Af 56 2004-2025 Form

Americans would piss their pants from laughter.Invading America is legitimately impossible. You know the saying “Never invade Russia in the winter”? Well this is Russia, but on steroids and the steroids are on steroids. China will be facing 4 MAJOR problems and if they over come them, then they MIGHT have a chance of successfully invading America. We will go through each of them in depth.The US NavyThe US MilitaryThe 7,000 mile journey from China to mainland USA then the 3,000 march from the west coast to the east coast through every climate and geographical area known to manThe US civilian populationFirst problem: The US NavyThe first problem China will have to face is the largest (in terms of tonnage) navy in the world. The US navy surpasses any navy in terms of tonnage by nearly 3 million tons. This is mainly in part due to have 11 of the largest naval vessels around known as aircraft carriers or more specifically the Nimitz Class Carriers and 1 Ford Class Carrier. These behemoths carry 90 aircraft of which 44 are fighter aircraft such as the F-18 Super Hornet and the F-35 Lightning II or the first operational carrier borne 5th generation stealth fighter.China will also have to deal with 68 of the worlds most advanced destroyers known as the Arleigh Burke class destroyer. These destroyers are loaded to the teeth with tomahawk cruise missiles that could effectively wipe out a small army with 5 of them and each destroyer carries around 56 of the missiles. Then we can’t forget the infamous US submarines. The 64 we have at sea comprises of the Los Angeles class, Virginia class, and the infamous Seawolf class submarines. We also have 18 Ohio class submarines, and these are ballistic missile submarines which can launch nuclear tipped missiles (NOTE: 4 of the 18 have been changed to carry tomahawk cruise missiles and not nuclear weapons). The biggest issue for China with the US navy which is on par with fire power, is distance. Most of China’s naval assets are diesel powered, which as we all know need to be refueled. Without any refueling ports, anything that runs off of oil will need to stay back at home. You might say, well why don’t they make oil tankers and the subs or the boats can surface and they can refuel. Well to that I say read up on Type XIV submarine the Germans tried to make submarines that carried fuel to refuel the U-boats to extend the range. Problem is that when submarines are surfaced and are idling, they stick out like a hungry baby at 3AM, also any surface vessel from China would instantly pop up on radar and a massive strike fighter squadron would intercept along with missile attacks. Also, it should be noted that the US navy has the SECOND largest Air Force in the world. That’s right a single branch has more planes than any other country by nearly 200 planes.Now let’s say China does get through the entire US navy, which is an impossible feat on its own. But for answers sake let’s say they do.Second problem: The US MilitaryWe can’t forget the 4 other branches! If some how the Chinese got through the US Navy, now they have to deal with the landing phases. We can effectively count out any aerial invasion as the US Air Force would intercept hundreds of miles out at sea, also the longest transport plane range for China is the Shaanxi Y-9 which which is 3,500 miles or about 2,000 miles short of the shortest distance between the USA and China. And aerial refueling is a no go either because the farthest range for a tanker is 3,700 miles and the tankers have no place to land because the nearest island to the USA is Hawaii and that’s 6,500 miles from China so the planes still can’t make it to the Island. And remember all the planes need to get back to China. So which cuts the tankers distance in half to 1,850 miles. So the tankers could give the transports another 1,850 miles which is STILL 1,650 miles short of America. China could theoretically do it if they are willing to loose their entire tanker and transport fleet. And then we can take out all fighters and bombers because all the fighters and bombers max combat range is 1,000 miles and below. So China effectively has no air support. And to make it worse, all the transport ships China has, don’t have enough range to get to the USA and back! But let’s take range of the transport ships out of the equation and they have unlimited range.They would be effectively taken out miles away from mainland USA from either the US Air Force or the M270 MLRS. But let’s say they get though and they begin to land in California. They now have to fight 200,000 US military personnel that are fighting on their home soil for their home along with hundreds of planes and helicopters for support. And the Chinese are fighting on an unknown terrain, 7,000 miles away from home with no air support or supplies.Third problem: The JourneyAs stated above. China and the US are far apart for a lack of better words. Moving the amount of troops and supplies needed to invade the USA is impossible and it would be a logistical nightmare for any military. The amount of troops, bullets, food, water, living supplies and everything in between would be absolutely astronomical. And then if some how some way they overcome the impossible. They have American geography to deal with. It would be Urban Warfare, Arctic Warfare, Mountain Warfare, Open Warfare, and Jungle/swamp Warfare. Urban warfare with all the HUGE American cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Arctic Warfare in the northern states and the mountains. Mountain warfare in the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada, and the Appalachian mountains. Open Warfare in the entire MidWest as it’s insanely flat and no cover, then you have jungle/swamp warfare in the southern states, mainly in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. All of these warfares would be fought simultaneously such as urban, mountainous, and arctic warfare in Denver. Or Arctic and Mountain in the Rockies. Moving tanks, troops, and supplies through mountains is an impossible feat. Then moving the same stuff through the plains and the jungle is impossible again due to being susceptible to attack’s and they have no where to hide. Also, in urban warfare, every single floor would need to be cleared, and that’s a major challenge in of its self.*all photos from America*By now the armies have to be exhausted. But America is just getting started.Fourth problem: Civilian populationAmericans are deeply patriotic, we might just be the most patriotic country in the world. Tying into the 3rd problem, we have the American People. When the troops and supplies are moving through all the different areas, they will have to face off against the United States People. We have 103 guns PER 100 people or about enough guns for every American and giving a second gun to all the veterans. Then, we have nearly 2 TRILLION bullets. America would form militias and harass and destroy any invading force. They would be fighting around 120+ million pissed off Americans fighting for their home soil. All together they would be facing nearly 300 million Americans who would band together to help each other while nearly 100 million would fight.We already have dozens of organized militias filled with armed Americans both civilians and ex-military. Such as the 3 percenters, Arizona Border Recon, and the Texas Lightfoot Militia. All these plus millions more would band together to fight for their home and for their loved ones against any invader.Looks like a real military squad doesn’t it?Overall, if China decided to invade America, it would be suicide and just flat out stupid. No country on earth could or would invade the USA because it would cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars to invade a place that would probably not stay under your control for long due to the uprising of Americans.Edit: Wow, thanks you guys for the support!! Lots of comments, I’ll try my best to respond. Cheers!

Yes. You can fill the form and appear for exam both as an airman or officer any number of times till you are within the age range and possess the educational qualification. It is the CPSS/PABT exam where you can appear only once (to join as a pilot), whether you pass or fail.

