Clarence Rupert Dunlap

Clarence Rupert Dunlap, C.B.E., C.D.**, B.Sc., D.C.L. (Hon), D.Eng. (Hon), was born on January 1, 1908 in Sydney Mines on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. In 1919 at the age of 11, Dunlap met Alexander Graham Bell, who led the Aerial Experiment Association and had a home at Baddeck overlooking Bras d'Or Lake on Cape Breton Island. This fortuitous event inspired him to strive for a career in aviation.

In 1928 Dunlap earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Nova Scotia Technical College (now part of Dalhousie University) and Acadia University. He briefly worked as an electrical engineer for Canadian Westinghouse before deciding on a career in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Dunlap completed his pilot training on Avro 504N biplanes at Camp Borden, Ontario and received his wings in 1929. After a short seaplane conversion course at Jericho Beach, Vancouver he was posted to Rockcliffe, Ontario for transportation and ferry duties.

Dunlap was promoted to Flying Officer in July 1929, and posted to No. 8 Photographic Detachment in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia as a photo survey pilot. Thus began an extensive period of aerial surveying during which he completed several photo survey assignments from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. In April 1930, he was assigned to No. 11 Photographic Detachment in Ontario and Quebec, and in June, to No. 1 Photographic Detachment in British Columbia. As a result of his survey work, an island off the west coast of Vancouver Island, just north of Tofino, now bears his name. Dunlap returned to Rockcliffe as an instructor on two photographic survey courses in 1931 and 1933.

In 1934 Dunlap was reassigned to the Air Armament and Bombing School at Camp Borden. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in 1935 and sent to Royal Air Force Air Armament School in Eastchurch, England, in 1936 he returned to Camp Borden as Chief Instructor of the Air Armament School.

When the Second World War began in 1939, Squadron Leader Dunlap was serving as the Director of Air Armament at RCAF Headquarters in Ottawa, a post he filled until the spring of 1942. At this time he took command of the Bombing and Gunnery School at Mountain View, Ontario. Later that year, he was posted overseas to No. 6 Group RCAF to take command of the bomber base at Leeming, Yorkshire.

Dunlap was posted to Kairouan, Tunisia in May 1943, to command No. 331 Night Bomber Wing, RCAF, which included Nos. 420, 424 and 425 Squadrons and a total of sixty Wellington aircraft. From that base, he directed Wing operations over Sicily and Italy in support of Allied invasions. For his achievements during that campaign, Group Captain Dunlap was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.). He also earned commendations from Air Marshal Tedder, RAF, and General Doolittle, USAC, the senior commanders of the Air Forces in the Mediterranean and Italian theatres.

In November 1943, he was posted back to the UK to command No. 139 Wing of the Royal Air Force (RAF) at Dunsfold, Surrey and, following the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), at Brussels, Belgium. No. 139 Wing comprised Nos. 98 and 180 Squadrons of the RAF, and was equipped with B-25 Mitchell aircraft. Daylight sorties were flown over the low countries and France against industrial targets, transportation systems, airfields, harbours and German V-l and V-2 rocket sites in Belgium. No. 320 Squadron of the Royal Dutch Naval Airforce was added later. By the end of the war, Dunlap had completed 35 operational sorties, earning the French Croix de Guerre with Gold Star and the United States Silver Star for his role in the Allied victories.

Prior to V-E Day on May 8, 1945, Dunlap was promoted to Air Commodore, and returned to No. 6 Group RCAF to command 4 squadrons of Canadian-built Lancaster bombers at Middleton St. George and Croft, Yorkshire. In May 1945, he returned to Canada to become Deputy Air Member of the Air Staff.

Dunlap's distinguished career continued after the war. In 1946 he represented the RCAF at the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests. In 1947 he was appointed Deputy Air Member for Air Plans at RCAF Headquarters in Ottawa, followed by attendance at the National War College in Washington, DC.

On promotion to Air Vice Marshal in 1948 he became Air Member for Air Plans at RCAF Headquarters in Ottawa. In 1949 he was assigned to the position of Air Officer Commanding North West Air Command, Edmonton. In 1951 he was posted to command Air Defence Command at St. Hubert, Quebec. Shortly after, Dunlap became Commandant of the National Defence College at Kingston, Ontario.

These appointments were followed by an assignment as Vice Chief of Air Staff in 1954. Dunlap played an important role in the buildup of RCAF personnel during this period, in response to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) developments in Europe.

In 1958 Dunlap was promoted to Air Marshal on assignment to the position of Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Paris, France. As senior staff officer, he was responsible for the training, testing and operational evaluation of the Air Forces assigned to NATO. In September 1962 he returned to Ottawa to become Chief of the Air Staff of the RCAF.

In 1964 he was appointed to the position of Deputy Commander in Chief of the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD) at Colorado Springs, Colorado. NORAD is a joint US/CANADA command responsible to the governments of the US and Canada for the security of North America from missile or other air threats. The Deputy CINC position in NORAD is filled by Canada. The DCINC assumes command and responsibility for the effectiveness and employment of all NORAD forces in the absence or incapacitation of the Commander in Chief (CINC). Dunlap officially retired from that position and the Canadian Armed Forces in July 1968.

Dunlap has received many honours and awards in recognition of his contributions. Among them, in 1964 he received the Certificate of Honorary Membership in No. 98 Squadron Association (RAF), and in 1987 he was made Honorary Life Member of the 2nd Tactical Air Force Medium Bomber Association. He was presented with two Honorary Doctorates, the Doctor of Civil Laws degree from Acadia University, and the Doctor of Engineering degree from Nova Scotia Tech (Dalhousie University).

Returning to Ottawa after retirement, he volunteered for eleven years with the Ministry of Science and Technology to coordinate the establishment of the National Aviation Museum, now the Canada Aviation Museum, in Ottawa, taking on the enormous task of raising funds for this Museum. Other activities included membership on the United States/Canada Permanent Joint Board on Defence and a 5-year appointment to the Board of Acadia University for which he received the Distinguished Service Award in 1995. He died in Victoria, B.C. on October 20, 2003.

Air Marshal Clarence R. Dunlap was inducted as a Member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 2002 at a ceremony held in Vancouver, B.C.