Daily Diary

No. 33 Service Flying Training School,
Carberry, Manitoba

June 1942

This Transcription of the Operational Record Book of No. 33 Service Flying Training School that was Located at Carberry, Manitoba, Canada was created by the volunteers at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon, Manitoba. You can visit their website by clicking this heading.

IMAGE 1639

Carberry.

• 1/6/42. STRENGTH: Personnel.

	Officers	Other Ranks	Civilians
RAF	82	939	–
Service Personnel other Than RAF
RCAF	10	100	–
CDC	1	4	–
RCASC	1	3	–
Civilians	–	–	11
Trainees
RAF	–	207	–
RAAF	–	–	–

• STRENGTH: Aircraft.

	Serviceable	Unservicable
Ansons	58	33

IMAGE 1640

Carberry.

• 1.6.42. Continued fine weather gave an excellent opportunity of erasing the remaining effects of
  winter, and a great deal of purely voluntary labour resulted in a tidy and attractive Camp. This was further improved by the laying of fresh gravel on all roads and car parks, the planting of many shrubs and trees, the clearing of ditches, the application of fresh paint where absolutely necessary, the seeding with grass of more areas than could be reclaimed last year, and the supplanting of storm windows by antimosquito grids.
  Flying instruction was in a flourishing condition, sports were arousing such general enthusiasm that a relaxing of P.T. training was found possible, and – despite increasing transport restrictions -personnel were enjoying the surrounding countryside.
• 2.6.42. The versatility, and patent talents, of the airmen had long become a by-word both on or off the
  Station. Yet another instance was provided at the second practice of the Voluntary Band. Some members came naturally enough, from the Station Dance Band – but a good half appeared from apparently nowhere. The second practice was a resounding success, and it was decided to try the Band out at the Colour-Hoisting Parade next morning.
• 3.6.42. This was done, with remarkable benefit to the bearing and marching, and the Band was even note –
  perfect on the General Salute.
  On this day, also, the Squash Court (largely built by airmen and paid for from private funds) was sufficiently advanced for a first trial game. This rarity in Air Force Stations in Canada had won through many vicissitudes, and had reached completion solely due to courage and obstinacy.
  In the evening the Corporals’ Club assisted by the “Rip Chords” held an informal concert which ultimately became a kind of farewell party to three of the first echelon whose tour of duty seemed to be nearly at an end.
• 4.6,42. The Sub-Station at Petrel was now completed and an Officer was appointed to take charge of it.
  It was not yet in full occupation, however, by the (approximately) one hundred personnel due to spend
  fortnightly periods there.
• 5.6.42. The day selected for the Inspection by the Deputy Inspector General turned out to be well-nigh
  perfect, and a cool wind made the wearing of blue uniforms comfortable. News was received that the Deputy Inspector General’s aircraft had been delayed, and the waiting Parade was allowed to fall out and chat for a half-hour. The Parade re-formed in Mass on the arrival of the Deputy Inspector General accompanied by his Personal Attendant and Wing Commander Mitchell, and the usual honours were performed. The Inspecting Officer then entered upon a very close Inspection of all personnel. At its conclusion he invited the Parade to break ranks and gather round his microphone for an address which was based on the following points: congratulations on an excellent turn-out: an invitation to any member of the Unit who harboured a complaint to see him personally: an appeal to airmen vigorously to pursue the policy of remastering, together with proof of the possibility of working one’s way up from the bottom to the upper levels: a

IMAGE 1641

Carberry.

