By May 1917, it had become quite apparent that ground training of cadets demanded an expansion of treatment which could not be afforded by the then existing Cadet Wing, however, valiantly the latter unit might strive, and on the 15th a chief instructor, for the purpose of starting a School of Military Aeronautics, was ordered to proceed to Canada, taking with him eight other officers and thirty-eight men of various ranks as a nucleus of an instructional staff.

This advance party worked in conjunction with the Cadet Wing until July 1st, on which date No. 4 School of Military Aeronautics was recorded as a separate and official organization.

The anticipated expansion immediately took place, aided very greatly by the assistance, not only of the President of the University of Toronto, but also of the professors of that institution who gave up room after room, often at great inconvenience to themselves. About this time, also, a large shipment of aeroplanes and engines for instructional purposes was forwarded from England. It was unfortunately lost on the way out, the immediate effect being that for the first few months all practical instruction was confined to the Curtiss engine and JN4 aeroplane.

The length of the course given during this period was three weeks, but at the end of the month it was increased to four, and comprised six flights, covering engines, rigging, wireless, artillery observation, machine guns, and instruments and bombs.

The importance of the work done at this unit was now most firmly established. The length of the course was increased in September to six weeks, and it was arranged that three courses went through the school at a time, each composed of 150 cadets with two weeks intervening. By now the strength of the unit had increased to 19 officers, 119 non-commissioned officers and men, 149 United States army and naval cadets and 261 Imperial cadets. Occupation of the buildings so kindly furnished by the University authorities covered Burwash Hall, East and South residences, School of Practical Science, Medical Building, portion of Convocation Hall, Thermodynamics Building and dining halls in University and Victoria College.

In September, instruction was further expanded by the formation of a school at the factory of the Canadian Aeroplanes Limited, where members of flying units received introduction to the theory and principle of aeroplane construction. There were three courses, each lasting eighteen days, and each being divided into ten squads, members of which remained together throughout their entire period of instruction. Examinations were set and corrected by an examining party at the School under direct supervision of the Commandant, when sixty-five per cent. of marks was necessary before a cadet passed through and was posted to a flying unit.

In the month of December, 1917, the strength of cadets greatly increased and it became necessary to draw again on the goodwill of the University authorities and occupy Wycliffe College. Simultaneously a pool was formed in a remodeled hotel, Haydon House, some four miles from the School, where were housed such cadets as the flying units were unable to take owing to the reduced amount of flying during the winter months. By the end of the year cadets on the strength amounted to 721.

Training material now began to arrive more regularly from England, and, as a result, the instruction given was considerably diversified.

In March, 1918, a seventh flight was formed for the study of aerial navigation, in which much more complete instruction was given in map reading and course plotting. Machine gun instruction was transferred to the Armament School at Hamilton, and the time thus secured given to further study of aerial navigation.

The practical education of the mechanics taught at the School was ensured by the construction at Leaside of engine running sheds, in which engines of various types were set up and their operations drilled into all pupils under conditions which simulated those on active service as nearly as possible. Considerable improvement in the engine knowledge of cadets was immediately noticeable.

On April 1st, cadets in training at the School, now called No. 4 School of Aeronautics, had reached 1,277, while the staff was composed of 26 officers and 230 non-commissioned officers and men, with the inevitable result that another residence was taken over from the University, with housing capacity for 185.

Again a flight was added to the course, this time for observers, and by July all cadets thus passing through the unit received instruction in aerial navigation, instruments, reconnaissance, organization of the Army and R.A.F., and general military knowledge, photography, engines, rigging and wireless.

In September, the process of engine instruction was still further advanced by discarding the fixed stands to which Curtiss engines had been rigidly attached, and substituting in their stead sections of aeroplane fuselages so balanced as to be capable of vertical adjustment, thus simulating the action of machines when in the air. To these were attached Clerget engines, which it was now proposed to use in conjunction with the Avro machines contemplated for flying instruction. This departure from the reciprocating to the rotary type made it necessary to organize special classes of tuition for non-commissioned officers and men from various flying units. In this course, the assistance given by the School Board of Toronto by the use of a portion of the Lippincott Technical School proved greatly to the advantage of the brigade.

The only further change made in the system of instruction at the School of Aeronautics, was the introduction of the block system in October, 1918, under which forty hours were allotted to engines, twenty-seven to aerial navigation, twenty to wireless, twenty-six to rigging and thirty to artillery observation. The observers’ flight was carried on independently of the above, and the ninety hours’ instruction given to the latter on technical subjects covered all requirements.

In concluding this very brief sketch of an extremely important section of the brigade, it is desired to specially acknowledge the services of not only the instructing officers but also of the non-commissioned officers and men on the staff. It fell to the duty of many sergeants and corporals to demonstrate the principles and theories of highly technical appliances, and to demonstrate them moreover in many cases to men who were much their seniors and who had had the advantage of a modern and expensive education. It was, however, uniformly observed that the non-commissioned officers who occupied this highly responsible and difficult position, discharged their duty not only with a dignity beyond all praise, but also with an exemplary clearness based on an intimate knowledge of the subject. They were confronted very often with questions which would have confused many who laid definite claim to higher attainments, but it has not yet been found that any one of them was lacking either in the technical qualification or the power of self expression which was necessary for the satisfactory discharge of their duties. The marked improvement in the all-round ability of cadets arriving at the various flying wings after the School of Aeronautics had had time to finally find itself, is due to the excellent work done by officers and non-commissioned officers alike at this unit.