Article XV squadrons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Article XV squadrons)
Jump to: navigation, search
A No. 462 Squadron bomber crew in September 1942. While this was an Australian squadron, only the man third from the right is Australian; the others are from Britain, Newfoundland and New Zealand

Article XV squadrons were Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand air force squadrons formed from graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP; also known as the Empire Air Training Scheme or EATS), during World War II.

These units complemented another feature of the BCATP, under which personnel from the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) were placed in a common pool, and assigned to Article XV and RAF squadrons — in Europe, the Mediterranean Theatre, Africa and South-East Asia — according to operational needs.

The RAAF, RCAF and RNZAF also formed non-Article XV squadrons, which performed home defence duties and saw active service in various parts of the Pacific Theatre.

Contents

History

Negotiations regarding the BCATP, between the four governments concerned, took place in late 1939. The Air Training Agreement – often referred to as the "Riverdale Agreement", after the UK representative at the negotiations, Lord Riverdale – was officially signed on 17 December 1939.

Under Article XV of the Agreement, graduates from Dominion air forces were to be assigned to squadrons either formed by their own air forces, or with a specific national designation, under the operational control of a local air force, in most cases the RAF.[1][2][3] These became known as "Article XV squadrons." In addition, Articles XVI and XVII stipulated that the UK government would be responsible for the pay and entitlements of aircrews trained under the BCATP. Nevertheless, these personnel and any squadrons formed for service with the RAF, under Article XV, would belong to the three Dominion air forces. This was largely an initiative of the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, during the negotiations with Riverdale.[4]

During the war, 44 Canadian, 17 Australian and six New Zealand Article XV squadrons were formed. In practice – and technically in contravention of Article XV – most personnel from Dominion air forces, while they were under RAF operational control, were assigned to British units.[3] This was generally due to practical staffing considerations. Similarly, many of the Article XV squadrons contained few airmen from their nominal air force when they were first formed. However, by the end of the war this had generally been rectified.[5] Canada made a greater insistence on its airmen going specifically to RCAF operational units overseas, ensuring that the identity of its national squadrons was preserved. Canada was also able to form their squadrons in January 1943 into a separate RCAF formation in Bomber Command (No. 6 Group), commanded by a Canadian air vice-marshal.This was something the Australians and New Zealanders did not achieve.[3]

Several other RAAF and RCAF units, which were not covered by Article XV, were also under RAF operational control (see below). Initially, there was no cross-posting of personnel to or from these squadrons by the RAF and other Dominion air forces, although this requirement was relaxed later in the war.

The remaining dominion, South Africa, was not a signatory to the BCATP and the South African Air Force (SAAF) did not form any Article XV squadrons. However, South Africa provided training facilities for some Article XV personnel, and many SAAF units took part in the East African, North African and Italian Campaigns. Furthermore, as the war progressed, personnel from other Dominion air forces were transferred to SAAF units and vice versa, in North Africa, the Mediterranean and Italy.

Southern Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) was not technically a Dominion and was therefore not a signatory to the BCATP, although aircrews from other dominions were trained there. In 1940, the small Southern Rhodesia Air Force was designated No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF. Two other RAF squadrons, No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF and No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF were also formed; both had significant numbers of Rhodesian personnel.

Similarly, No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF, which was not an Article XV squadron, was staffed primarily by RNZAF aircrew during the war. The squadron was officially transferred to the RNZAF in late 1945.

While RAF units are not considered to have been Article XV squadrons, three RAF units had a status similar to Article XV squadrons, as they were under RAAF operational control for part of the war and included a significant number of non-RAF personnel. These units were: No. 54 Squadron RAF, No. 548 Squadron RAF and No. 549 Squadron RAF.

List of Article XV squadrons

Royal Canadian Air Force

Aircrew and groundcrew of a No. 428 Squadron RCAF Lancaster bomber

A further four squadrons served outside North America during the war: No. 162 Squadron RCAF, which in 1944 was transferred from RCAF Eastern Air Command to RAF Coastal Command, from airfields in Iceland and Scotland and; three Air Observation Post (AOP; artillery spotter) squadrons, composed of RCAF and Royal Canadian Artillery personnel: No. 664 Squadron RCAF; No. 665 Squadron RCAF and; No. 666 Squadron RCAF.

Some non-Article XV RCAF squadrons were re-numbered to become Article XV squadrons when they were transferred from North America to Europe. These were:

However, most of the RCAF Article XV squadrons were formed overseas.

Following the end of the war and termination of the BCATP, the RCAF squadrons covered by Article XV retained their numbers. Furthermore, home-based, non-Article XV squadrons were renumbered in the 400-series. During an expansion of the RCAF in the early 1950s the numbers 444 to 449 were used, and — following the 1968 unification of the three service branches — a Canadian Army helicopter squadron became known as 450 Squadron (a name that overlapped the RAAF numbers).

Royal Australian Air Force

Australia formed 17 Article XV squadrons, out of a total of 79 RAAF squadrons, during World War II. While 18 squadrons had been originally planned for service with the RAF, No. 465 Squadron was never formed.[1][6]

The remaining 57 RAAF squadrons served under the operational control of the RAAF or United States Army Air Forces, in the South West Pacific Theatre during World War II.

When some Article XV squadrons and RAF units were transferred to RAAF operational control, from 1943 onwards, they retained their original numbers.

All the Australian Article XV squadrons were disbanded after the end of the war. Since 2005 four of the squadrons have been re-formed by re-designating RAAF intelligence and air traffic control units.

The RAAF Article XV squadrons were:

Five other RAAF squadrons were also under RAF operational control for the whole or part of the war:

Royal New Zealand Air Force

(As stated above, No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF, a heavy bomber unit manned by RNZAF aircrew, was not officially an Article XV squadron.)

References

  1. ^ a b "Empire Air Training Scheme, 2007". Australian War Memorial Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-23. 
  2. ^ Squadron information from Government of Canada Access date: 13 October 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Clark, Chris (2003). "The Empire Air Training Scheme". Conference website. Australian War Memorial 2003 History Conference - Air War Europe. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 2007-12-22. 
  4. ^ See, for example: Robert Broughton Bryce, Canada and the Cost of World War II: the International Operations of Canada's Department of Finance, 1939-1947, Montreal/Ithaca, McGill-Queen's University Press (2005), pp47–51. Bryce quotes J. L. Granatstein, regarding British reactions to the Agreement: "The Chancellor of the Exchequer was gloomy, pointing out to the War Cabinet that he had sent no congratulatory telegrams after the signing of the [air training] agreement. He had not agreed that Canada could insist on unlimited units of the RCAF being provided at the expense of the United Kingdom taxpayer (p 50)."
  5. ^ "Article XV Squadrons". Australian War Memorial website. Retrieved 2007-12-22. 
  6. ^ "RAAF Units". Royal Australian Air Force Museum website. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-22. 

See also