Since the end of WW2, no other aircraft has dominated the skies as completely as the F-15. It is arguably one of the greatest fighter aircraft ever produced. James McDonnell, founder of McDonnell Douglas christened it as "Eagle" and it has performed like one- with an astounding a 104–0 kill ratio. Out of these, 95 kills were made by pilots flying the F-15C. A total of 62 of these kills are attributed to the well trained and well equipped Israeli Air force facing off against weak Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian air forces. The Eagle's absolute dominance in air combat speaks volumes of the tremendous overall superiority of the aircraft in comparison to contemporary enemy aircraft.The Eagle's remarkable success story is primarily based on a combination of its radar, situational awareness sensors, engines, and airframe design. Despite the original F-15A making its first flight over 45 years ago, the aircraft will remain in production till 2027, exactly 55 years after the F-15 made its first flight! In an era where fighter aircraft lose currency in a decade, the F-15 continues to remain relevant. The newest F-15EX, which will fly alongside the F-35 and F-22 is a testament to its development potential.The F-15 design was influenced in large part by the Energy-maneuverability theory proposed by Col. John Boyd and Thomas Christie. Boyd was one of the greatest air combat tacticians in history who flew combat missions in the Korean war. Christie worked as a defense analyst who had access to high powered computers. Boyd was a vocal critic of the direction aircraft designers had taken during the 1950′s and 60′s by producing fighter aircraft that couldn't dogfight. His small but influential band of acolytes affectionately known as ‘Fighter Mafia’ chiseled out the specifications of the next generation of air superiority aircraft. His EM theory remains an integral part of every pilot's coursework since early 1970′s.The lack of high lift leading edge devices has consistently put the Eagle at a disadvantage in dogfight against all modern 4+ generation aircraft. The addition of latest generation of BVR missiles and long-range AESA radar has substantially reduced the necessity of visual combat for the F-15 pilot. The F-15 is also the last US fighter aircraft to feature the antiquated analog/augmented hydraulic control stick. All modern fighters manufactured after the F-15 incorporate “relaxed static stability” control systems to enhance combat maneuverability.Since the early stages of the program, the F-15 garnered overwhelming support within the USAF, Washington, and DOD. Being a high end aircraft, the F-15 featured a comprehensive avionics suite, powerful radar, and an airframe made of almost 26% Titanium alloys. This made the F-15 an expensive aircraft to buy and operate. This was where the F-16 came in and took up the slack. The F-16 was originally designed to perform the low-end duties of the USAF “High-Low” tactical mix. Costing less than half to build and operate, the F-16 ended up being purchased in greater numbers by USAF.The F-15 was the first fighter capable of exceeding the speed of sound in vertical flight. With an empty weight of 32,000 pounds and the engines producing over 48,000 pounds of thrust, a lightly loaded F-15A could climb to 30,000 feet in 60 seconds and 65,000 feet in only 122. In comparison, F-14 Tomcat that made it's debut just two years earlier with a lower technology TF-30 engine gave it a thrust-to-weight ratio of 0.87. McDonnell Douglas engineers wisely chose the revolutionary Pratt & Whitney F-100 powerplant for the F-15. This engine introduced Single Crystal turbine blade technology in the high-pressure compressor section. The engine suffered from several operational issues. Unable to resolve engine reliability and maintenance issues, Pratt and Whitney introduced a modified PW220 engine in 1986. The engine also incorporated a digital electronic engine control (DEEC) and is still in service.Situational awareness is the key to success in air combat. Almost 80% of the US pilots who were shot down in Vietnam were unaware of the presence of enemy aircraft. The F-15 was the first fighter that inducted an array of situational awareness sensors in the form of an internal electronic warfare system. The F-15A EW suite consisted of ALR-56 radar warning receiver, ALQ-128 launch warning system, ALQ-155 tail warning system, AAR-38 infra-red missile warning system, and the ALQ-135 internal jammer. The AN/APG-63 radar possessed a “look up, look down” capability and 130+ mile range. Later Eagle models added a programmable signal processor (PSP) that could be updated without sending any hardware back to the manufacturer.The more potent F-15C/D models entered service in 1979. Major modifications included an increase in internal fuel capacity by 2,000 lbs and the ability to carry conformal fuel tanks and a more reliable radar. Maximum takeoff weight was increased to 68,000 pounds. The F-15E 'Strike' Eagle broke new ground by modifying the Eagle into a two-seat, multirole aircraft in 1989. The Eagle thus took over the mantle of the F-111 without compromising its outstanding aerodynamic performance. The Strike Eagle is powered with the F100-P229 engines, rated at over 29,000 lbs of thrust, and current state of the art AN/APG-82(V)1 AESA radar and EW suite. With almost 30,000 lbs of weapons carriage capacity, the F-15E one of the most potent strike aircraft ever produced. Not bad for an aircraft that was designed for air superiority role.The US F-15 fleet was also equipped with EPAWSS ECM in 2008.South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, and Israel have purchased bespoke versions of the F-15’s. The Qatari F-15QA Eagle features a complete wing structural redesign, a digital fly by wire system, Helmet Mounted Cueing System in both cockpits that will allow for lock after launch capability of the AIM-9X II short-range missiles. The F-15QA also features a large, single panel touch screen display, and a more compact HUD. The latest long-range AIM-120D BVR missile will perform long-range interception duties.The latest and definitive F-15 model is the F-15EX which is basically an F-15QA on steroids. It has been designed to operate in less contested/low denial airspace. The USAF intends to purchase approximately 140 aircraft. This model will also be equipped with the ALQ-239 EW suite which has its origins in the F-35 ECM suite. In a typical air to ground configuration, the F-15EX will act as a “bomb truck” that can carry almost 30,000 pounds of bombs. The F-15EX also incorporates the world's fastest mission computer to mesh it's own radar/sensor suite with the F-35 sensors and software. It will also be able to work in conjunction with the F-22 Raptor while acting as a “missile truck”. It is expected to carry large and heavy hypersonic and ultra long range air to air missiles that are currently under development. Various aviation sources have suggested that the F-15EX is designed for 8,000 flight hours (almost 40 years of flying), while Boeing website claims a 20,000 hours service life (100 years)!Various combinations of weapons that the F-15EX will carry include the following;Twenty-two AIM-120D and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles on specially designed AMBER missile racks.Eight air-to-air missiles and 28 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs).Seven 2,000 lb guided bombs and eight AIM-120D air-to-air missiles.The direction that USAF has taken by procuring 4th generation aircraft clearly illustrates that equipping USAF with 100% Stealth aircraft may be too expensive and counterproductive in specific situations. The F-15EX can carry more missiles and bombs than the internal weapons bay of four F-22 or