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.
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.
[3] Canada, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand created the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
[3] The advancements of the BCATP would fall on the shoulders of well-known Canadian World War I ace Billy Bishop.
[1] The committee was responsible for 10,000+ American enlistments in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) before December 7, 1941, the date of the Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
[10][11] A World War I veteran of the British Royal Naval Air Service, Smith was heir to an oil fortune.
[12] Smith also was a source of connections to airline presidents, flying school owners, and Civil Aeronautics Authority officials.
[6] Knight and Bishop revealed to the Air Council in Ottawa that they acquired 36 pilot trainers for the whole BCATP, which had started recruitment in Manhattan.
[13] One of their biggest obstacles was the possibility of loss of American citizenship for those who pledged loyalty to the British monarch when entering the RCAF.
This matter was eventually abolished when the Canadian government enacted an Order in Council that put in place a momentary agreement to adhere to RCAF rules for the length of their time.
They had to find a way to obtain help from the President, even though his publicly stated goal was to prevent America from going to war.
[1] The financial conduct of the committee and Homer Smith's status on the RCAF reserve list caused major problems.
"[1] Because Smith was on the RCAF reserve list, he was violating the law which required the registration of agents working for foreign governments.
"[1] President Roosevelt helped Billy Bishop's work and he ensured that the committee's efforts did not fall afoul of public policy.