de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth

The de Havilland Aircraft Company originally designed their superlative Tiger Moth for the civilian market, primarily for those pilots interested in touring or flying club activities. The breed, however, passed through a range of iterations before settling into the familiar shape we see today. For instance, de Havilland moved the upper wing forward, revised the exhaust system, and even added small doors to the fuselage to make it easier for trainee pilots to escape a stricken aircraft while wearing a parachute. Furthermore, the wings were swept back slightly to maintain the same center-of-lift as before the upper wing’s move.

By the time WWII erupted, some 1,400 Tiger Moths were already in service with military and civilian operators across the British Commonwealth. Most of the civilian-operated examples were soon impressed into military service, forming the backbone of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. At the onset of hostilities, many British-based Tiger Moths were prepared for use in maritime patrol and as last ditch light bombers, should the United Kingdom be invaded. 

Built for the Royal Air Force as T5522 in 1940, our aircraft was one of more than 3,400 examples which Morris Motors Ltd. constructed during the war at their factory in Oxford. Shipped out to Australia, the Tiger Moth joined Royal Australian Air Force Training Command, seeing a dozen years of military service ‘Down Under’. 

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan: Often referred to simply as The Plan, the BCATP involved a massive, joint military aircrew training effort at locations spread across the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during WWII, but especially Canada. The program permitted pilot training beyond the range of enemy attack, a specific concern for the British during the bleak, early days of WWII. Trainees received their initial instruction in various Commonwealth nations, but traveled to Canada for their advanced training, before their eventual deployment to front-line units. Canada received this role in the BCATP due to its proximity to both primary theaters of the war. 

The Plan ended up producing more than 130,000, fully-trained aircrew for the war effort, a magnificent achievement. Nearly half of all pilots, navigators, air gunners, radiomen, flight engineers and bombardiers who served with the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force during the war received their training via the BCATP.