F-35. Since Stealth aircraft are expensive to maintain and operate, it wouldn't make much sense to deliberately turn them into unstealthy aircraft. The purchase of the F-15EX will also raise further questions whether 5th generation aircraft can be supplanted and augmented by lower cost 4th generation aircraft flying in tandem in future high-end combat scenarios.In conclusion, the expected purchase of the F-15EX has opened up a new chapter for a future generation of aviation fans to be able to witness one of the greatest flying machines in the coming decades.An F-15 marketing infographic (above) Image Credit: BoeingA condensed infographic comparison (above) between the latest F-15EX and F-35. Image Credit Airforce Magazine.The schematic (above) shows how single-crystal turbine blades are manufactured in a mold inside a vacuum furnace. The F-100 engine that powered F-15A was designed with this revolutionary turbine technology. Image Credit: Machine DesignThe 1st F-15 during flight testing, in MD flight testing colors. Image credit: WikipediaReferences1- Exclusive: Unmasking The F-15X, Boeing's F-15C/D Eagle Replacement Fighter2- Boeing Wins $208M Deal for Developing F-15 Legion IRST Pods3- Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS)4- Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System5- New wings on Qatar F-15s pave upgrade path for USAF6- https://www.militaryaerospace.com7- F-15K Slam Eagle - Airforce Technology8- AN/APG-82(V)1 AESA Radar9- America Is "Close to Maxing Out" Its Deadly AIM-12010- McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle - Wikipedia11- Pratt & Whitney F100 - Wikipedia12- Rethinking the High-Low Mix, Part II: Complexity’s Death Spiral13- relaxed static stability14- 40 Years of the ‘Fighter Mafia’15- Energy–maneuverability theory - Wikipedia16- F-15 Eagle: The Air Force's Old Fighter17- AN/APG-63 radar family18- F-15 Eagle19- John Boyd20- F-15E 'Strike' Eagle - Air force Technology21- F100 Engine - Pratt & Whitney22- The Air Force is eyeing an F-15 variant nobody wants while continuing to struggle with the F-3523- https://www.americanscientist.or...24- LANTIRN Pod25- Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod - Wikipedia26- F-15EX Eagle Fighter Jet vs. Lockheed's F-35: Let the Showdown Begin27- F-15EX vs. F-35A28- https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/...29- AN/ALQ-12830- Missile approach warning system - Wikipedia31- AN/ALQ-135 Radar Jamming32- AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile33- US20170259919A1 - Multiple missile and bomb carriage system - Google Patents34- ALQ-239 Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS)35- AIM-9X Sidewinder Air-to-Air Missile - Airforce Technology36- During Operation Desert Storm IrAF MiG-25s claimed to have shot down a USAF F-15C. And a Bedouin smuggler confirmed the kill. - The Aviation Geek Club37- AIM-120D AMRAAM38- Sec Wilson F15EX Needed to Fill Capacity Gaps39- Analysts Bash Idea of Buying F-15X Fighters for Air Force

Ah ! This is something I can answer as I am precisely researching on francos in WW2. I can give more details for the Air Force as I am reading about that at the moment. I was planning to write a blog entry about this in a few months but well, let’s do that a bit earlier.Okay so first of all, you have to realize that in that time, French is clearly the subordinated language. It’s rarely if not never used in military operations.Land ArmyThe most friendly division of the Canadian Army at that time is the Land Army, especially the infantry, because there were for a long time, especially since WW1, francophone regiments. Example :22nd RegimentChaudière RegimentFusiliers Mont-Royal…to name just a few.This was a major issue since a lot of francophones in the countryside did not know English at all, or those who did have classes still were not good enough to read a technical manual in English or take part to military operations in English.During the 1930’s, there were two infantry brigades : one francophone, the other bilingual.13th Infantry Bridage (francophone)Chaudière RegimentMontmagny RegimentSaguenay RegimentFusiliers du Saint-Laurent15th Infantry Brigade (“bilingual”) :Québec City RegimentRoyal Rifles (anglophones)Lévis RegimentVoltigeurs of Québec CityThere was another one :The Hull Regiment, “bilingual”, part of the 8th Brigade“Bilingual”, as usual, means that everything happens in English there.Until 1939, only the 22nd Regiment is partially trained in French. ALL the 102 instruction manuals are in English. All the orders are given in English and the internal correspondance is in English.Until 1936, those who had the ability to speak French and to serve as interpreter in that language had the mention “Foreign Languages”. Therefore French was regarded as no more signNow than German would be in the context of Canada.Therefore, the francophones contribution was disproportionately in the infantry because it was the only part of the army that was a bit friendly to them, it was the only place an unilingual could go.« lorsque je me suis enrôlé dans l’ARC [Aviation royale du Canada], l’Aviation et la Marine étaient considérés au Québec comme une chasse gardée des anglophones. Rares, très rares même, étaient les Canadiens français qui croyaient avoir leur place dans l’Aviation ou la Marine, surtout à cause des barrières linguistiques. Dans le cas de l’Armée, c’était autre chose. »(Gilles Lamontagne, membre de la 425e escadrille Alouette)“when I enlisted in the RCAF [Royal Canadian Air Force], the Air Force and the Marine were regarded in Québec as the private turf of the anglophones. Rare, very rare in fact were the French Canadians that believed they had their place in the Air Force or the Marine, especially due to the linguistic barriers. In the case of the Army, it was something else.”(Gilles Lamontagne, member of the 425th Alouette Squadron)There were many francos that did heroic deeds in the Infantry : Paul Triquet (famous for his capture of the Casa Berardi, Moro River Campaign, in Italy) and Léo Major (the Quebecer real-life Rambo that fought alone an entire nazi garrison in the Dutch city of Zwolle while he only had one eye and a broken back) or Jacques Dextraze (a commander peculiarly liked by his men).Source : Les Canadiens-français et le bilinguisme dans les Forces armées canadiennes, tome I.Air ForceUntil 1942, there existed no specifically francophone squadron and even then, you would not be able to use French as language of the operations there. During the war, francos were only 10 % of the Air Force personnel.Before 1942, francophones would necessarily be incorporated into anglophone units in which they would be a tiny minority, and quite often it would be in the Royal Air Force in England. No francophone could not be bilingual.Air Force : Recruitment in QuébecAnd it was a HUGE logistic mess to recruit francophones for this reason, since the bar to enter the Air Force was too high, despite there were potential candidates that were interested. I have to detail how much of a mess the recruitment of the Air Force in Québec was.First of all, since both the Air Force and the Marine were so unfriendly to francophones, they had no visibility in Québec. Without a communication plan specifically targeted at francos, it’s as if they did not exist. And there was some interest to enlist in the Air Force. For example, the citizens of Granby asked their mayor how they could enlist in the Air Force…In the Air Force recruitment centre of Québec City, many of the candidates did not know English and would have been incapable of understanding the instructions of the sub-officers. Despite this, some unilinguals would be recruited anyway. In 1940, 108 recruits on 182 were francophone and 16 of them did not know English.All the forms used for the recruitment process were in English. The three most important forms would be translated.Sometimes, the zeal of the recruiters to get some francos in the Air Force was excessive and they misinformed the candidates. In Québec City, some people were told that they could attend their classes in French in the Technical School of St. Thomas, which was false.This is why the Air Force had no choice but to open English Schools. The No. 4 Manning Depot in Québec City taught English.According to Gilbert Boulanger, in Québec City :« Durant les quatre mois que je passe au camp, l’apprentissage de l’anglais occupe la majeure partie de mon temps. Pour réussir dans l’aviation, il faut connaître cette langue. »“During the four months I passed at the camp, the learning of English occupied most of my time. To succeed in the Air Force, it is necessary to know this language.”