• 6.6.42. (cont’d) reminder that Canadian manners and customs should be accepted civilly: an assurance that the work of training in Canada was of high importance and had helped to create the present situation in Britain of a surplus of Pilots: and an underlining of the fact that success in the training of pilots was based on the co-operation of all Sections and all ranks.
  After the March Past, he inspected and congratulated the new Station Voluntary Band which then played itself off the Parade Ground. The Deputy Inspector General proceeded to visit the various Sections of the Camp, and concluded his inspection at 18.15 hrs. He appeared to be pleased with what he found – – and it is safe to record that the Station abounded with evidence of being ‘house-proud’.
  Many members of the Unit had now completed their tour of duty, and the Sergeants’ Mess produced an excellent evening of dancing to celebrate the fact. A very fine model of a ship had been made; and this was on view prior to presentation to the Kinsmen’s Club which had done the Station many a good turn.
• 7.6.42. A Sabbath following a day of close inspection might well have resulted in some slight relaxation.
  Nothing of the kind took place. In addition to much flying activity – including one forced landing without damage when a pupil-pilot lost himself on a cross-country exercise – there was violent activity in one Section of Barrack Blocks where the inhabitants of one Block, unable longer to bear the beauty of the garden owned by its neighbour, set to work to produce the finest piece of ornamental garden in the shortest possible time – with amusing results.
• 8.6.42. The stimulating news was received that certain personnel of the First Echelon were to be prepared to move eastwards, and the liveliest satisfaction was expressed by those who wished to return Home that the Authorities had been able to carry out a policy which had seemed to be so difficult to achieve.
• 9.6.42. Summer kit was now being worn by members of the Unit, and the season was expected to behave
  accordingly. It failed dismally. In fact, the temperature dropped from 84° to 36°. Early one morning it was only 6° above. Fortunately the general sense of humour was working excellently and sunburned goose-flesh was regarded as just another whimsical twist of the climate.
  At the Station Commander’s Conference, the sub-Station at Petrel continued to claim a good deal of attention as ‘moving-in’ day was rapidly approaching. The new hangars also provided food for thought as no decision had yet been made as to the lay-out of the rooms, and work was being delayed in consequence.

IMAGE 1642

Carberry.

• 10.6.42. It was pleasant to learn that, with no more action than a notice suggesting that the Imperial Tobacco Company would be enabled to provide an artificial limb for a girl-victim of an accident if a
  number of cartons of cigarettes were saved, five thousand of these cardboard containers were sent by the Unit in a few days for all the world as if it knew the girl personally. This was indicative of the revised outlook of personnel on life in Canada. They had survived some early shocks about R.A.F. conditions as contrasted with R.C.A.F., and there was less open comment on such as the absence of five railway warrants, the reduction by one half of the leave of non-flying personnel, the payment of English income Tax on Canadian rates of pay when these rates of pay were essential in view of travelling and the lack of the financial asset of having comparatively near-by relatives to visit, comparisons with the R.C.A.F., practice of being allowed to fly to points when on leave (with flying pay and full benefits) and the fact that to fly one-hundred hours during the year meant being free of Income Tax. It was felt that efforts were being made to ameliorate any unfortunate conditions, and from time to time there came evidence of these efforts. For instance it was now learned that there was a concession of special reduced fare rates on annual and embarkation leave available to permanent staffs of R.A.F., Units, without relation to the location of their bona fide homes. For this Unit, Air Force Headquarters granted the extension of the maximum distance from 300 to 500 miles from Carberry.
  In the same vein, the Regional Transit Supervisor, realising the awkward position in which the Unit had been placed by the various transport regulations, gave his authority for the use of civil Transport for sports and recreations connected with other Units, and also permitted the Transport of dancing partners from Brandon to the Station on this night for yet another highly enjoyable Airmen’s Dance.
• 11.6.42. Not content with a Dance Orchestra and its new Voluntary Band, the Unit was now busily producing a Station Light Orchestra. In Cricket, Rugger, Soccer, Tennis, and softball there was much activity. The texophilites, already, armed with admirably constructed home-made bows and arrows, were engaged in fashioning butts from coloured straw. And there was some bewildered conjecture as to what new brain-wave would arrive in connection with the passing of leisure hours.
  Flying Officer A.B. Walton arrived, posted from North Battleford and apparently in relief of the Adjutant,
  although this was not clear.
• 12.6.42 The Commanding Officer was appointed President of the Court of Enquiry into the fatal flying-
  accidents which had overtaken the R.C.A.F., Unit at Rivers on a night of heavy storms. This entailed his temporary absence from his Station for the next few days.
  On the night in question there was no night-flying at Carberry – but flying conditions had been respectably good for some time, and all Courses were well in advance of their schedules.
• 13.6.42. The Senior Course had by now attained the required total of hours, but their Flying Training continued as the end of the Course was not due for five more days.

