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Photocopied and scanned in 2006 (originally created 1929-1949, n.d.) (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
2.4 cm of textual records
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Air Vice Marshal J.G. Bryans served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for over thirty years, including service overseas during the Second World War, and became a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Bryans was born in Kenora, Ontario in 1906. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in mechanical engineering, and began training as a pilot at RCAF Station Camp Borden in 1929. He was a pilot at various RCAF stations and made flights to Northern Ontario delivering mail and ferrying people in the North. In 1941 Bryans was sent to Washington as a member of the Canadian Joint Staff and then became commanding officer of RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ottawa in 1942. He went overseas in 1943 and served as a station commander in No. 6 RCAF Bomber Group in the U.K. and later as a staff officer at the Group Headquarters. Returning to Canada in 1945, he served at Air Force Headquarters. He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1946, and in 1949 attended the Imperial Defence College in the U.K. In 1951 he was appointed group commander of 14 Training Group in Winnipeg. Bryans was promoted to Air Vice Marshal in 1955. He married Miss Kathleen Hemsworth of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1938 and had one daughter, Mary Rosalie. He retired in the 1960s and later received an honourary degree from Carleton University. Bryans died in 1993.
Custodial history
Collection was kept by Barrie I. Smith.
Scope and content
Collection consists of photocopies of flight reports and other documentation, an information book for the Imperial Defence College Tour of the Middle East in 1949, and a report by a German general on Operation Cerberus. Documents related to Bryans' early career include the report of his pilot's graduation tests, flight reports, headquarters orders for flights, and some correspondence. Also included are four photographs, three portraits of Bryans and one group photograph from an RAF navigation school. The information book from the Imperial Defence College tour is titled "General Headquarters Middle East Land Forces Nut Shell, 30 July to 30 Aug, 1949." It includes a programme of the tour, as well as topographical, military and political information on Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Iraq, Aden and Aden Protectorate, East Africa, Sudan and Eritrea, and Malta. Two maps, an outline map of the tour and a road map of Greece, are also included. The report by an unidentified German general is titled "The Channel Break Through 1942" and describes Operation Cerberus, the escape of three German battleships, Prinz Eugen, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, from Brest to Norway in February 1942. The British counter-action, code-named Operation Fuller, is also described.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Collection received from Barrie I. Smith of Chelsea, Quebec, on 13 June 2006.
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Original records are in the possession of Barrie I. Smith of Chelsea, Quebec.
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Unclassified
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
None
Finding aids
None
Associated materials
The following documents are available in the Document Collection:
BIOG Bryans, John George. Biographical file.
75/436 Bryans, J.G., Flying Officer. Air Force Headquarters. Air Historical Section. 6 Dec 60 - 6 Feb 62. [Correspondence re RCAF pilots involved with air mail flights in northern Ontario and Northwest Territories, ca. 1932.]
The following document is available in the Kardex Collection:
181.003 (D993) “Bryans Report” d/16 Mar 40. Interim Rpt Bd of Offrs concerning apportionment of costs between RCAF & JATP in units serving both Home War & JATP establishments.
The following documents and photographs are available at Library and Archives Canada:
“F/O Bryans,” 5x7 photograph, dated 1931, copy negative PA-062905, box 03885, other accession number 1967-052 NPC, Mikan number 3580622.
“Departure of Indian Treaty Party - F/L Harding, F/O Bryans, Cpl. McManus, and LAC Dunning,” 5x7 photograph, dated 1931, copy negative PA-062718, box 03885, other accession number 1967-052 NPC, Mikan number 3580621.
“Departure, Indian Treaty Party - W/C Johnson, W/C Godfrey, F/L Harding, F/O Bryans,” 5x7 photograph, dated 1931, copy negative PA-062721, box 03885, other accession number 1967-052 NPC, Mikan number 3580618.
“Correspondence,” varying title “King, William Lyon Mackenzie Correspondence May 24, 1941,” archival reference number MG26-J1, microfilm reel C-4864, page 260411, volume 308, page 260411.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
General note
The compact disk has been withdrawn from circulation; researchers must use the scanned copies of the photographs.