(Gilbert Boulanger, L’alouette affolée : Un adolescent à la guerre, La Pocatière, Impressions Soleil, 2006, p. 53.)The English bias was even more problematic in Montréal. They had the silly idea to put their recruitment center far in the West, where there were no francophones (the majority of the city). As a result, they would never be seen by francos since they did not frequent these places. This is why they had to buy in 1941 a venue in the East (Saint-Denis / Sainte-Catherine corner) otherwise they would not get francos. In November 1941, the commander of the No. 13 Recruitment Centre in Montréal, the lieutenant L. P. Gélinas, was still waiting the “Ability to Learn Tests” in French because a lot of people did not understand English enough to pass the test in English.The education system in Québec was also at odds with what the Air Force wanted. Many people in Québec attended the « collèges classiques », in which you learned Latin, Greek, Philosophy and Theology… While they did learn things like Mathematics, the required level for the Air Force would not be signNowed until later in the curriculum so the franco recruits had to be taught mathematics to have the necessary knowledge. Some Quebecers lived in New England and studied there… the problem is that they would forget to come with a certification of the studies they did.« La bonne éducation classique que j’avais reçue, le Grec, le Latin, l’histoire, la philosophie, la théologie, ne serviraient pas beaucoup lorsque le moment viendrait de taper un message en code Morse. » (Guy Rainville)“The good classical education that I had received, Greek, Latin, history, philosophy, theology, would not serve much when it would be time to type a message in Morse code.” (Guy Rainville)In Victoriaville, the only francophone instructor had a poor English.Air Force : Training in English CanadaA bit of the training of the aircraftmen could be partially in French in Québec I presume but later they would go to Toronto (Ontario) to learn English. It’s amusing to note that Toronto had a quite bad reputation among francos and so many were not quite enthusiast to go there… another deterrent to recruitment…« Le train arrive à Toronto à 7h, le matin d’un premier juillet chaud et humide. C’était ma première visite dans la ville reine, foyer des sentiments impérialistes, colonialistes, anticatholiques et antifrançais, selon mes contemporains. Peu importe ce que j’avais entendu ou lu, j’étais déterminé à mettre de côté tous mes préjugés, d’apprendre l’anglais, de voir les choses par moi-même et de ne pas juger hâtivement. »“The train arrives in Toronto at 7 hours, the morning of a warm and wet first of July. It was my first visit in the Queen City, the home of the imperialist, colonialist, anticatholic and anti-French sentiments, according to my contemporaries. No matter what I had heard or read, I was determined to put aside all my prejudices, to learn English, to see things by myself and not judge hastily.”(Guy Rainville)Even Guy Rainville, that actively wanted to learn English fast in Toronto, had difficulty.« De notre groupe de cinq cents recrues très peu parlaient le français, et dans mes efforts déterminés à apprendre l’anglais, la langue d’instruction, j’évitai cette minorité. À l’école j’avais appris suffisamment d’anglais pour lire et écrire, mais lorsque je tentais de mettre deux phrases ensemble tout cela semblait être oublié. Maintenant j’écoutais chaque parole, j’étudiais en anglais lors de mon temps libre. Un jour un officier s’arrêta près de moi, observant des recrues qui faisaient de la boxe ; je l’ai salué vivement. Il me corrigea : « Ne salue pas sans ton képi ! » et j’en fus surpris. Cette information m’était passée par-dessus la tête et je ne pouvais offrir aucune excuse. »“Of our group of five hundreds recruits very few spoke French, and in my determined efforts to learn English, the language of instruction, I avoided this minority. In school I had learned enough English to read and write, but when I was trying to put two sentences together all of this seemed to be forgotten. Now I listened to each spoken word, I studied in English during my free time. One day and officer stopped next to me, observing the recruits doing boxing; I saluted him swiftly. He corrected me: “Do not salute without your kepi!” and I was surprised about that. That information passed over my head and I could provide no excuse.”(Guy Rainville)In the leisure time, there were among other things concerts organized by the Orange Lodge, the archenemy of francophones. Franco-Ontarians had a secret organization called l’Ordre de Jacques Cartier, or more informally « la Patente », meant to resist against the Orange Lodge.Afterwards they had a more specialized training for the specific job they did in the Air Force. Gilbert Boulanger was sent to No. 7 Flight School in Summerside, on the Prince Edward Island. He also had difficulties with English there…« Ma connaissance très limité de la langue de Shakespeare a failli un jour me mettre dans de beaux draps. Mon caporal est parti dîner et je suis seul au bureau. Le chef instructeur, le Squadron Leader, Eric Webster, entre soudainement et me dit d’une voix tonitruante : … Aircraftman Boulanger, go and tell all flights that this will be dual only… Yes sir!… Je suis terrifié à la vue de cet officier. Il boite et il a les cheveux roux. Il ne sourit jamais. Il « jappe » ses ordres. Je n’ai rien compris. La peur me rend sourd. Je sais que je dois sortir, aller quelque part dire quelque chose à quelqu’un. Je ne peux rester dans le bureau attendre le caporal. Incertain et à pas lents, je m’approche du premier hangar. Il a bien dit flights et il y en a six. Puis, go veut dire aller. Donc, je dois aller voir les flights et leur dire dual only. Je n’ai aucune idée du sens de dual only. J’ouvre la porte du Flight A et constate que les élèves pilotes sont calmes ; ils jouent aux cartes ou aux dés. D’une voix incertaine, je dis : … Dual only ... What did you say? … Dual only… À cet ordre, les aviateurs se répètent les uns aux autres ce fameux dual only. Cela les met dans tous leurs états. Alors ils se ruent tous en même temps et ils enfilent leur combinaison de vol, leurs bottes, leur casque et leur parachute. Ils parlent tous en même temps. Je ne sais pas ce que je leur ai dit, mais ils semblent assez contents. Avec un peu plus d’audace, je donne le même signal aux Flights B, C et D. À mon commandement, les pilotes se comportent exactement comme ceux du Flight A.