IMAGE 1643

Carberry.

• 14.6.42 Airmen were greatly stimulated – and the entire Unit refreshed – by the news that sixteen had been permitted to remuster as aircrew and were warned for postings to Regina, Saskatchewan. These, and many other airmen on the Station, had for many months jealously eyed the flying Training Courses, albeit realising that for the time being, and until reliefs arrived, their duties were essential. It was surprising to discover how many flying hours the candidates for remustering had quietly and steadily accumulated.
• 15.6.42. Another decision based on the idea of rendering life more congenial was made in connection with visits to the United States. Many of the personnel had already succeeded in visiting Chicago, New York, and other attractive towns and cities – and a few had managed to inspect Hollywood. It now became possible to cross the border without formal passports. In view of approaching periods of annual leave, this relaxation was likely to be a boon.
  By arrangement with the local laundry it was now possible for Airmen, subject to certain minor regulations, to have their blue uniforms and greatcoats cleaned at the low cost of 60 cents each – a plan usefully timed for a period when summer dress (khaki) was compulsory.
• 16.6.42. Course 50 selected this day to show their appreciation of the efforts of the ground crews by inviting them to a party held on the Station – a gesture much appreciated. Relations between pupil-pilots and the ground staff had always been excellent during the Unit’s life, and the various Courses had always entered lustily into the many inter-Barrack Blocks sports tournaments. At the present time these tournaments were creating the utmost enthusiasm, and twice-nightly the Camp football pitch was ringed with cheering spectators.
• 17.6.42. The Assistant Adjutant, Pilot Officer T.W. Tomkins, left the Station on posting to Moncton; and his successor. Pilot Officer L.C.S. Hankinson, together with Pilot Officer G.S. Moss (posted from No. 31 A.N.S., Port Albert) arrived on the Station.
  At the Colour-Hoisting Parade, the Prayers were recited by Wing Commander the Reverend J. Rossie-Brown, the Senior Chaplain O.D., from Air Force Headquarters, Ottawa, who was visiting the Unit.
  In the evening the Rip Chords were given a fine reception by the people of Souris, and the Station Dramatic Group gave another performances in the Recreation Hall of ‘George and Margaret’ in aid of the Red Cross Fund.
• 18.6.42. Squadron Leader R. Hanson, who had for some weeks been with the Unit on attachment from the

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Carberry.

