positive effect on local
business and a long lasting
effect on those communities
that continued to use the
airports after the war.
   As well, the training,
education and travel offered
by the BCATP had a profound
effect on community
residents. With men off to

war, women were responsible
for the war effort and
maintaining the economy. Not
only did women perform
military jobs traditionally
reserved for men, they even
ran their family farms alone.
   By helping to secure
victory in Europe, the "Plan"
changed the future for all

Canadians. Victory in World
War II broke the strangle
hold of the Depression years
so that Royal Canadian Air
Force personnel returned to a
nation on the cusp of
prosperity, ready to put to
good use the skills they had
learned during wartime.

   Acknowledgements:
   We are very grateful to
the many veterans who shared
their experiences. It is
their amazing stories that
have made this project
possible.
   The Commonwealth Air
Training Plan Museum would
also like to thank the many