[…] Je continue ma ronde ainsi de suite jusqu’au Flight E au 3e hangar. Les aviateurs réagissent avec enthousiasme à mon dual only. Arrivé au Flight F, je me rends compte de l’importance de ce mot qui sème tout ce joyeux brouhaha. Mon DUAL ONLY est maintenant important. Je l’ordonne avec force et de façon très militaire. À la sortie du hangar, je vois les avions Harvard entourés de mécaniciens et élèves pilotes qui se préparent. Le bruit est infernal. Déjà quelques avions volent et d’autres quittent la rampe entourés de nuages de gaz d’échappement qui se mêlent à la neige dans un tourbillon menaçant.Tête haute, au pas militaire, confiant, je retourne à la tour de contrôle. M’approchant, tout à coup un doute terrible s’empare de moi. Que veut dire ce dual only? Et si j’avais mal compris? Si dual only voulait dire que deux avions seulement pouvaient voler! Alors, je me sens misérable et je m’imagine tous les reproches qui vont m’être adressés. Je me vois déjà au cachot au pain et à l’eau.Je retrouve le caporal à son bureau. Le Squadron Leader Webster m’ignore totalement. […] Ça y est, me dis-je, il va me tomber dessus […] Mais rien de grave ne semble se produire. Que veut bien dire ce fameux dual only? Ce n’est que plus tard au mess hall que j’ose demander à un camarade la signification de ces mots : […] Dis-moi, que veut dire l’expression dual only? […] Tu ne sais donc pas? Étant donné le mauvais temps, les élèves doivent voler avec leurs instructeurs seulement. Donc dual only signifie en double commande, me répond-il en riant. […] Voilà pourquoi il y avait tant d’animation et tant de cries [sic] de joies. Il y avait du vrai dans l’expression : « Trop peu de connaissances est dangereux. » »(Gilbert Boulanger, L’alouette affolée : Un adolescent à la guerre, La Pocatière, Impressions Soleil, 2006, pp. 55-58.)“My very limited knowledge of the language of Shakespeare almost put me in a right mess. My corporal went to dine and I am alone at the office. The Chief Instructor, the Squadron Leader Eric Webster, suddenly enters and tells me with a thundering voice: …Aircraftman Boulanger, go and tell all flights that this will be dual only… Yes sir!… I am terrified at the sight of that officer. He limps and he has red hair. He never smiles. He “barks” his orders. I understood nothing. Fear makes me deaf. I know I must get out, go some place tell something to someone. I cannot stay in the office waiting for the corporal. Unsure and walking at a slow pace, I approach the first hangar. He did say flights and there are six. Then, go means aller. Therefore, I must aller see the flights and tell them dual only. I have no idea of the meaning of dual only. I open the door of the A Flight and notice that the pilot students are calm; they are playing cards or dices. With an unsure voice, I say: …Dual only… What did you say? …Dual only… To this order, the aircraftmen repeat to each other this much talked dual only. This gets them into a lather. Then, they all rush at the same time and equip their flight suit, their boots, their helmet and their parachute. They all speak at the same time. I do not know what I told them, but they seem quite happy. With a bit more audacity, I give the same signal to the B, C, and D Flights. To my command, the pilots behave exactly like those of the A Flight.[…] I continue my tour and so on until the E Flight in the 3rd hangar. The aircraftmen react with enthusiasm to my dual only. Having signNowed the F Flight, I realize the importance of that word that spreads all this joyful hubbub. My DUAL ONLY now is important. I order it with strenght and in a very military way. At the exit of the hangar, I see the Harvard planes surrounded by mechanics and pilot students that are preparing themselves. The noise is infernal. Already, some planes are flying and other are leaving the ramp surrounded by clouds of exhaust gas that mix to the snow in a menacing whirlwind.Head high, military pace, confident, I go back to the control tower. Approaching, suddenly a terrible doubt seizes me. If dual only meant that only two planes could fly! Then, I feel miserable and I imagine all the reproaches that will be directed towards me. I already see myself in the cell on bread and water.I retrieve the corporal to his office. The Squadron Leader Webster totally ignores me. […] This is it, I tell myself, he will give me a bad time. […] But nothing grave seems to be happening. What does that damned dual only means? It’s only later at the mess hall that I dare t o ask to a comrade the meaning of these words : […] Dis-moi, que veut dire l’expression dual only? […] Tu ne sais donc pas? Étant donné le mauvais temps, les élèves doivent voler avec leurs instructeurs seulement. Donc dual only signifie en double commande [You don’t know? Due to the bad weather, the students must fly with their instructors only. So dual only means double piloting], he answers laughing. […] That’s why there was so much animation and so many cries of joy. There was truth in the expression: « Trop peu de connaissances est dangereux. » [“Too little knowledge is dangerous.”]”(Gilbert Boulanger, L’alouette affolée : Un adolescent à la guerre, La Pocatière, Impressions Soleil, 2006, pp. 55-58.)Air Force : Being a francophone in EnglandUp there in England there could be some francophones. The Acadian Laurie Cormier met a Belgian. Gabriel Taschereau also met some French.« Le gars en charge des mitrailleurs venait de la Belgique. Il parlait français. Un jour, il m’a dit qu’ils voulaient trois avions de l’OTU pour aller en mer du Nord à la recherche d’avions américains qui étaient disparus en revenant d’un raid contre Hambourg. […] Normalement, ils prenaient des instructeurs pour aller sur ces vols, mais il n’y en avait pas assez pour faire trois équipages. J’ai demandé au Belge si je pouvais y aller. Il m’a répondu que je n’avais pas encore fini mon entraînement. Je lui ai dit que ça ne faisait rien. Il a demandé la permission au commandant, et c’est comme ça que j’ai fait mon premier voyage. […] Ils m’ont mis dans la tourelle avant. C’était un équipage international : le pilote était un Anglais, le navigateur venait de l’Australie, l’opérateur radio était un Américain dans l’aviation canadienne, moi, j’étais dans la tourelle avant, et le Belge était dans celle d’en arrière. Nous avons fait ce qu’on appelait un « square search ». »“The guy in charge of the gunners was from Belgium. He spoke French. One day, he said that they wanted three planes of the OTU to go in the Northern Sea to look for American planes that were disappeared coming back from a raid against Hamburg. […] Normally, they took instructors to go on these flights, but there was not enough to make three crews. I asked the Belgian if I could go. He answered that I did not finish my training yet. I told him it didn’t matter. He asked the permission to my commander, and this is how I did my first trip. […] They put me in the front turret. It was an international crew : the pilot was an English, the navigator was from Australia, the radio operator was an American in the Canadian Air Force, me, I was in the front turret and the Belgian was in the back one. We did what we called a “square search”.”(Laurie Cormier, cité dans Ronald Cormier (dir.), Entre bombes et barbelés : Témoignage d’aviateurs et de prisonniers de guerre acadiens, 1939-1945, Moncton, Les éditions d’Acadie, 1990, pp. 74-75.)So, some francophones served in the Royal Air Force before 1942, like the Quebecers Guy Rainville and Gabriel Taschereau, or the Acadians Laurie Cormier and Roger Pichette.From a francophone perspective, the English of England were much nicer than the English of Canada. The Acadian Roger Pichette said:« Nous avons été très bien reçus par les Britanniques. Tu étais simplement un Canadien même si tu avais un accent français. Ce n’était pas la même mentalité de « goddam Frenchman » qu’on trouvait au Canada, dans des endroits comme Campbellton [au Nouveau-Brunswick], où j’ai grandi. Je trouvais que c’était fantastique. Ils nous appelaient les « bloody Colonials », mais c’était en riant. » (Roger Pichette, dans Entre bombes et barbelés : Témoignage d’aviateurs et de prisonniers de guerre acadiens, 1939-1945, Moncton, Les éditions d’Acadie, 1990, p. 27.)