of lunilier

site Consists of 275 acres oi

liinir .1 iiiiX-s from Charlottetown on the Brackley Point Road. l! ‘v iiiii-iirtaiit visitors have visited the airport during the 511."? tnil-i-l-Iiiq ltlis Excellency, The Earl of Athlone, Gover-

nii i. . r il iii tj:iii:iil:i, Colonel, ' " oi Niillilllﬂl Defence and Hon. Tadcuz Brzezinski, LL. 1).,

will ii) Lkinaila.

it'll that lioiild get. in line 1'1! Dominion in

communication. 12. A. Fvsu-r, who was iw the possibilities of iit of on uir field t iin ll1.(‘i"\if‘\\‘ with ell. The interview and the liilayoi" and .»vil tlii- iii-id of and r iibtaiitiiiig the assist- l.‘\‘tl(?l'£11 Goiwsnzcuent in

‘IilQYll airport. in Prince 1 ‘.1 iii i iii-iii: of this conversation

" iinii Pll had the matter l.- :1» .ii- DClLllillliHli. of - ill ()t1.i.vii mid on May ~.. .. ll‘ \\‘.l.\ iilile to report to ill“ MW)‘ oi Cliarlitttcloivn that " rii viii (‘rovcriimciit had m- the establishment ' llllS Province. It d. i'lli the City of ' orii: the Upton .ii adriltlcnal land ‘ ' of it '\.n immediate sail‘- ‘rl i.’ i‘ .= s tc \\'.".< adviscd by e Dominion Department.

Siic Looked For

ail the encouragement _ llli‘ Clil’ Council, on if .1 this information, set to \\ "o oUlQCli s suitable site for

m“ 11K litild. A meeting of the c iinis called on June H, 193B. ‘l1.l'ii(‘l' was gone into

As a result Ottawa

the llotiourable L. Ralston,

was wired for additional informa- tion. Mr. V. I. Smart. Deputy Minister of Transport at VOttaiva, wired back ncxt. day stating that the municipality was to select the site for the airport and also agree to maintain it. The Department. would assist in the selection of a site and would also undertake its development. The maximum amount ivhich the Dominion Government was willing to contribute towards the development of the airport within that fiscal year wss $25,000. The City was also to make arrange- ments with s, competent: commercial operator of an airline to connect the airport with other provinces.

The prime reason advanced for the request of an uirpori in this province was to put. Prince Edward Island on the air map. but U16 City Council also were at. that time faced with s serious unemployment situation in Charlottetown. With the object. ot’ relieving this situa- tion thcy left. no stone hnlurned to see that the proposed consiruc- tlon of an airport here would be- come s reality as soon as it was possible. They continually pruned Ottawa asking for the actual work to start and in the ism: part of June 1938 the department sent. Mr. George G Wakeman, District In- specter of Eastern AirwaYB. l0 the province.

Sherwood Site Selected

After viewing several sites sug- gested by the Mayor and Council,

HON. J. L. RALSTON Minister of National Defense

Mr. Wakeman finally decided on the present site on the Bracklcy Point Road near the city. In his general remarks about the site chosen, Mr. Wakeman said: "This site. known as "The Shcvivood Sta- tion Site," is the best airport sit/e found within an area of a radius of five miles from the centre of Charlottetown and is so open that it can be made a good airport for instrument flying or night. flying, that will be necessary for regular scheduled scrviccs to and from Priiicc Flrlward Islriiiri to thr- innin- land

"The construction of an airport. at. this $ll0Uk1llbBd0ll0 p‘. ilie uiiiiiiiiii o! labour rind €X}X‘l1:<‘., considering the general topocrnphyi 0t the dis- irici. also the lack of local nin- tcrial for construction of hard sur- face runways. Perhaps the capital ccst for the improved laud may be slightly higher than the land of tn- ferior sites, but. there Will be con- siderable saving ln the total costs for development. The landing area can be matte usable quickly and the construction of the airport av- coniplislied hi a short. interval of time if _siich is desired "

In the selection of the site some of the advantages were a large area of land with uniform contour situ- ated on a high level with good na- tural drainage. The shape of the site permitted the design of a land- ing area for flying operations in all directions. or four hard surface runways to serve eigat dirccti z i desired. By FPIIlOVlHf-l scine re. of woods. and trees along fences. the landing area open on all sidcs. proachcs on three sides was over lower land levels, which is a most useful feature where instrument or night. flying is necessary.

road aptiroaclics io i

could be iii.i c The flight tip-

Some Advantages 0f Site

Other advantages of the site were its proximity to a good gravel fﬂfltl and paved highway. power. tel"- phone snd telegraph facilities. and the Canadian National Railway.

