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The Second World War
At the start of the war Canada had only six operational air stations to support the RCAF Home War Establishment units which were mobilized. In Eastern Area Command (EAC), the only operational base was a seaplane base near Dartmouth. In Halifax, only a small shack was available for an office while an outhouse located over a manhole provided essential sanitation! Yet by June of 1940, contractors were working three shifts a day, seven days a week to complete land and seaplane hangars, runways, ammunition depots and other essential facilities on both coasts. By 1943, 133 hangars had been constructed. As in WW I, Britain realized that there was a vital need for air training schools located outside of Britain. Due to Canada's strategic location and experience in training aircrew during WW I, it was chosen as the most suitable location to conduct this training. On Dec 17, 1939, agreement was reached between Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada on the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). The initial requirement was for 74 schools and units to be opened by the end of April 1940, capable of turning out 21,500 aircrew every four weeks. To accomplish this, the government agreed to construct 60 entirely new air training schools and expand 20 existing units. This enormous construction program was far beyond the capability of the existing Works and Buildings organization. To ensure a high calibre of expertise and effective control, the supervision of the construction program was placed under the direction of Mr. RR Collard, Vice President of the Carter Hall Aldinger construction company of Winnipeg. Construction and design continued around the clock seven days a week. Construction of entire aerodromes including all buildings and hard surfaced runways, was completed within eight weeks. As if the initial requirement was not demanding enough, the requirements for the BCATP kept expanding such as doubling the number of training schools required while at the same time reducing the completion date from two years to one. In addition, separate to the BCATP Canada agreed to the let the British relocate 35 RAF flying schools to Canada. To accommodate this, BCATP schools had to be doubled in size and relief airfields were developed into full-sized stations. Despite these changes by the end of September 1941, all schools and units of the original program except for three were in operation - seven months ahead of schedule. For the RCAF construction engineers, this was an outstanding accomplishment. During its five year life the BCATP trained 131,553 aircrew, involved almost 360 units and schools operating from 230 sites. More than 100 new airfields and over 8300 structures were constructed not including the relief airfields. Early in the war, the need for mobile construction and maintenance units that could deploy on short notice to undertake projects in remote areas, or when lack of information and time prevented the preparation of detailed plans and specifications was identified. This requirement led to the formation of the Construction and Maintenance Units (CMUs) the forerunner of what today is 1 Construction Engineering Unit (CEU). One of the most urgent requirements for these crews was the construction of wireless telegraph, direction-finding and radar sites in isolated communities on both coasts where contractors were not available. By the end of the war, there were seven CMUs deployed across Canada. The geographic area of responsibility for these units was huge. In many cases the tradesmen worked by day and travelled by night between job sites. across their vast area of responsibility. There were no projects to difficult for these units to undertake. The units played a central role in construction of wharfs, jetties, roads, runways and hangars, construction of the east-west radar chains, rapid construction of radio direction finding stations in remote areas, laying communications landline, telephone poles and cables, construction of railway lines and construction of the Northwest Staging Route (NWSR).
On 13 November 1940, in the face of the Japanese threat to the US, both Canada and the US authorized the development of an air route known as the Northwest Staging Route (NWSR) from Edmonton to Fairbanks. The route was designed to transport aircraft and supplies from the continental US to Alaska. Work began in February of 1941 and within seven months aircraft were flying from Edmonton to Whitehorse. The NWSR consisted of a chain of aerodromes with intermediate landing fields at 100 mile intervals and radio ranging stations at 200 mile intervals. RCAF Works & Building staff were located at each main aerodrome. The outbreak of war with Japan combined with Russia's immediate need for aircraft, increased the importance of the NWSR. To increase the volume of aircraft that could be delivered, 4 CMU was tasked with upgrading the runways, improving navigation aids, and expanding accommodations.
The development of the coastal radar sites was extremely demanding. For example, one site was constructed on the northern tip of Newfoundland located on a barren patch of rock directly above the ocean with only water access to the area. To accomplish this, all construction material had to be floated ashore from vessels of the RCAF Marine Section using rafts constructed on site from lumber. Although the radar was seldom used for detecting enemy aircraft, its use for aircraft control and navigation was indispensable. The experience gained in meeting the demands of the project prepared the RCAF construction engineers for similar challenges in the future. |
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