« We were received very well by the British. You simply were a Canadian even if you had a French accent. It was not the same mentality of « goddam Frenchman » that was found in places like Campbellton [in New Brunswick], where I grew. I found it was wonderful. They would call us the « bloody Colonials », but while laughing. »(Roger Pichette, dans Entre bombes et barbelés : Témoignage d’aviateurs et de prisonniers de guerre acadiens, 1939-1945, Moncton, Les éditions d’Acadie, 1990, p. 27.)Being a mere “bloody colonial” was an upgrade of status compared to home.They always had a certain passive hatred for the British Empire, but now they were in England, they could get a dramatically different impression of the English. Guy Rainville was moved by the spectacle of a little girl getting out of rubbles in London that shouted her anger at the Luftwaffe:« Est-ce que l’Angleterre était une histoire de ses conquêtes, ses colonies, sa puissance en mer, et sa flotte? Ce n’est sûrement pas l’Angleterre détestée de mes livres d’histoire, le pays de la monarchie, de l’aristocratie, Albion fière et perfide. C’était un pays d’humanité souffrante. Rien ne pouvait changer la vérité sur mes observations à l’égard de sa structure sociale, mais mon cœur fut ému. Malgré une attitude orgueilleuse, voyant cette guerre comme une aventure personnelle, malgré mon fatalisme, car la mort semblait préférable aux années de désespoir dont j’avais souffert, je commençais à voir une autre dimension, à entendre un message. Du creuset de la douleur est sortie une petite fille courageuse; devant moi elle avait vécu la misère, la terreur d’une attaque sans défenses. Se cachant la nuit sous le barrage de bombes elle était sortie des ruines, sale mais glorieuse, les yeux rebelles, une épée d’acier trempé, prête à se venger - c’était elle l’Angleterre ! » (Guy Rainville)"Was England a story of her conquests, her colonies, her power on the seas, and her fleet? This is surely not the England hated in my history books, the country of monarchy, of aristocracy, proud and perfidious Albion. It was a country of suffering humanity. Nothing could change the truth on my observations pertaining to its social structure, but my heart was moved. Despite a big-headed attitude, seeing this war like a personal adventure, despite my fatalism, because death seemed preferable to the years of despair that I lived, I started to see another dimension, to hear a message. From the crucible of pain a brave little girl has got out; before me she lived destitution, the terror of an attack without defenses. Hiding at night under the barrages of bombs she got out of the ruins, dirty but glorious, the eyes rebellious, a tempered steel sword, ready to avenge herself - it was her, England!" (Guy Rainville)Air Force: The creation of a “francophone” squadronIt’s not because in 1942 there would be a “French Canadian” squadron that it would actually do anything in French in the operations.« Il faut savoir garder présent à l’esprit que, même si j’appartenais à une escadrille dite « canadienne-française », tout ce qui s’y faisait officiellement l’était de langue anglaise. De même, les Français qui composaient les deux escadrilles de bombardement cantonnées à Elvington, près de York, utilisaient eux aussi le langage de la Royal Air Force avec beaucoup de bonne volonté. »(Gabriel Taschereau, Du salpêtre dans le gruau : Souvenirs d’escadrille, 1939-1945, Sillery, Septentrion, 1993, p. 20.)“One must keep in mind that, even if I belonged to a so-called “French Canadian” Squadron, everything that was officially done there was in the English language. Likewise, the French that composed the two bombing squadrons in Elvington, near York, also used the language of the Royal Air Force with a lot of good will.”(Gabriel Taschereau, Du salpêtre dans le gruau : Souvenirs d’escadrille, 1939-1945, Sillery, Septentrion, 1993, p. 20.)In 1942, there was a plebiscite done by the federal liberal government of William Lyon Mackenzie King. He had promised Québec that there would be no conscription. The 1939 elections in Québec were won by the liberals for the SOLE reason that the federal minister Ernest Lapointe said that if the other party won that election, he would resign and there would be no obstacle left to a conscription. Now Mackenzie King wanted to go back on his word, so he organized a referendum in 1942 to request to be allowed to go back on his word. This caused as usual a major crisis since pretty much all the francophones were strongly opposed to it and all the anglophones, that often were still recent immigrants from England, were for. The liberals of Québec were also pretty embarrassed since the prime minister Godbout of Québec promised to resign and fight the Liberal Party should a conscription happen. This destroyed the liberals of Québec for almost 20 years : during the 1944 and 1948 elections, the liberals of Québec would be completely wiped out.Wilfrid Sanders did a poll in June 1942 : 60 % of the French Canadians said that Canadian pilots should form a distinct combat air force [from England], while only 21 % of the anglophones agreed with that statement.Also, 56 % of the French Canadians believed that Canada would not participate to this war if it was completely independent or did not belong to the British Empire. 70 % of the French Canadians believed that Canada was dependent on the UK.I keep saying it, anglos NEVER wanted their independence from England, they were forced by the UK to be independent.Therefore, recruitment was going to be even more difficult due to the anger of Québec against the injustice of being forced into a war it did not care about and due to the absence of welcoming units for them, and the perception of subordination to England. It was urgent to do something.The Minister of Defense responsible for the Air Force in 1940–1944 was Charles Gavan Power (nicknamed Chubby). He was of Irish origin and was previously an MP from Québec City, so he was friendly to francophones. It was him that created the 425th Squadron and he was adamant on this project and overcame the oppositions to it. For example, the vice-marshall L. F. Stevenson opposed it because it would be a lost opportunity to melt the French and English Canadians together (read : assimilate the formers to the latters).It was logistically complicated to create such an unit. The Royal Air Force was asked to make a list of all the French Canadian personnel (here it means a francophone of Canada, no matter of which nation). The officers simply gathered the personnel and asked those that identified as French Canadians to raise their hand.The wing commander that would lead the 425th Squadron would be Joseph Ménard William Saint-Pierre. He was nicknamed usually Joe, but one guy called him Bill. Do not be deceived by the name, he did not speak French. He was an USAmerian born in Chicago (Illinois). He seems to be a descendant of Quebecer immigrants in the US because his father was called Adolphe Saint-Pierre and his mother was called Marguerite Ménard (she was born in Michigan). He worked in Montréal for the Imperial Oil and he married a Quebecer woman, Pauline Sauvé (sister of the famous Paul Sauvé) in 1937 in Outremont (Québec). He called one of his men, Jean-Paul Corbeil, by the nickname “Corbille” because he could not pronounce it right.The recruitment of the francos that already had combat experience was difficult, because some were simply already used to their units and did not desire to change, some were afraid to forget the English they learned and some viewed it suspiciously because they believed it was a political move due to the crisis in Québec in 1942 and felt it would make them