University Air Training Corps

Previous/other names: UATC; University Reserve Training Program (URTP); University Squadron

Prominent date(s) of activity: 1942 - 1944; 1951 - 1957

History: University Air Training Corps (UATC) squadrons were set up in several universities across the country and, under government regulations, were part of the Reserve of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Students interested in enlisting with Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) upon the completion of the course were encouraged to train with the UATC instead of the Canadian Officers Training Corps (COTC) — which would allow them to skip basic training, entering directly into Elementary Flight School or Navigation School. All male students, unless physically unfit, had to enlist in either the UATC or the COTC.

Though discontinued at UNB in 1944, the organization was reinstituted in the post-war era as the University Reserve Training Program (URTP).

Activities: Those enrolled in the UATC underwent approximately 125 hours of prescribed training per year for two years. Students could enrol in one of two courses: aircrew and ground training. Aircrew trained for active duty in the Air Force, while ground training was particularly suited to undergraduates studying medicine, engineering, and those specializing in navigation. Supplemented by training exercises, members of the UATC studied Air Navigation, Principles of Flight, Armament, Organization and Administration, etc.

Those enrolled in the UATC travelled to Moncton for a training camp at No. 8 S.F.T.S. in the spring of 1943, and to Yarmouth in the summer of 1944.

As the URTP, members of the organization participated in the Tri-Service shooting competition and travelled to visit relevant RCAF sites in the area.

Note(s): After the Second World War, the University Reserve Training Plan was established to ensure the training of a reserve body of Royal Canadian Air Force.

Upon reorganizing after the Second World War, the organization enrolled several female members in its ranks.

Source(s):

• The Brunswickan, vol. 62, no. 6, 30 October 1942, p. 1.
• UNB Scrapbooks (UA RG 100), 1919 - 1943. The Daily Gleaner, "University Air Training Corps Formed at U.N.B.," 28 September 1942.
• UNB Scrapbooks (UA RG 100), 1944 - 1945. The Daily Gleaner, "U.N.B. Army, Air Cadets Complete Summer Training," 4 June 1944; The Daily Gleaner, "U.N.B. Opens for Fall Term — Air Training Discontinued," 26 September 1944.
• The Brunswickan, vol. 63, no. 2, 8 October 1943, p. 1.
• Up the Hill, 1943, War Effort.
• Up the Hill, 1953, p. 89.
• Up the Hill, 1954, p. 71.
• Up the Hill, 1955.

© UNB Archives & Special Collections, 2014