RCAF Station Paulson
Base / Station: Paulson
Province: Manitoba
Dates of Operation: 1941 – 1945
Units:
- No. 7 Bombing and Gunnery School
- No.5 Personnel Holding Unit (-1942-04-05)
Unit Duties / Information:
On June 23, 1941, No. 7 Bombing and Gunnery School was opened at Paulson. This schools was responsible for training Air Observers (navigators/ bomb aimers and wireless operators) in the art of air to air firing. The navigator/ bombaimer would also train in bomb aiming and release procedures. Although considered obsolete by the outset of the war, the Farey Battle was used for all aspects of training for the first year of operations. Finally, in 1942, these aircraft were replaced by the Anson, Bolingbroke, and Lysander. The Anson was used for bombing training, the Bolingbroke for gunnery training, and the Lysander was used to tow the drogues used in the air to air training.
Women’s Division personnel were posted to the station effective 29 Jun 1942.
Image from the
RCAF Pilots Manual of Aerodromes and Seaplane Bases
circa 1942.
Station Concert Troop:
- Paulson on Parade
Aircraft Flown:
- Farey Battle (41-42),
- Anson (42-45),
- Bolingbroke (42- 45), and
- Lysander (42-45)
Financial Impact:
$2,061,256 (total cost of BCATP construction to 15 Mar 1942)
Commanding Officers: –
- Wing Commander R.A. Cameron ( – 1941-08-16 –
- Wing Commander W.I. Riddell (1941-08-16 -) –
- Wing Commander R.F. Gibb (1941-12-31 -) –
- Group Captain W.E. Dipple (1942-01-06 -)
Date / Reason for closure:
February 2, 1945 No. 7 Bombing and Gunnery School was closed due to the surplus of trained air observers and the nearing of the end to the war. Also influencing the decision to close Paulson was the fact that the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan agreement was to expire at the end of March 1945 and the RCAF was going through an accelerated phase-out of bases in the Plan.
Current Status:
abandoned airfield, condition unknown
Location – Google Map
Station Magazine
“The Paulson Post”
School Daily Diary – Links – No. 7 Bombing & Gunnery School
Fatalities –
This list was compiled from the entries in the Daily diaries of No. 7 Bombing & Gunnery School and other sources. The list may not include all fatalities of personnel who died while stationed at RCAF Station Paulson. From my reading so far there were 23 deaths of service personnel that were stationed at Paulson.
9 November 1941
- LAC Kenneth Edgar Heal – RCAF
24 December 1941
- AC2 Daniel Randall Young, Jr
2 September 1942
- Sgt Clement Peter Pruvot Lowe – RAF
- Sgt Alan Ogden – RAF
- LAC Donald Watt Duncan – RCAF
- LAC Kenneth Albert Lambert – RCAF
18 September 1942
- LAC Wesley Gilmour
- Sgt John Howard Montgomery McNeil
- LAC Francis William Alexander Musto
15 March 1943
- WO2 Syd Cohen
30 June 1943
- AW1 Sarah Josephine Foran – RCAF (WD)
27 July 1943
- WO2 Russel David Mathers
- LAC Paul Arthur Trudel
- P/O Richard Donald Esselmont
- LAC Neil MacMillan Glenday
26 February 1944
- LAC Roy Herbert Pickering
- P/O William Thomas Wiggins
- WO2 Stanley David Gaunce
- Sgt Roy Eugene Pickard
- LAC James Alexander Kinloch
- LAC Thomas Muir Reid
14 April 1944
- Sgt Donald Black
- WO2 William Joseph Steenson
Aircraft List –
Course List – No 7 Bombing & Gunnery School
- 1941-07-21 – – 65 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1941-08-17 – Course 12 – 63 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1941-08-30 – Course 13 – 28 Graduates – Wireless Operator/Air Gunner(WOAG)
- 1941-08-30 – Course 23 – 39 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1941-09-13 – Course 14 – 33 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1941-09-27 – Course 15 – 54 Graduates – Wireless Operator/Air Gunner(WOAG)
- 1941-09-27 – Course 25 – 39 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1941-10-11 – Course 16 – 31 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1941-10-25 – No numbers
- 1941-11-08 – Course 18 – 36 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1941-11-22 – Course 29 – 38 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1941-11-22 – Course 19 – 19 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1941-12-20 – Course 31 – 26 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1941-12-20 – Course 21 – 42 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1941-12-30 – Course 22 – 13 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1942-01-17 – Course 23 – 24 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1942-01-17 – Course 32A – 22 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-01-31 – Course 24 – 36 Graduates – Air Gunner (AG)
- 1942-01-31 – Course 24 – 1 Graduates – Wireless Operator/Air Gunner(WOAG)
- 1942-01-31 – Course 33 – 18 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-02-14 – Course 34 – 20 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-02-14 – Course 25 – 32 Graduates – Air Gunner (AG)
- 1942-02-28 – Course 35 – 17 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-02-28 – Course 26 – 29 Graduates – Air Gunner (AG)
- 1942-03-14 – Course 27 – 39 Graduates – Air Gunner (AG)
- 1942-03-14 – Course 36 – 25 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-03-28 – Course – 29 Graduates – Air Gunner (AG)
- 1942-03-28 – Course – 24 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-04-11 – Course 27 – 34 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1942-04-11 – Course 38 – 25 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-04-25 – Course 28 – 33 Graduates – Air Gunner (AG)
- 1942-04-25 – Course 28 – 3 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1942-04-25 – Course 39 – 22 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
- 1942-05-09 – Course 29 – 36 Graduates – Wireless Air Gunner (WAG)
- 1942-05-09 – Course 40 – 24 Graduates – Air Observer (AO)
For More information – External Links
- Wikipedia
- MilitaryBruce.com – Canadian Military History by Bruce Forsyth
- Manitoba Historical Society
- https://athabaskang07.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/paulson-manitoba-4-june-1942/?fbclid=IwAR3dTppoz3etUT9wmQn5xo5Hm98xh6QTFHZtY4I9LD8mP-eTpVt4OXfoIQ8
- Aerodrome disposal files :