Growing up:

     Arthur Wellington Ault, born October 8th, 1920 in OttawaOntario. He lived at 324 Clemow Ave with his brother George A Ault and sister Helen F Kilburn, and parents Frank Ernest Ault and Florence Barr. He attended Glebe Collegiate Institute from 1934-1939. Arthur enjoyed skiing extensively, was a part of Glebe's ski club along with Code Peter B. Other sports he played included swimming and golf. He was 5'6, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. He had a scar on his left palm, and one on the front of his lower left leg. His great toenail on his right foot was missing. Arthur worked for his father in real estate insurance. At 21 years old, he joined the Air Force.

Arthur Wellington Ault, ski club and rugby team, 1936-37

Enlistment:

     In 1941, Arthur enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. His descision to join the Air Force may have been influenced by many things. Maybe because being a pilot would be more fun than an office job, and planes were a new technology then, everyone wanted to fly one. And with all the propaganda encouraging young Canadians to enlist. The war posters make it seem so exciting to go to war, or make them feel like they need to join, by singling them out and making them feel like a lesser person for not doing their part. Many posters also made enemy leaders look like tyrants, dehumanizing them. Any one of these could have swayed Arthur, and mant other people to take part in the war. Arthur's enlistment was shortly after the Battle of Britain in 1940. Also on December 17 1939, the first of the main body of Canadian troops arrive in Scotland (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, Wikipedia), inauguration of the British Commonwealth Air Training plan to train pilots and aircrew in Canada, away from the fighting. It remains the largest aviation training plan in history, it employed 104,000 Canadians in airbases and trained 72,835 Canadian pilots and aircrew.  

World War 2 Propaganda Posters

 Service History:

     Arthur was described in his interview to have a pleasant personality, and was best fitted to be a pilot or observer. From September 1941 to June of 1942, He trained to be a pilot. This included a 7 week initial flying training course and a 7 week elementary flying training course. Unfortunately he never made it to service flying training, because his plane crashed. 

He flew a Harvard, a two seater advanced trainer with dual controls. He flew from Ottawa, to Toronto, Trenton, Belleville, Chatham and Uplands during his 14 weeks of flight training. His Rank was an LAC (Leading Aircraftman), with 157:30 total flying hours.

RCAF North American Harvard

Death:

     On September 18 1942, upon crashing in the vicinity of Calabogie lake, Arthur Wellington Ault died at 22 years old with a fractured skull and laceration to the brain. He was buried at the Ottawa Beechwood Cemetary. He passed away as a student pilot. Having never even made it overseas, he made a huge sacrifice like many others around his age. Just by signing up it cost him his life.

Bibliography:

• "British Commonwealth Air Training Plan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., 28 Apr. 2012. Web. 2 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Commonwealth_Air_Training_Plan>. 
• Santor, Donald M.. Canadians at war, 1939-1945. Toronto: Prentice-Hall of Canada, 1979. Print.
•  WWII: RCAF - Canada at War."Canada at War. N.p., 17 Aug. 2006. Web. 2 May 2012. http://www.canadaatwar.ca/content-41/wwii-rcaf/.
•  Jenkins, James. Harvard plane. N.d. Harvard plane, Flying.  . Web. 
• Unknown. Harvard Plane. N.d. Unknown, Flying.  . Web. 
• Unknown. Ski Club . 1936. Glebe, Ottawa, Ontario. Lux Glebana. By Unknown. Ottawa: The Students, 1936. 78, 87. Print.
•  Unknown. "CWGC - Casualty Details." CWGC - Homepage. Commonwealth War Graves, n.d. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2687292/AULT,%20ARTHUR%20WELLINGTON>.