1. Deseronto Home the Royal Flying Corps
In some two months,the little Town of Deseronto, some 18 miles east of the city of Belleville, has grown in importance, until it is now known, even in the big cities, where people live who do not know of the existance of such places; so read an article appearing in the Belleville Intelligencer of 1917.
2. Wing Headquarters
Wing Headquarters, the administrative nerve centre, servicing the Canadian Training Squadrons based at Camp Mohawk and Camp Rathbun, was located in the Town of Deseronto. The headquarters buildings were first occupied by 43 Wing in May of 1917, and later by 42 Wing in April of 1918. In the rush to complete the airfields, the
3. Some Called it “Deserted”
There was little in the way of entertainment provided for the airmen stationed at Deseronto and they were left largely on their own in this respect. So much so, that the town was soon nicknamed and became known far and wide as “Deserted”. Some variety shows were brought in from out of town, but they
4. Crashes and More Crashes
Hardly a week went by without some mishap being reported from the flying fields across Ontario and Deseronto was no exception.A certain number of fatalities were to be expected, especially in the early days.Later on, with the establishment of the School of Special Flying at Beamsville, primary instruction became better organized and fatalities decreased somewhat.Most
5. Recollections
Sidney Hopping of Belleville Ont., in recolling his boyhood days in Deseronto, tells of the time when he delivered the Toronto Star newspaper to Camp Rathbun.It was always a race to be the first boy on the camp to make deliveries to the camp hospital and No.1 Hangar.The next boy to arrive, would have to
6. Friendly Visitors
There was nothing more exciting and fasinating during 1917 and 1918 to the folks of the Quinte area,and anywhere else for that matter,to see a flying machine at close hand and marvel at the mass of fabrick,metal and wood,hanging rather mysteriously together.The Instructors and Cadets were also caught up in the novelty and when off
7. Shinannigans
The local populace was not overly bothered by the pranks and shinanigans played on them by the Deseronto airmen;at least they didn’t complain very much.One prank however,the pilfering of a 1917 Ford automobile from Centre St. in the nearby town of Napanee,seems to have stuck in the crop of the chief constable,F.W. Barrett. Mr. W.M.
8. Rumours of Spies
Somewhere on the old site of Camp Mohawk there allegedly lies buried in an unmarked grave, the remains of two German spies, executed for sabotage by a firing squad at some date in 1918.The story, rumoured and spoken of in hushed tones was supposed to have actually happened in the early dawn of a day
9. Aerial Dispatches
At 10 AM on the morning of July 3,1917, two machines from Mohawk appeared out of the heavy overcast over Camp Barrifield, the army camp situated just to the east of the City of Kingston. One machine turned back to Mohawk, while the other machine, piloted by Cadet Talbot and carrying dispatches, proceeded to make
10. Dots and Dashes
Capt. J.W. Askham of Cobble Hill British Columbia,has provided a good account of the beginnings of wireless training with the RFC in Canada and specifically at Deseronto.It was not until April 1917,that serious thought was given to wireless training in Canada.Previous to this,only morse instruction,or buzzing as it was called,was being carried out at the
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