Memorial events will be taking place tomorrow to honour Dauphin's contributions to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
Local Historian Al Gray says that the first event will take place at the Riverside Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. and that it will be a commemoration of the airmen who lost their lives during Dauphin's training years, 1941 through 1945.
"Dauphin was host to two air schools... the Service Flying Training School... and the... Bombing and Gunnery School, which was located [around 13 km] east of Dauphin... During the four years, we trained collectively over 9,000 airmen... Unfortunately, during the four years of training, forty-nine airmen from all over the world... were involved in aircraft-related incidents and gave their [lives] in training," he adds.
Gray went on to say that of the forty-nine airmen who died here in Dauphin, fifteen of those airmen — three Australians, three New Zealanders, eight Britons, and one Canadian — remain at the Riverside Cemetery and that they will erect a memorial tablet listing their names to highlight that they came from all over the world.
After the commemoration, there will be opening ceremonies starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Lt. Col W.G. (Billy) Barker VC Airport in Dauphin.
"We will give about a twenty-minute presentation on the history of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and including the history of the two Dauphin air schools," Gray adds.
According to Al Gray, the airport was renamed in honour of Dauphin-born William George Barker, the most decorated Canadian airman in history, for his efforts during World War I.
After the opening ceremonies, there will be a Remembrance Day-style ceremony at 1 p.m., which will include the unveiling of the memorial granite that will be donated to the airport for the public to see.
Gray says that events will be free to attend and that visitors will be able to visit the airside of the airport terminal.
"We will have three vintage WWII aircraft here in attendance. The Harvard, the Tiger Moth and the Cornell aircraft will be brought in... We have pre-sold twenty flights on these three aircraft..., so they'll be flying over the skies of Dauphin [if the weather permits] starting at nine o'clock in the morning," Gray adds.
Gray warns that visitors should arrive around fifteen minutes before the start of the events to guarantee themselves a seat and recommends that they bring a lawn chair if they can.
He went on to say that they'll be providing snacks and drinks and that visitors will get a few keepsakes to take home with them.
