Canada. A Commonwealth Air Training Plan (Bcatp) Photo Album, Pilot Officer Gerald Joseph Lauber

This album features photos attributed to Pilot Officer Gerald Joseph Lauber, taken at various Royal Canadian Air Force installations established as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), between 1942 and 1944, including: No. 1 Initial Training School at the Eglinton Hunt Club at Toronto, Ontario; No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Windsor, Ontario; No. 5 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Brantford, Ontario; No. 18 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Gimli, Manitoba; No. 7 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) at Paulson, Manitoba; and No. 2 Flying Instructor School (FIS) at Pearce, Alberta. It contains twenty-six photographs, in various sizes, twenty-five of which are black and white, with either a gloss or matte finish, one which is enclosed in a folder marked "The Cave Supper Club, Winnipeg, Canada" on the cover and illustrating a flight party, the other photo is colour and is named to "Gerald Joseph Lauber 1943" on the reverse. They show Lauber in uniform by himself, in groups, with a woman, with four recruits in civilian clothes, on a baseball team wearing a uniform with a "Toronto Typos" insignia, along with various interior and exterior aircraft views. One of the photos is tagged with a newspaper clipping inscribed "PO. G. L. Lauber of Kitchener was among those given proficiency awards at a graduation today from No. 2 Flying Instructors' School at Pearce, Alberta." and hand dated "Aug/43", while another newspaper clipping is inscribed "PO Gerald Lauber, 122 Edward Street, stationed at No. 18, S.F.T.S. Gimli, Man., has been promoted to the rank of flying officer". It also includes a poem entitled "Our Wings" taken from a newspaper. The album has eight black photo pages, either held in place via photo corners of pasted into place, the Colour photo loose, within a front and back hardcover, marked "Photo Album" on the front cover and bounded via a green string fed through two die holes, measuring 355 mm (w) x 280 mm (h) x 10 mm (d). Very fine.

Footnote: Gerald Joseph Lauber was inducted into the Royal Canadian Air Force at Hamilton, Ontario on February 16, 1942. He began training at No. 1 Initial Training School at the Eglinton Hunt Club at Toronto, Ontario. He was then posted to No. 2 Flying Instructor School at Pearce, Alberta in August 1943, and is also credited with having trained at No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at Windsor, Ontario, at No. 5 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Brantford, Ontario and at No. 7 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) at Paulson, Manitoba. He was posted to No. 18 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Gimli, Manitoba in December 1943 and was promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer in March 1944. A flight party for the those of Course 95 was held at The Cave Supper Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba on April 14, 1944. Lauber graduated on June 10, 1944 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 11th.