Behind the glory

"Behind the glory of victory in the air during the Second World War was the greatest training scheme ever undertaken by the Allies. The politicians called it the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and based it in Canada. But its success lay in the hearts, minds and hands of a cadre of former bush pilots, barnstormers, commercial pilots, crop-dusters and ex First World War fighter pilots-the BCATP instructors who gave an air force its wings. Ted Barris interviewed more than 200 instructors, and uses their anecdotes and viewpoints to at last tell the story of Canada's unsung heroes of the…