Clayton Knight Committee

The Clayton Knight Committee, was founded by William Avery "Billy" Bishop, and Clayton Knight in 1940. Homer Smith and several German émigrés, who wanted America to join the war against the axis powers, provided funding for the secret and unlawful commissioning agency. Its mission was to bring Americans to Canada in order to prepare and battle for the Allies amid the time of U.S. neutrality. By Canada allowing the training to happen on their soil, it is considered the most important contribution it made to the Allied air war. This was before the U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany. The committee was forced to defend itself from opposing forces such as,"pacifists and isolationists, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt."

The Clayton Knight Committee (CKC) was founded when Hitler was enforcing the expansionist policy on Europe. Britain, along with her Commonwealth countries recognized that in order to halt him, they had to establish a dominant air force. Canada, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand created the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). It also went by the 'Empire Air Training Scheme'." Each country had responsibility for varying aspects of the overall plan, such as aircraft engines (Britain), trainers (Britain), cost of elementary trainers (Canada), etc. It had plans to prepare and instruct 150,000 potential airmen.

The advancements of the BCATP would fall on the shoulders of well-known Canadian WWI ace Billy Bishop. His plan was to gain access to the quickly advancing U.S. aviation industry for BCATP. There was a major impasse: “American Neutrality”. This resulted in Bishop contacting his friend, Clayton Knight. Knight had many connections to United States aviation circles. The committee was responsible for 10,000+ American enlistments in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) before December 7, 1941, the date most known for the Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

CKC was established in the spring of 1940. The Committee used brochures and word of mouth advertising to attract candidates.

The CKC's requirements for pilots were considered lenient by established RAF pilots. Some American pilots exaggerated their flying hours to gain acceptance by the CKC. However, the CKC rejected 86% of the pilots who applied.

...
Wikipedia