RCAF Station Pearce
RCAF Station Pearce or RCAF Aerodrome Pearce or BCATP Station Pearce, was a Second World War training air station of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). It was located northeast of Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada.
The Pearce aerodrome was the home of three training schools: No. 36 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS), a Royal Air Force school which operated from March - August 1942 (flying Tiger Moths and Stearmans); No. 3 Air Observer School (AOS) (using Ansons), which operated from September 1942 to June 1943; and No. 2 Flying Instructor School (FIS), which flew Cornells, Cranes, Fawns, Finchs, Harvards, Oxfords, Tiger Moths and Ansons. No. 2 FIS operated from May 1943 to January 1945, having moved from Vulcan.
The aerodrome is still visible today; however, all of the structures from the old station have been removed. A memorial cairn has been installed at the site of the original guard house to inform visitors of the station's history.
References
- BCATP Information from Bombercrew.com Retrieved April 4, 2011
- BCATP Pearce from bombercommandmuseum.ca Retrieved April 4, 2011
- Bruce Forsyth's Canadian Military History Page Retrieved April 4, 2011
Coordinates: 49°50′06″N 113°14′31″W / 49.83500°N 113.24194°W