pawns of the war propaganda. It was not easy to find franco personnel to fill all the posts, especially for the maintenance personnel.The unit was equipped with nine Vickers Wellington Mk III heavy bombers. It was decided the 425th Squadron would be one of bombers because unlike fighter planes, bombers required less to communicate on the radio and so a potential French accent would be less likely to impair communication. In August 1942, they were ready to fly. Their base was in Dishforth.The Squadron was called Alouette (Lark). This is an obvious cultural reference to any francophone. It’s a traditional song called Alouette, gentille alouette. Every francophone child was sung this at some point. Obviously, their motto, just like the song, was : Je te plumerai ! (I will pluck you!).The Alouette was divided in two sections : that of Georges-Albert Roy (son of the former ambassador of Canada in Paris) and that of Logan Savard (son of the judge Alfred Savard).Some members of the squadron were Guy Rainville, Gabriel Taschereau, Blair Bourgeois, Joseph LeBlanc. The adjudant was Jean-H. L. Saint-Germain. One sergeant, Louis Coallier (22 years old), did not speak English before entering the Air Force. The engineering officer was Hillaire Roberge of Ottawa, a Franco-Ontarian. So you had all sorts of Francos : Quebecers, Acadians, Franco-Ontarians…/!\ I have not figured out if this Gabriel Taschereau was from the noble Taschereau dynasty the prime minister Louis-Alexandre Taschereau was part of. If you know his genealogy I’d like to know that information. /!\Their doctor was Hector Payette. He was an interesting fellow. He was doctor in the East of Montréal (poor, industrial, francophone) during the Great Depression and he witnessed all possible suffering. He was appreciated by criminals because he was very discreet. In the 425th squadron, he wanted to understand what the crews went trough and so asked to be taken along in some of their missions despite it was against the rules. Once, they almost died when a cone of light pointed them and a flak shot a them. He was so afraid he fainted and he never went back in the sky.The had a catholic chaplain of course, Daniel Bernabé. The crewmen crafted however they could an altar and the chaplain had them kneel together, and he listened to their confessions. He would say: “Go in peace, my son, you will recite three Ave.” He did signs of the cross when the planes would take off.The journalist Hervé Major went to England to meet the francos in the Air Force and he did not like the quality of their French, he was quite harsh.« Excepté à l’escadron que dirige Jos. Saint-Pierre et qui absorbe graduellement tous les nôtres, je ne rencontrerai plus de nombreux aviateurs de langue française, et parmi mes compatriotes j’en trouverai qui parleront le plus habituellement l’anglais, qui me paraîtront désapprendre le français. Dans l’armée, même s’ils n’appartiennent pas à des unités composées exclusivement de Canadiens-français, les nôtres ont plus souvent de s’exprimer dans leur langue maternelle. Mais c’est l’anglais qui se parle surtout parmi les aviateurs et se [sic] sont eux qui se montrent les plus British. »“Excepted the squadron led by Jos. Saint-Pierre and that gradually absorbs all of our people, I did not encounter many aircraftmen of French language, and among my compatriots I will find some that will speak English more usually, that will seem to me to unlearn French. In the army, even if they do not belong to units exclusively made of French Canadian, our people got more often the opportunity to speak in their mother tongue. But it’s English that is spoken the most among the aircraftmen and they are those that seem the most British.”(Hervé Major, « Visite à l’aviateur », La Presse, 27 octobre 1942, p. 7.)Indeed, you have to understand that since they were never taught the technical vocabulary in French, they had no idea of how to say it in French, and even the grades were not translated so often they stated them in English since they were not sure of to say it correctly in French. Indeed, their technical French was atrocious:« ça m’a tout l’air d’un « runaway motor » […] à moins qu’il n’y ait eu un morceau de « bearing » dans le « filter » […] je suis sûr que le moteur a « overrevvé » parce que le « constant speed unit » a r’volé… je vais le « checker » de nouveau demain au « D. I. » [daily inspection] »There were women too : they would transport the bombs to the bombers, or do the domestic chores (those ones were called “batwomen”) and they would cut the wood to heat the barracks. I don’t know much about them for the linguistic aspect of their experience. Women were not allowed to be military pilots then. It was however in 1947 that a Quebecer woman got a civilian pilot license for the first time (Gertrude Dugal).(Gertrude Dugal, the first female Quebecer civilian pilot)Another person of note I suppose would be the air commodore Albert de Niverville, that played a great role in putting in place the recruitment system of the Air Force in Québec (he did 14 recommendations to make it more performant) and that in fact was part of the Canadian team that went to England in 1940 to study how they organized their Air Force in order to copy everything. He died in 1942 near Cap-Chat in Québec commanding a squadron from Mont-Joli.Sources : Bill Rawling. L’Alouette en guerre - La 425e Escadrille, 1939–1945, Athéna éditions, Outremont, 2010.Pierre Lagacé. RCAF 425 Alouette (blog), Wordpress. He personally interviewed many veterans of the 425th.NavyThe Navy was the most hostile division of the Canadian Army to the francophones. The francos did not like it and it didn’t like the francos. It’s especially ironic considering that Québec as a whole was one of Canada’s most important shipyards, as there were many shipyards in Québec such as in Montréal, Lévis and Sorel. Since there was no specific franco unit in that army, the franco contribution to it is far less famous and far less studied.Between 1914 and 1918, 4 of the 73 officers of the Marine were francos (5.4 %). At the eve of WW2, it was 4.84 %. The 1st of July 1944, 7 promotions on 333 were for francos. In 1951, Marcel Jetté did a report and discovered that 11 % of the sailors and subofficers were franco and that only 9 of the 382 officers were franco.Due to the British naval tradition, the anglos considered that the Navy belonged to them and that only them knew anything about sailing. In the times of New France, you had amazing franco sailors or captains (like the famous Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville that was overpowered, but there were others like Jean Léger dit Lagrange or Robert Chevalier, or Acadians such as Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste or Pierre Morpain of the colony of Plaisance), but after the 1760 Conquest, the francophone naval presence shrunk to insignificance. Of the three armies, the Navy was the least autonomous from England, something we already showed franco had contempt for.