• Previous Base Commanders
• 1960s & 70s - NORAD
• 1950s - Reactivation
• RCAF Comox
• 1940s - Japanese Threat

1940s - Japanese Threat

In the spring of 1942, the Pacific Rim was in turmoil. Japan had attacked Pearl Harbour and destroyed much of the U.S. Naval Fleet there on December 7, 1941. Meanwhile, the British Empire had lost Singapore and Hong Kong to the Japanese.

Against the backdrop of the Pacific War, a base was constructed on the east coast of Vancouver Island to protect the North American Pacific Coast from a possible Japanese invasion. In the end, it was never to happen, as Midway Island proved to be as far the Japanese navy reached across the Pacific Ocean. One of the lasting legacies of that threat, however was the air base at Comox.

RCAF Comox

Comox opened as a Royal Air Force Base in 1942. Though the Royal Canadian Air Force officially took possession in 1943, the first squadron of Canadian-operated Dakotas arrived in 1944. For the remainder of the war years, the base served as a transport operational training unit.

1950s - Reactivation

Following postwar closure in 1946, the base was reactivated in l952 when 407 Squadron arrived. For the next two years, the base underwent extensive renovations.

The Korean War and Cold War tensions provided the catalyst for the rebirth of operational life at RCAF Station Comox. In order to hunt foreign submarines and protect Canadian sovereignty, 407 Maritime Patrol Squadron flew modified Lancaster Aircraft followed by the Neptune, Argus and ultimately, the CP-140 Aurora in service today.

Fighter Aircraft arrived in 1954 when 409 All Weather Fighter Interceptor Squadron was reactivated in 1954. Over the years, it was equipped with the T-33 Silver Star, CF-100 Canuck and the CF-101 Voodoo. Also in l954, 51 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (radar) was formed at Comox as part of the CADIN-Pinetree radar line.

1960s & 70s - NORAD

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, CFB Comox served as the primary air defence base in western Canada and, as part of NORAD's continental defence structure, was a deterrent to Soviet air forces. When 409 Squadron moved to Cold Lake, Alta. in 1984, the loss of the squadron with its personnel and air force heritage was deeply felt by the community.

Search and Rescue came to Comox with the closure of RCAF Station Sea Island (Vancouver) in l964. 121 Composite Unit was moved to RCAF Station Comox and became part of a reactivated 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron.

The squadron, originally equipped with Grumman Albatross and Piasecki H-21 Aircraft, was later re-equipped with the CC115 Buffalo and CH-113 Labrador which was retired in 2004, when the CH-149 Cormorant was introduced.