The RCAF's first black commissioned officer was Pilot Officer Tarrance Freeman, seen here sitting at right, with his bomber crew. Photo courtesy of The Collection of James Allen, Windsor Mosaic, African Canadian Community

The RCAF's first black pilot

A wounded soldier is treated for a headwound on the battlefield near Caen, July 15, 1944, note the bullet damage to his helmet and the corresponding bandage on his head.

A Canadian soldier treated for a headwound

February is Black History Month in Canada. What better way to contribute to the collective knowledge of what black Canadians have accomplished in the face of intolerance and repression, than to tell the story of the courageous man who was the first black combat pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. And what a story it is.

While most students of aviation history, and indeed North American history, are aware of the famed Tuskegee Airmen and their determined struggle just to be allowed to fly combat missions alongside white combat pilots of the United States Army Air Force, it is almost unknown that one black Canadian officer pilot flew on operations with the RCAF in Europe in an integrated front line squadron. That man was Flying Officer Allan S. Bundy and that squadron was 404 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force, “The Buffaloes”, flying the powerfully armed coastal strike fighter, the Bristol Beaufighter and later the de Havilland Mosquito.

In searching the web for information about Bundy and his fellow Second World War “negro” airmen, one comes across a number of spurious and apocryphal histories of Canada's pioneer black aviators. More than likely written from a relative's memory of stories oft embellished, they do not bear comparison to the individual's service files, squadron records or even RCAF policies, traditions and processes. The best way in which we can honour these heroic barrier breakers, is to offer the facts as accurately as we can. There exists some definite confusion (oxymoron?) about what “firsts” Bundy should be credited with. Some say he was the first black man in the RCAF, or the first black officer, or the first black combat airman or first black combat pilot. Thanks to dedicated researchers like Jim Bates, Mathias Joost and Terry Higgins, we are certain of a few things though. Bundy was not the first black airman in the RCAF – that honour goes to men like E.V. Watts and Gerald Bell. He was not the first black man to be commissioned in the RCAF either – that accomplishment goes to Pilot Officer Tarrance Freeman of Windsor, a navigator, who was commissioned on July 9th, 1943. Nor was he the first black Canadian combat pilot, as that honour goes to a Canadian in the RAF. He was indeed, we are sure, the first Canadian-born black pilot in the RCAF and his combat record speaks for itself.