• 18.6.42. (cont’d) Royal Air Force Station at Neepawa, now left the Camp, bound for the Central Flying School at Trenton.
  Very early in the morning, in darkness, two aircraft collided whilst being taxied by pupil-pilots to the taxying post, with extensive damage to both main planes.
  In the afternoon came the sixteenth ceremonial parade for the presentation of Flying Badges-on this occasion to Course No. 50. The Senior Chaplain O.D., was still on the Station, and the honour of making the presentation was accepted by him. In return, he delivered one of the finest addresses yet heard on the Station, his basis theme being the four climacterics of a pilot’s Service career – his first flight, his first solo exercise, his receipt of his wings, and, his first taste of action.
  The new Station Voluntary Band adorned the Parade, proudly but ruefully watched by the Bandmaster who had broken his wrist on the previous night. There was the usual tea-dance with the station Dance Band in attendance. And, later, in conformity with custom, the members of the Course entertained their Instructors and other friends.
• 19.6.42 Of this Course, eight had fallen by the way, four with a chance of recovery. Three had ceased training at their own request, one had failed his examinations, and the four already indicated had been held up on medical grounds. Thirteen Commissions were awarded. Of the 43 Graduates 4 were due to report to Trenton, 5 to Claresholm, 4 to Charlottetown, 2 to Summerside, 1 to Port Albert, 1 was hospitalised, and 24 were granted leave awaiting posting.
  During the afternoon the Committee of the Service Institute considered such matters as the possibility of providing some form of dwelling place for airmen visiting Clear Lake, the expense of providing a well-appointed reading and writing room on the Station, Sports, dances, concerts and Canteen prices.
  During the evening there was a Dance in Carberry for personnel living out, well attended and very jolly.
• 20.6.42. The weather was now behaving in a disgusting manner and became so bitterly cold that the exposed portions of personnel resembled the colour of their discarded uniforms. Indeed, it became necessary to cancel the order to wear summer kit, and leave it to the Airmen to follow their personal inclinations as to the wearing of khaki or blue.
• 21.6.42. For the first time, arrangements for a Sunday Concert fell through at the last moment owing to the departure of certain key performers. Not to be foiled, the Officers concerned devised a special show in the Large Canteen, where the Band played airs, those present sang community songs, various people gave ‘turns’ and the Y.M.C.A. Representative projected two films from his emergency reserve.
• 22.6.42. The laudable desire to make the Camp’s arrangements as up-to-date as possible was instanced in the Recreation Hall in the evening when, between the short films and the long feature film, a One-Act Play was presented by three Officers as a jeu d’esprit. The same spirit was manifest not only in the Camp’s relaxations, but also in some serious departments of work – and there seemed to be no doubt at all that the Unit, although subjected to the shock of many changes in personnel, was functioning smoothly and efficiently

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Carberry.

• 22.6.42. (Cont’d) as if it were of fare older establishment.
• 23.6.42. A notable announcement was made to the effect that as from the 1st. July, all Royal Air Force
  personnel in Canada would be liable to Income Tax (United Kingdom type) based on R.A.F. rates of pay, and not – as hitherto- on Canadian rates of pay. This absolved from payment of tax all Airmen of, and below, the classification of L.A.C. The fact that this decision was not to be applied retrospectively did not prevent those, who expected early return to the United Kingdom, from congratulating those who had elected to remain in Canada and those whose tour of duty was not completed.
  After the Cinema Show in the evening, medals were presented to the Barrack-Block Soccer Team that had won a most strenuous tournament of seven-a-side football.
• 24.6.42. There seemed to be, almost daily, signs in ever-increasing number of the growth of organisations based on the desire to help men and women of the Services. For instance on this day it became known that the Central Volunteer Bureau of Winnipeg had hostesses on call whose homes were open to any Airmen who bad been granted sick-leave after hospitalisation confinement. Moreover, the Unit’s 1941 organisation of a holiday camp at Clear Lake was no longer required, as on the site it had occupied there was now a fully- equipped Hostel constructed by the Canadian Legion War Services and capable of housing between fifty and sixty Airmen.
  There were two mishaps in the flying training on this day. One occurred when a pupil-pilot was taxying to the tarmac. His starboard undercarriage suddenly collapsed, and the aircraft sank on its starboard mainplane with consequent serious damage to it. The other took place three miles North of the Station when two Ansons piloted by pupils, and travelling on converging courses, came into contact. The aircraft were but slightly damaged, and the Pupils (themselves uninjured) succeeded in landing safely.
• 25.6.42. Twelve cheerful Airmen, posted to Moncton, turned their backs on these growing allurements – not without deep appreciation of the warmth of hospitality they had received constantly over a period of eighteen months. Three pilot-officers left the Unit on posting to three Stations – Kingston, Medicine Hat, and Penhold. And Flight Lieutenant R.V. Dawson, Adjutant for over a year, left the Station on posting to No. 1 Training Command Headquarters at Toronto. After the early evening meal, the Sports Ground presented a very lively sight. In addition to white-clad sportsmen carrying tennis or squash or badminton racquets, and in addition to two groups of “Horseshoe” players, and a number of cricketers practising in a net, there was a Softball league match in progress between the Unit and No. 2 Manning Depot, and a terrific soccer

IMAGE 1646

Carberry.