The greater part. oi‘ the area was improved mid ciiltivntcd farm land. This cmidlilon rind the contour per- mitted the construction of hard surface runivays with s. minimum of grading, labour and expense. The original site consisted of 17B sci-es of land. It. was composed of four different farms: the fann or Mr.

. P. Cullen consisting of 70 acres; Major MCCHIQS 40-acre farm: Fred McCrse, 53 sci-es mid 15 acres belonging to Matilda Prowse.

Situated on high ground well in- land the site is generally clear of ground mists or local fog that

turret building;

‘ccnictciy niust ‘tii-csiincc oi a ivooderl area nilirir- Hi

hangar;

HON C. G. POWER. Minister or National Defence for Air

often occurs over lower land around the Harbour and City. _Frecdom from city smoke and a tlyini; siren well clear of the populated city areas. thus insuring freedom of noise over schools, hospitals, business and resi- dcnizial sections were other ‘de- cided advantages in the selection. 'l.‘h-s= airport ivould only be tour miles from the city which was within a iaractical distance.

The only dLsadvzintagPs found were that. the direction open for futuri- cxpiiiisiiin ivxi: to llli" North and oriiaiiiciiial firms on Slitrivoori remain: M"! ll")

on the south cast side.

The site ivas tiiitiiiiielr as the most suitable for the vs- mblishntciit, of ilic airport. aiiii options ivcrc taken on the l‘t‘(]\lll'(‘{l lil‘O}‘.t‘l flilfl plans t0 start Lin‘ devclopna-nt tiiadc.

selected

Mayor at Ottawa

In the meantime Mayor F05i9l‘ fiCCOillDlliliCfl by Councillor R- C- Chantilcr aiirl City Rmcordcr K. M. Martin had cone to Ottawa and interviewed Hon. C. D ._ Howe. Mitiistcr of ivauspovt. [titer an hour's consultation they “Ml m" assurance of Mr. Howe that if the city would supply lllP ficiii. the Department would "n a contract. It \'v'1lS illflllhl‘ ‘W! Ili-"ili 11W labour uscrl iii ll)!‘ i-riiis:riii~t:iitt of the airport ivouir’. ho iilt) lwl‘ cent from liic city. Tho l)1‘[)ill"ill‘.i‘!‘.i also proii .-.i ' for iii‘ l“l. L llllt! and iii.~i ., such itin- nee as (1',\)‘.t‘,\l'(‘(l iiciissiari- inning 1933-39.

A part of the Iiflﬂvtlltﬁlli. was lllvill the lxiiari ii~tit i~l ‘hzitisiior: _iv.uiii have the Fight to one acre 0i livid for vrliicli iliey pail S1 each §"~‘ﬂ' Recently it was ClOUlIiCEl bv iii D“l).il‘l-lll(‘lli- that aii ll.llllil‘il.\i‘.‘i’tili’.l builriiiii: \\'.tlll(l b0 llllllb ﬁll ll strip o!‘ laud.

'I‘lii~ Ciiirriiian Air ‘ itl\Ol<‘(i iiit- iiiovc of i. (luv (Joini- C.ll and \‘.‘l‘ill(‘ the Major a ii"tii' of cncouraui-inciit. on the splendid work the (‘iiy (‘ioicriiiiiciit \\‘.l.\‘ rio- lllll tn li‘1\‘ll1! the ai" livid hull!-

As the niiiiori ii.i< to scrvc the lll'O\'lll(“ as ircil as the (‘i'\. the PfOYillFiill G0‘i'(‘i'illl‘."l1i ﬂirt) toil; an interest in it anti Sl1',l‘,\)i't.‘1l ihc City Council 1n their ciidcavorl. When the posstbllito‘ M setting the airport. became known the Govem- ment. olirrcd to pay half the cost 0t mt: tirojcct. In return they were to rccclve half the revenue derived from the operation of the slrport.

There was much correspondence between the Council and Ottawa concerning the proposed HWDOW

‘s. Linii’ .

during the sunimrr but the work

PREMIER T. A. CAMPBELL

MAYOR B. ROY HOLMAN

was not getting underway. Con- tinuous pressure resulted in a start on the project about the middle of Scptciiibcr, 1938. At this time day lribourcrs ivcrc employed clearing the land. The ivork was done under the direction of a foreman from the Dominion Department

Such was the beginning of a pro- ject, primarily intended as a con- necting link ivith the air com- munication of other provinces, and which is now destined to play such an important part in the defence of the British Empire. Uttle did the tnemlaers of the City Council know ihcn that. they were larinq the ioiititiatlon for a urca t. bombing nnri Lfllllll(‘l'_\' school \\'l1l(‘ll would i-ost '-'\»"ll ovcr 9.000.001). Pviiiiaili" |ii was intended that. the erection would cost tn the \'l('l1‘lii\' of s

.ivh..-l . At ihui tint.‘ l‘ twas coiwirlvrcd a great. boon to ‘illi’ i:ii.iii;»l.\crl iii the tilt).

