Personal ­Notes

The idea for this book had been lurking, as it were, for several years, waiting for the right moment. With Saskatchewan and Alberta celebrating their hundred years as part of the country in 2005, it seemed a good time to focus on one of the highlights of their history. The training of aircrew shouldn’t be overlooked as one of the west’s great contributions to the free ­world.

My husband Clair grew up in Saskatchewan, first in Arcola and then for five years in the village of Caron. Then he moved with his parents to southwestern Ontario. He was born in 1934, so he was about seven when the aerodrome at Caronport was built. He remembers the big trucks rolling through town, the yellow planes arriving by train and being flown to the airfield, then the raf boys on a troop train in the middle of winter. It was pretty ­spectacular.

I started researching the bcatp several years ago. At the same time, I was playing with characters in my head. I knew I wanted to deal with the impact of the aerodrome on the village and its inhabitants. I was interested in the training and the planes and felt that if I had a protagonist of fifteen or sixteen I could do that better. So Jack Waters came to ­be.

I had an Uncle Jack who fought in the Second World War. Clair’s mother’s maiden name was Waters and the Waters family really did have a store in Caron. Grandpa Waters is buried in the Caron Cemetery close to the flyers. I wanted to honour them all, even though I never knew Clair’s ­grandparents.

I have changed the name of the village, as I was not so much writing a history as I was writing a story within a historical time and place. For me the best way of remembering facts and figures is by hanging them on the lives and stories of real or imagined ­people.

In 2005, with a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, I travelled to Saskatchewan and spent a week camped near Mortlach. I visited the Moose Jaw Archives, which were really helpful. Clair took photos of the graves and the airport (It is now a bible college). I visited the Western Development Museum and the current airfield in Moose Jaw, and talked to ­old-­timers and plane buffs. I took copious ­notes.

Since then I have reread all my notes, research materials and other books about the bcatp and written several drafts of the novel. As I prepare to send this off to Coteau Books,
I pause to say thank you to all the people who helped with research, materials, family stories, and data. A reading
list and more details about the bcatp will be available in
the Teacher’s Guide for this book.