YanksintheRCAF
Dedicated to my father and all those selfless Americans who bravely joined our Canadian and British friends in the fight against tyranny and terror before the US entered World War 2.
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They refused to stand back and do nothing.
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They were aware that Britain, in the fight for its life, was fighting for democracy and freedom.
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They joined the fight early for democracy and freedom.
Over 8,000 Americans went to Canada to enroll, including my father, William D. MacMonagle. He volunteered in early 1941, and is pictured above getting his wings.
The 1930’s saw the rapid rise of Nazi dictatorship in Germany. Starting in 1938, Germany began a succession of invasions, starting with the annexation of Austria. Czechoslovakia and Poland fell in 1939. In early 1940, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium all succumbed. Dunkirk, France evidenced Nazi tactical victory and the evacuation of over 300,000 British and allied forces. By late June 1940, France fell. During this time fascist Italy was allied with Germany.
In September 1940, Germany, Japan and Italy signed the Tripartite Pact – aka the Axis Alliance. Japanese aggression was leading up to the eventual attacks on Pearl harbor, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and British Malaya.
In Europe, Britain was effectively alone. Its commonwealth allies were Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The Battle of Britain began July of 1940. Britain was in the fight for its very life as a nation.
The United States was neutral, even though given its size, population, economic resources, geographic location and military potential it was an emerging super power. Americans were very divided on whether to enter the war or stay neutral. Memories of WWI were still vivid. Over half the country did not want to get involved.
A great number of Americans, though - young and old alike - were rightly concerned about Nazi aggression. For many, the conflict was viewed as between freedom and democracy versus dictatorial oppression and aggression. Our Canadian and British friends desperately needed our help.
In parallel, work was underway in Canada to address Commonwealth aviation training needs in terms of both training bases and large numbers of recruits. This included figuring out how to recruit Americans for the RCAF and RAF without violating US laws. Forward thinking American-Canadian collaboration by the Clayton Knight Committee built awareness of the urgent need and creatively facilitated recruiting efforts.
There were Americans finding ways to join the fight before early 1941. In June 1941, President Roosevelt provided his support and gave assurances that the Neutrality Act did not prevent US nationals from volunteering for the RCAF.
Volunteers flocked north. They joined the RCAF and trained in flight schools to become pilots and crew members. They volunteered to help the plight of their Canadian and British fellowmen. In the words of one American/RCAF Lancaster bomber pilot: “It did not matter to me what I did, I just went there to help out where I could.”
