Overview

Canada's Air Force tells the full story of the RCAF from its founding to its 100th anniversary. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was founded in 1924 as a sort of federal air service, carrying out civilian-type operations for Ottawa. In the Second World War, the RCAF grew to more than 200,000 personnel in overseas squadrons and performed virtually every type of mission, including bombing and hunting submarines. Over the decades since, the RCAF has tried valiantly to carry out its mission of defending Canada, even when starved of funds by the federal government. Today, it is once again on the verge of becoming a modern, well-equipped air force. In Canada's Air Force, historian David J. Bercuson shares the history of the first one hundred years of the Royal Canadian Air Force, from its inception in 1924 to its centennial in 2024. Drawing on memoirs, diaries, unpublished histories, archival sources, interview transcripts, and standard reference works such as The Bomber Command War Diaries, Bercuson traces the history of the RCAF as not only a fighting force but also a human institution. Canada's Air Force analyses the first century of the RCAF through the clear-eyed perspective of a Canadian historian who has closely scrutinised one hundred years of the RCAF's story.

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9781487509361

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Reviews

""As one of Canada's most preeminent military historians, David Bercuson has produced a much needed, well written, and comprehensive overview of the Royal Canadian Air Force that is perfectly timed to commemorate its 100th anniversary. This general history fills a serious gap in the literature and therefore joins the esteemed ranks of similar navy and Canadian army contributions. His final analysis is vital as it addresses the key military paradox that our nation faces; namely how we ignore the Canadian Armed Forces in time of relative peace only to see our citizens make up for such unnecessary neglect, as well unpreparedness, through bravery and blood in times of war. For this lesson alone it is a must read.""--Richard Mayne, Director and Chief Historian RCAF History and Heritage ""Based on decades of research and experience in the field of Canadian military history, Canada's Air Force is a useful and informative compendium, with a solid message about the perils of political influence on defence procurement. This book should find a home on the shelves of serving and retired RCAF personnel, historians, and professional military educators. More critically, it deserves to be read by the public and especially Canadian politicians - for whom this should be a wake-up call.""--Marc Milner, Professor Emeritus, University of New Brunswick, and Honorary Colonel, RCAF ""David J. Bercuson's well-written history of the RCAF includes original and compelling chapters on the Cold War era.""--Terry Copp, Member of the Order of Canada, and former Director of the Laurier Centre for Military and Strategic Disarmament Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University ""David J. Bercuson's jet-fuelled prose covers the RCAF's century at high speed. Canada's Air Force contains a detailed history and a multitude of personal stories that tell the Canadian air force's tale of growth, triumph and tragedy, victory, and present-day decline because of successive governments' parsimonious foolishness. Bercuson pulls no punches, and this is the book for veterans and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces.--J.L. Granatstein, author of Canada's Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace, Third Edition

Author Information

David Bercuson is a professor of history at the University of Calgary.

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