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Royal Canadian Air Force No. 8 Squadron Photographic Unit.

[Royal Canadian Air Force Aerial Photo Album of Canada.]

Canada: Department of the Interior, National Development Bureau, February, 1937. 4to (12” x 16”).56 original aerial photographs (7” x 9”), including 1 photograph of a map (8” x 13”), mounted on black paper leaves (11.5” x 15”). All images except map marked with a tiny plus symbol at center. Faint but legible manuscript titles below images. Images numbered 1 to 55.

An impressive album of fifty-five original photos, mainly aerial, produced by the Royal Canadian Air Force depicting RCAF forts, posts, bases and stations, as well as cities, gold mines, natural landmarks, and other subjects across Canada

This album begins with a map entitled Map of the Dominion of Canada; Exclusive of Northern Regions, which identifies the locations where each of the photos were taken—ranging from Vancouver in the west to Halifax in the east, and Niagara Falls, Ontario in the south to Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territory in the north. The cities and towns captured in this album include Sidney, Vancouver, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto, and the Indian settlement at Yellowknife. The Royal Canadian Air Force sites in Canada’s Northwest Territories that are pictured include landing areas at Aklavik; headquarters at New Hope; bases at Slemon Lake and Yellowknife; Fort Smith; a mapping tent at Dubawnt Lake; an airplane post at Reliance; and a RCAF Photographic Detachment in Fitzgerald, Alberta.

Among the structures documented are a Lighthouse (Atkinson, B.C.); Stanley Park (Vancouver); Hydro Power Plant (Nipigon River, N.W. Ontario); Hudson’s Bay Post, Moose Factory (Ontario); Hudson Bay Co. at Beaufort Sea, Tuktoyaktuk (N.W.T.); Parliament buildings (Ottawa); Grain elevator (Prescott, Ontario); Montreal Harbor Bridge, the Citadel (Quebec), Empress of Britain ship (Quebec); and an experimental farm in New Brunswick. Pictured gold mines include God’s Lake (Thunder Bay, Ontario), and Sisco Gold Mine (Quebec). Captured natural landmarks include Lighthouse Point (Louisburg, Nova Scotia); Franklin Glacier (B.C.); Mt. Garibaldi (B.C.); Virginia Falls (N.W.T.); Shawinigan Falls (Quebec); Great Bear Lake, Taltson River (NWT); Reindeer Lake (Saskatchewan), Niagara Falls (Ontario); Montmorency Falls (Quebec); and Forest Fire (Fredericton, N.B.). Miscellaneous images include Edward Prince Ranch, belonging to Prince of Wales; Eskimos at Burnside Harbor, Ontario; and the home of Dionne Quintuplets in Ontario.

A manuscript inscription on the verso of the first image reads: “No. 8 Squadron RCAF—Ottowa Feb.’ 1937 to be a photographic unit—Photo 32—No 668 is a Northrop Delta Mk 1/1A.”

An engaging and sweeping survey of Canada in the 1930s.

CONDITION: Very good, images quite clean, little wear.

Item #5602

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