Clayton Knight Committee [SEP] start time
Clayton Knight Committee
The Clayton Knight Committee, was founded by Billy Bishop and Clayton Knight in 1940. Homer Smith and several German émigrés, who wanted America to join the war against the Axis powers, provided funding for the secret and unlawful commissioning agency. Its mission was to bring Americans to Canada in order to prepare and battle for the Allies while the US was still neutral. By Canada allowing the training to take place on their soil, it is considered the most important contribution it made to the Allied air war.
. 121 Squadron RAF in May 1941 and No. 133 Squadron RAF in July 1941, flying initially Hawker Hurricanes and later Supermarine Spitfires. Efforts to recruit US citizens to serve in the RAF continued on a more organised basis under the aegis of the Clayton Knight Committee, which recruited around 7,000 US citizens to serve in the RAF or Royal Canadian Air Force by the time the US joined the war in December 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.
The three Eagle Squadrons transferred to the United States Army Air Forces