Moose Jaw Aeronauts

[zorgon]

Here’s a patch labeled, “Moose Jaw Aeronauts”. While not stamped on the reverse, it has all the characteristics of the design of the manufacturer, Crest Craft of Saskatoon, circa early 1940’s. The image of a Harvard is highlighted which along with the Oxford, was a trainer found on that base during the war. It is interesting to see the rather archaic term, “Aeronauts”, which was a word more likely found in reference to the earliest pilots of WWI or even preceding that period WRT balloon personnel.

For example, Madame Madeleine Sophie Blanchard was appointed official Aeronaut of the Empire by Napoleon in 1805. Madame Blanchard became the first woman air casualty on 7 July 1819 when her hydrogen balloon caught fire at Paris during a fireworks party.

From Wiki:
The declaration of World War II saw the Moose Jaw Flying Club initially contracted to provide pilot training for the Royal Canadian Air Force; however this was soon replaced by the far larger British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) which saw the Government of Canada acquire the aerodrome and completely reconstruct it into RCAF Station Moose Jaw in 1940 with the new aerodrome opening in 1941.
Initially the Royal Air Force trained exclusively at the base under the RAF's No. 32 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) (ca. 1942) using Harvards, and later, Oxfords. No. 32 SFTS eventually broadened its intake to train 1,200 pilots for the air forces of Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, the United States and the Netherlands.

RCAF Moose Jaw was de-commissioned in 1946 and returned to civilian use.

I can’t find any historical information about the Moose Jaw Aeronauts. Was it a casual aerobatic group on the base or was the outdated term just a reference to all pilots of the era? It is an uncommon patch in any event.