Contract Aim riled

Numerous delays held up the work diirinz the autumn of 1938 and nit miiclt of the projcct ivris accotiiiilirdiiirl that. year. Iii the Spfillz of 193.‘) tlih Storms (‘om trarliiiz (.'('Elll)fiil_\' of 'l‘ni'oiito, W110 were (loin: sortie road work iii the province, were given the contract of coiiiplctinc the l'llll\\'f1_\‘S and heavy.- machinr-ry was tiiovcd in and much earth rcmovcd from the sur-

l i800. A lllLlCl suifnce runway 3201) ii‘(‘l. by llit) fccl. ivas coustrtitttcd fpruiiary (l(‘\'t’lOllll1Clll.. l 'i'lic ollicr runways, approxitiiatcii‘ ‘the ssiniv sizii, wot-ii also graded y 1‘hc»ii.~.ii.i"' ti! truck ivaat. of ‘.l\‘t‘l ‘were. liau ' and pliircrl (‘ll LL10 iiiii- '\\.I_\.S in lit‘ sun-c Linn: lll'i')(‘”s.\ ‘aiiit a .\l'.ll"v on the iltlld surfacing ;riiadc dining the siuiinicr of 19in) lhilostly liiuiiy 1)‘lttClllll€‘l‘_\‘ was cin- lpioycd dud the ploject. was a dis- ‘ iipointitieiit as far as relieving thi- l'll(ll1i)i()_\llll‘lli situation iii tho city was ('()il(' l‘l‘.t‘il. The woik was dis-

ifﬂlllllllliil \\'l1~"li the snow cainc that fall lilost of this development took‘

pl.i'.'t~ run...» {.110 outbreak of ivar, and f‘\'t‘ll cariv last fail the ldPﬁ of haiinz, a ‘nriinbtug and ililllllﬂl)‘ .‘('li(‘.()l Sillllllﬂfl mt the site was iio'. (lléllliblwl Ilium: ill!‘ \\l|ll‘l' ill!‘ matter of llic uiivoitiiiliitcd airport was iig.'iui the suhicci of n dis- cussion in the City CflllllCll. Al. an important meeting held on the afternoon of January ‘.33. i940. the following telegram was sent to V. I. Smart. Deputy Mlnlstir of Trans- port. Ottawa: "At a meeting of the City Council held this afternoon the following resolution was passed, viz. "Resolved that the Mayor and City Clerk be instructed to execute the agreement for the free use by His Majesty of the Charlottetown- Alrport. in form as presented by the

as .1 i P)‘ '1'

i i l

‘ si-iiool

Department of Transport and that.

full approval of this Council be convieycd by the Mayor by Tele- graph." It; iviis signed, A.

Foster, Mayor Offer Accepted

This was the climax to an offer made by the Council of the use of the airport by the Dominion au- thorities for the duration of the war. This offer ivris made towards ihf‘ latter part of Dcccmbci" 193i). After some delay it was accepted by the Dominion Government.

The new City Council under the leadership of .\I.i_vor l5. l~:.»y H01- llltlli CJlllL‘ 111W) i)‘i).\\‘i' 1"‘ ‘ll'ilil'y l

. o iziccni int. conic oarlv would he (‘lirii-‘iricioiru.

it) 1.1!‘. i111". —

t the (Jity ti ‘i.ll'ili‘lli'll‘. in‘.-

‘lciy O.

m. . .0 the co-opiirati (ll zlit- City (‘oiiiiril trny w ii (‘i‘(‘i‘llil\,;

ilﬂrsiilli‘. ‘liio tlll L>lllli'illl;lS\ -

and

wit iii Ma

i l.» t‘ til

l tic qliU-‘iltlil tit L 1' a bomb- Llilllllvt’. .it. i .11 ihe‘ \\.t lll‘.(l(‘l" I

. q the liii-i

ilclictlge. Ioregrpund (centre) are the offices and saw-mill of the construction company. The perman ent buildings designated in the picture are tfrnm left to right); sing“. . ~ . i . .

~ - -5 111"" 9"- Q-R- ilililTtefsi denlill Clinic. 817ml")! IIWSS- P417359 Kflllmd. 0R» quarters; lﬂfliﬂ canteen; 0.11. quarters; drill hall; O.R. quarters; recreation hall; small

superintendents office; hangar; gunnery instruction schonl: hangar; engineers‘ ofiicmsupply di-pot; workshop; hangar; repair shop; headquarters; garagiis;

MR. J. C. PINCH

Chief Engineer of Storms Con- tracting ‘Company, in chargg o! construction work at the (‘har- liittt-tiliyn airport.

