Article XV Squadrons

Article XV squadrons were Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand air force squadrons formed from graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (1939) during World War II.

These units complemented another feature of the BCATP, under which personnel from the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) were placed in a common pool, and assigned to Article XV and RAF squadrons – in Europe, the Mediterranean Theatre, Africa and South-East Asia – according to operational needs.

The RAAF, RCAF and RNZAF also formed non-Article XV squadrons, which performed home defence duties and saw active service in various parts of the Pacific Theatre.

Negotiations regarding the BCATP, between the four governments concerned, took place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada during late 1939. The Air Training Agreement (sometimes known as the "Ottawa Agreement" or the "Riverdale Agreement", after the UK representative at the negotiations, Lord Riverdale) was officially signed on 17 December 1939.

Under Article XV of the Agreement, graduates from Dominion air forces were to be assigned to squadrons either formed by their own air forces, or with a specific national designation, under the operational control of a local air force, in most cases the RAF. These became known as "Article XV squadrons." In addition, Articles XVI and XVII stipulated that the UK government would be responsible for the pay and entitlements of aircrews trained under the BCATP. Nevertheless, these personnel and any squadrons formed for service with the RAF, under Article XV, would belong to the three Dominion air forces. This was largely an initiative of the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, during the negotiations with Riverdale.

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