14 Wing History

Birth of an Air Station (RAF Greenwood 1942-1944)

Greenwood's birth can be attributed to the declaration of war by the United Kingdom on Germany on 3 September 1939. Canada followed suit on 10 September 1939.

One of the earliest and best known war plans to expand all Commonwealth Air Forces was the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). It was also to change the future of the tiny hamlet of Greenwood, in the center of Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.

The formal agreement, signed on 17 December 1939, created the largest air training system ever conceived, and provided a relatively safe training ground in Canada for mainly British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian airmen. The BCATP's goal was the graduation of 20,000 airmen annually from 74 training units across Canada.

Greenwood was selected for its fog-free climate.