• 25.6.42. (Cont’d) struggle between the Officers and one of the Barrack Blocks. After a shower-bath, many of the players joined in an attractive Airmen’s Dance in the Recreation Hall with dancing partners in great number from Carberry and Brandon.
  Accounts Section was very busy with documentation of all ranks, and in other preparations for a change-over to R.C.A.F., regulations and systems of Service Accounting. It was clear that the Unit was destined to release its weakening hold on King’s Regulations and Air Council Instructions although its preservation of its prized R.A.F. identity was not to be in question as far as its personnel were concerned.
  Thirty-four pupil-pilots of the Royal Australian Air Force arrived.
  A young Flying Officer of the First Echelon, with over one thousand hours (and one hundred night-flying hours) to his credit, spent the first hours of his twenty-first birthday in the air on duty, and received congratulations, from friends piloting other aircraft, immediately after midnight.
  In the low-flying area a pupil pilot misjudged his height, with the result that his starboard mainplane came in contact with a tree, and was slightly damaged.
• 26.6.42. The weather remained in a deplorably disgruntled mood. Storms ranged around, and the evil conditions seriously handicapped flying. Fortunately the Courses had built up a strong total of flying hours while the going was good; otherwise they would have been a foul way out. The Junior Course had been further impeded by the late arrival of the R.A.A.F. detachment.
• 27.6.42. Through postings and remusterings the A.C.H. position on the Station had become more and more grave, and it had become well-nigh impossible to provide labour for the many fatigues and duties that form a necessary accompanient to a lively and progressive Station. One repercussion came in the Officers’ Mess where the usual service batman system went by the board and a hotel system was introduced. This change was accepted without criticism.
• 28.6.42. The arrival of thirty two A.C.H.’s from the United Kingdom alleviated the strain on all Sections. On the same train were three Pilot Officers posted to the Station on appointment to Commissioned Rank.
  The outstanding event of the day was the Decoration Ceremony at the Carberry Cenotaph. The Unit had been approached to help with the organisation of this tribute to those men of Carberry who had died in the Service of their Country, and linked with their names were those of the Unit who had met with fatal accidents during the past eighteen months.
  The Station Voluntary Band, and a Flight of Airmen under the Adjutant, led a procession which formed up in the Cenotaph garden where massed choirs from the Churches, War Veterans, the local Chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of Empire, and Scouts, grouped themselves in a very pleasing setting. The Commanding Officer and the Mayor of Carberry were on a dais with five Ministers of Religion; and the Station Chaplain delivered the address. The Hymns were played by the Station Band, two members of which played the Last Post and Reveille; and towards the end of the Service the Commanding Officer placed a wreath offered by the Unit.

IMAGE 1647

Carberry.

• 29.6.42. Shortly after midday a party of one hundred and eight Canadian Air Cadets march, with their own band, into the Camp and took up their quarters in the Drill Shed which was to be theirs for one week. Suitable kit was issued to them complete with blankets and bedding, and double-decker beds made the Drill Shed look quite unlike itself. A little later, the commanding Officer welcomed the Cadets and their Officers to the Camp, and impressed on them the desirability of taking full advantage not only of the lectures they would receive but of all facilities offered for their enjoyment.
• 30.6.42. The Station closed the month with its Weekly Conference, Pay Day, another issue of its Magazine, (copy NOT attached) and a good deal of arranging for its young visitors.

IMAGE 1648

Carberry.

• 30.6.42. STRENGTH: Personnel.

	Officers	Other Ranks	Civilians
RAF	90	978	–
Service Personnel other Than RAF
RCAF	10	111	–
CDC	1	4	–
RCACS	1	3	–
Civilians	–	–	11
Trainees
RAF	–	181	–
RAAF	–	34	–

• STRENGTH: Aircraft.

	Serviceable	Unservicable
Ansons	56	33

• (C.H. Brill) Group Captain,
  Commanding, No.33 SFTS.
  CARBERRY, – MANITOBA.