Collection Technician Nelson Bennett explores New Zealand in the Allied Air Training Agreement and his grandfather’s experiences in and around the Second World War.

It is 1939 and the Second World War has just started. In this new conflict Great Britain and the dominions of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand understood that air power would be crucial. The British Isles, however, were not safe for the training of new pilots due to the threat of the Luftwaffe. A new location had to be chosen.

The Allies knew that a massive number of new recruits would need to be trained, and quickly began making plans. Canada was chosen due to its economy, conducive landscapes, as well as its distance from both the Pacific and the European theaters of war. The Air Training Agreement was quickly negotiated and signed on 17 December 1939.

The plan was incredibly ambitious. Working off of the Royal Air Force (RAF) model, three initial training schools, thirteen elementary flying training schools, sixteen service flying training schools, ten air observer schools, ten bombing and gunnery schools, two air navigation schools, and four wireless schools were created. The goal was to train 50,000 personnel a year, 22,000 aircrew from Great Britain, 13,000 from Canada, 11,000 from Australia, and 3,300 from New Zealand.

New Zealand’s involvement was complicated. The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) had only been established, as an independent branch of the military, in 1937. Just two years later it was tasked with scaling up massively to meet its commitments to its allies. The plan had several levels of training, with concurrent training still happening on New Zealand air bases. The funding was also massive with an initial estimate of $989,859,904 Canadian dollars for only the first three years. New Zealand had to shoulder its part of this massive burden alongside its larger allies, a huge commitment for the fragile economy emerging from the Great Depression.

Altogether the scheme was a huge undertaking, and also hugely successful. This success is likely a large reason why it is not so well known today, as big controversies or failures were largely avoided; which also meant avoiding negative media coverage. A massive training program like this was also not a dramatic occurrence in the war, meaning the hard work largely went under the radar. But it was a massive part of the eventual victory of the Allies. None other than Winston Churchill is recorded as saying that the training scheme’s success was responsible for the Allied victory in the air war.

But what kind of people signed up for this program? Well let’s meet my grandfather, Lawrence Don Bennett. Don, as he preferred to be called, came from Canterbury and when the war broke out he was studying agriculture at Lincoln University. He’d always dreamed of owning his own land and being a farmer, living his kiwi dream.

Throughout history war has offered opportunities for advancement, and the Second World War was no different. Young men and women enlisted not only to do their duty in the fight against facism, but also in the hope of personal advancement. My grandfather did not volunteer in the hopes of personal glory or fame, however. He joined the RNZAF with the hope of advancement and service, but also with a specific goal in mind - land.

After the somewhat chaotic and difficult attempt at settling returned servicemen after World War One, the government was determined to take a more careful approach. Their work led to the Servicemen's Settlement and Land Sales Act 1943. This act was designed to avoid the high failure rate the inexperienced soldiers-turned-farmers faced in the 1920s. It chose those with preexisting farming experience as well as providing training for anyone else. Overall nearly 14,000 servicemen were given a block of land through the scheme.

Unfortunately, my grandfather was not so lucky. He left Lincoln to join the RNZAF and was quickly shipped off to Calgary where he trained as a pilot with other New Zealanders in the Air Training Scheme, but the war ended before he had finished and properly qualified for his land grant. Left disappointed, he moved to Mokuiti, a tiny farming community outside of Te Kuiti, and started his own transport company in the hopes of earning enough money to finally buy himself that land he’d always dreamed of. He worked hard, also supporting his wife and three young sons. It was not to be, however, and he died of an undiagnosed brain tumor in 1966, at only 44.

My grandfather represents the hopes and aspirations of so many young service people who joined, not only to fight for their country, but also to better themselves. The Advanced Air Training was a big part of this. New Zealand blew way past their initial goal, with around 7000 personnel moving through Canada throughout the war years, lending the RNZAF a massive pool of skilled service people to work with. This was needed, for 23% of those who were trained through the scheme never returned home.

But Don also represents the struggles of those who fall through the cracks. We tend to hear the stories of courage and success, and the stories of loss and sacrifice. But there were plenty of service people, like Don, who had fairly unremarkable service and simply went home to do their best in post-war New Zealand. Their service was not insignificant, and they contributed to the massive war machine that ground the Axis powers down. But they tend to get lost in our histories, and it is worth reflecting on the everyday struggles and missed opportunities that marked the lives of ordinary New Zealanders living in an extraordinary time.

References:

Lindsay, Ivan and Lorna (2012), In The Heavens Above: British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, RNZAF Aircrew Training Canada 1940-1945, Willsonscott Publishing International Limited. Christchurch.