(More about the pirates and privateers of New France : https://www-erudit-org.res.banq.... )(A few naval battles of New France : NINE YEARS WAR Naval battle off St. John (1696) - Wikipedia, Battle of Hudson's Bay - Wikipedia, Hudson Bay expedition (1686) - Wikipedia, Battle of Fort Albany - Wikipedia SEVEN YEARS WAR Action of 8 June 1755 - Wikipedia, Battle of Restigouche - Wikipedia, Battle of Neuville - Wikipedia, Battle of the Thousand Islands - Wikipedia, Blocus du Saint-Laurent — Wikipédia)(And a bit of Louisiana : Jean Lafitte - Wikipedia)In fact it was only a franco that wanted the Canadian Navy started to have distinctive attributes from the British one : the Minister of Marine Louis-Philippe Brodeur asked the British the authorization to put a green maple leaf in the middle of the White Enseign jack used by the Navy, and it was refused.Francos were considered good only to serve posts that require little intellectual abilities and that they only learned useless things in their schools and these prejudices even colored the historiography, like Tony German’s The Sea is at Our Gates: The history of the Canadian Navy. As I pointed out earlier, sometimes the francos did learn what they would need to enlist but not at a time convenient for the military.The federal minister of Marine Louis-Philippe Brodeur and his subminister Georges Desbarats requested exams in French and bilingual instructors. It was rejected. Louis-Philippe Brodeur complained, in vain. The Navy said that any attempt to combine the two languages would be a nuisance to the service. There was not a single boat on which francos were the majority. Those that dared to speak French were considered headstrong. The first franco unit would be the HMCS* Ottawa in 1968. It’s interesting to note it was also Louis-Philippe Brodeur that put in place the Canadian Naval Service in 1910.(*HMCS : Her/His Majesty’s Canadian Ship. In French it’s NCSM : Navire canadien de Sa Majesté.)One of the most famous Quebecer sailors is Stanislas Déry. He became notorious because in 1944, as he was second in command on the HMCS St. Thomas, he saved 55 German prisoners (30 of whom he guarded) from the submarine his ship sunk (the U-877). Years later, the son of one of those Germans found him back and they became friends, so this story is famous in Québec. Déry had a brilliant career and was a competent guy, yet he was never put in command of a ship and he was not decorated for that battle in 1944 despite all the rest of the crew was. The Déry family seems to be in the opinion it was racism that motivated this treatment. Mr Jocelyn Couture of Québec City however is in the opinion that it was because Déry did an act of insubordination, however heroic it was, that he was not decorated. Anyhow, the point is that Déry had a brilliant career, was liked by his superiors and nevertheless never had it crowned with recognition.Déry was aware that he had gathered a lot of experience and in 1945, he expressed that he would not want to serve under a less experienced captain than him:« On ne me garderait pas comme premier lieutenant sous les ordres d’un capitaine dont la séniorité serait moindre que la mienne; ce ne serait pas la première fois que ma séniorité aurait travaillé contre moi. » (Stanislas Déry, 1945)“I would not be kept as first lieutenant under the orders of a captain whose seniority would be lesser than mine; it would not be the first time that my seniority would work against me.” (Stanislas Déry, 1945)Déry believed that if the war had lasted a little longer, he would have commanded his own ship. In 1961, he said to the journalist Maurice Desjardins :« les officiers canadiens français n’étaient pas très nombreux dans la marine canadienne. À peine un pour cent. Je n’avais guère la chance de devenir amiral. Si la guerre s’était poursuivie, j’aurais été promu capitaine en juillet 1945 et j’aurais commandé un bateau. » (Stanislas Déry, 1961)“French Canadian officers were not very numerous in the Canadian Navy. Barely one per cent. I had no chance to become admiral. If the war kept going on, I would have been promoted captain in July 1945 and I would have commanded a boat.” (Stanislas Déry, 1961)The most famous franco in the Navy is however Victor-Gabriel Brodeur, the son of the minister Louis-Philippe we mentioned earlier. I suspect the success in his career was not unrelated to the fact he was the “son of”. Victor-Gabriel was a veteran of WW1 : he served for the Royal Navy, including on the famous HMS Dreadnought. In 1938, Victor-Gabriel Brodeur was commodore of the Pacific fleet. In 1940, he was the first naval attaché of Canada in Washington DC. Despite he was the “son of”, he was not pampered so much in the Navy:“In his young days with the RN [Royal Navy] he took more than a fair share of the condescension and ribbing that “colonials” got from many of their British mesmates. A Canadian accent was one thing, but with his French-Canadian accent Brodeur really stood out. The RN sailors who couldn’t fathom it dubbed him “Scottie”. While others shrugged off the joshing and simply made up their mind to beat the Brits in due course at their own game, Brodeur retained suspicion, if not actual antipathy. He admired the RN as a service, but he was certainly no Anglophile.”(German, The Sea, p. 61.)Louis de la Chesnaye Audette (this name is quite prestigious in Québec : the Aubert de La Chesnaye were a dynasty made noble in the 17th century by Louis XIV) also had a brilliant career. He was the franco that served on a ship for the longest time. He survived the defeat of the destroyer HMCS Saguenay in 1940, served on the HMCS Francis and the Flower-class corvette HMCS Pictou, then commanded that HMCS Pictou, then commanded the HMCS Amherst, then the frigate HMCS Coaticook and the HMCS St. Catharines. His bravery was acknowledged in 1945.Marc Milner described him that way:“The son of a French Canadian father and a Scottish mother, Audette was fluently bilingual, identified strongly with his ancient Québécois roots, and, although an anglophile, was the least enamoured of the stuffy and pompous manners of the Royal Navy.” (Marc Milner, Canada’s Navy, p. 193.)It’s amusing to note that Gabriel Taschereau liked his superior Saint-Pierre in the Air Force for a similar reason : there was nothing pompous with him, so we might assume that in general francos had no appreciation for the splendor and hierarchy in the British military culture and preferred more a egalitarian and pragmatic approach to the military.Other interesting figures were the lieutenant-commander Maurice Lévesque and the commander J.-W.-R. Roy. In the Navy that remained on the ground, there was J.-O. Cossette, the lieutenant-commander Renaud Saint-Laurent (son of the future prime minister of Canada, Louis Saint-Laurent), the lieutenant-commander Eugène Noël and Léon J. M. Gauvreau. There are also some doctors of note : lieutenant-commander Gaétan Jarry and lieutenant-commander Joseph-Jean-Louis Bouchard.Sources : Jean-François Drapeau. « Chapitre IX : Le leadership canadien français dans la marine au Canada, 1910–1971 », dans Roch Legault (dir.). Le leadership militaire canadien français - Continuité, efficacité et loyauté.Jocelyn Couture. « Stanislas Déry, l’autre côté de la médaille », Le Soleil, 1er janvier 2015.EpilogueIt would only be in the 1970’s that the Canadian army as a whole would be bilingualized. The Jacques Dextraze we mentioned earlier played a role in that process.

As of now, girls will not be taken in as personnel below officer rank in the three services. Girls can only become officers.Paramilitary forces like BSF, CISF, Assam Rifles, etc., do take in girls.

Currently, IAF is not allowing Female Candidates to join X and Y group. Female Candidates after completing graduation can opt for AFCAT to join IAF as an officer and serve the motherland. In future if there will any provision to select girls in X and Y group, it will notified on IAF official website. Jai Hind.

Nowadays You have Fair chances rather than Decade old method when Everything was supposed to be Manual and Offline. Fill the Online form Next year I hope U'll get The Call up.

No ,Now at this time you cant change the preferences!!As per my knowledge i suggest you to go for SSB without any tension.If you clear it as well as medicals then you just join the academy as it is .After joining the academy you can change your service according to your choice .So now just prepare for your SSB.All the best !!!!

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