In 1942 a piece of land in De Winton became home to the No. 31 Elementary Flight Training School, also known as RAF De Winton.

The school was moved to De Winton from England along with six other schools, placed in different places across the country.

The school successfully trained pilots during the Second World War, but was closed August 26, 1944.

Wednesday they celebrated the school's 75th anniversary.

Tim Johnston was on the committee that organized the 75th celebration and says it is a wonderful opportunity to remember this important piece of history in the M.D. of Foothills.

"As well as the contribution that those young men made in the victory of Europe and the victory of democracy."

The school trained pilots from the Allied Forces.

The school also made it so that civilians could work on the base.

The school itself has started to crumble and fall apart physically, however those who were there can keep the memories forever.

"The memories, the involvement and the history will last forever, so we thought that it would be a good idea to place a plaque here to keep that memory alive," Johnston says.

Johnston adds the school trained their pilots in the de Havilland Tiger Moth, Boeing Stearman, and the Fairchild Cornell.

"You learned your basic flying in that kind of airplane, the Cornell was just a more modern airplane."

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