RCAF Station Rivers – The War Years
Base construction – a huge project
with a wide-ranging economic and social impact.
While the decision by the Grand Trunk Pacific to establish a Divisional
Point at Rivers created the town, a second decision, much later, added
new life to the community.
Just as Rivers was recovering from the Great Depression, the
establishment of the Air Force Base just outside of town played a huge
role in the next decades.
The very identity of Rivers as a “Railway” town was somewhat replaced
by the role of the Base. People from all over Canada were transplanted
into the municipality. The impact of both the railway and the Air Force
base continues to be felt today, long after each ceased to be a force
economically.
The story of RCAF Station Rivers is central to the identity of the town
of Rivers, and as such will be told in another volume. However, an
outline of the story must be introduced here. The railways story and
the Air Force Base story are linked. The direct trans-continental rail
link to ports in Eastern Canada was essential to this part of the
Rivers story.
We were far from the front…but connected.
The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan saw 130,000 personnel from
Great Britain and the Commonwealth graduate from 107 training schools
across Canada. The impact of that decision was lasting and
transformative.
RCAF Station Rivers opened May 1942 when No. 1 Air Navigation School
re-located to Rivers from RCAF Station Trenton, becoming No. 1 Central
Navigation. As the war progressed, Rivers also became a training centre
for Army pilots, parachutists and flying instructors from the Army, RCN
and RCAF. Additionally, the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and the Air
Dispatch School made Rivers their home.
By the time No. 1 CNS disbanded in August 1945, a combined total of
11406 Commonwealth navigators had been trained here
That was a huge contribution to the Allied war effort.
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