Rom nee 0 Aviation In ‘This Province

.ioii 1n Prince - r-imwtitic ig lurk in . . S Jcziklns. worm out. to "rovmce 1.» Gulf

this

51R. HARVEY TliQii-Yl’. Senior Assistant laiiitiiivvr, K- C.A.F., in charge of iiurk.

i)il illf‘ . lliii. Dr. __ _ IiIi'.\lill:iii_ thti .\I:ijiiii‘ noun. ,- (‘i‘,l)t"i".'\lll("1l'(‘l‘ii—l —~- " r \\.lll l‘t‘.\lll(‘Il'i>i iii i..c district. an‘ i . . . .5. .. "inn an airiirirt.‘ was touring ~ - m ziiliiitioi '11 property which was to be iliuil‘ to. ll/ crncrcd info a study coast to (‘on ' c ir to the ori iini 51ft‘, to; 1 ,i= ili.ll‘i 1- 4"<"I for a number, Q1 me Upttm - ilnf-‘Ii-"’?.f.i"\‘£3i"‘"" " iii’. .°"..‘~‘lir“.‘§’“¥ii§i" ‘i’.°.‘.’.§“"‘li.‘2’~ f“ 7'93 - - -»i .1 ~i ‘t’ i. ‘. r -. . . i ' ,. n‘ 1 chit" were ai riiiiriiri. i i», ,..~.-,i_-._ ' i ;» ii i . " ct: . .d oi Zifi arcs ... . ' h, p.11 13mg, o; ‘foi- .1 illi‘ n prop~i~ of ti‘! .l“li‘~ ._ tidf-ry Count); ; u, l. iii bui ." on ' i“ iilrii in ihci‘ ~offcr i ~ 1 i-i \\'(‘l(* so .‘ll.[l riciii _, “,3; aliuu‘ ,\\-;*]‘ - i ,,-,_ ‘Flip tillllﬂliﬂ expircil on Jiiiic -. >13.“ pr- i .._ .\2l'f‘(‘iill‘lli llcaclicil X '\ _ At iii-it. illllt‘ \ l‘ and ' nan o: C‘. ljlitiiiilliii" iivrii in " in: a mriciin: of ' of Ciiiiarhnii Alain ~ " rcctiiii-iri a iiiiv- i >ni t‘iti' ilriuii-v. I i’ K. M. Miran ll"l.\.‘ i ~ - 1" rixiiiryiif tho (llViliilI ' l.ii l ‘ii llll‘ Di" "'ii l‘ lllivrlllPlli \\.l1‘lt‘lt\' l‘ ‘.\'0li'i'i purchase the lliiriie a ‘lcsmri l\‘_'()llI‘l"lf‘S \\'ii':io .\i:i*.ci' iioliiwiii was "i vii- tiatiu: and Frvsiti: the dcril at (Wt- '\ 1 the (‘oiiiiiil \\.l\ lll l- na" - . iiiiii1~i' I "i '1 l‘!'ll'll’ ‘i ioi i’ Dip.’ .\i.~.i .i '1‘ \l m.» t".l - _\ iiv i in: a "only l1»'oii-t..iiii*.<-:i. _ y i-"i: lir L'.' ' i i. ovcr. instructions came from A ayori iiiril: co shear! and] Air Pxillviili N; Holman tiirliririzinc the Council to build an n a‘ Ilpton Farm i thrilled bv ' » closkti lhe cpt-nns that l1l‘_'"l and A Qrﬂjt‘ tiny i.’ iir wt: qPPWin-l - t t, mn '0 nrrvmont to .\i*s.=rs. Horn" . o ‘tic? l‘ . i-'< ,. wc 1‘ll 1 ~ anti Gilicspif‘ tho itcxt dav. 3 .ti-i~ti~<~~.< i~-_ i it» w 1- k o‘ ‘iiaclw - Contracts for the erection of ‘he ‘ llli'l‘\ ' c , iiii" iis n’: a .i.i. .i; ~l.l“'l“. =_ buildings for the bcmbine and j vary inniiti“ ‘lla:"\~.\' “rill , gunnery school ivr-re awarded to the ' Harri.- O‘l..<~aii_ -i., Building Division of the Storms Air Pageant and Gent-cr- Ross u r __ ' charrzc of ihc pazrniix‘ " " " ‘kg ""' "W ' it was durin." s miner tl-nt i,

(Continued on page 10. Col l)

the izrcat Tunis-C‘ . .:i Air Ptricant

_View_ or Bombing And 0..."... Scioul

Under Construction. July

(Coiiiiiiiird on pagi- lo. i‘ I i)

b... .,.,\ M. , ~09

1.4 1...’