Allan Selwyn Bundy (1920 – 9 December 2001) was the first Black Canadian combat pilot.Thomas Toliver Smith (14 January 2016)
Allan Bundy
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Born in

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Dartmouth ( ) is an urban community and former city located in the Halifax Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada. Dartmouth is located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour. Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes, after the larg ...

, Bundy was a talented athlete who excelled in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. He attended

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

to study chemistry as a scholarship student. When the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began he applied to join the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

(RCAF) but was rejected due to his race. In 1942 he received a notice of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

from the Canadian Army, which he did not accept; he informed the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

, when they arrived to follow up on the notice, that he wanted to serve in the RCAF. He was accepted and trained as a Flying Officer, an occasion which received media attention from as far away as Pittsburgh. Bundy was posted to Britain with the 404 Squadron in 1943. Partnered with Sergeant Elwood Cecil Wright, he flew Bristol Beaufighters and the de Havilland Mosquito in coastal defence. The pair conducted at least 42 missions beginning in October 1944, when they sank two ships off Norway. After the war, Bundy worked in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

as a manufacturing supervisor.Allan Selwyn Bundy
Canadian War Museum.

References

Further reading