CFB Summerside

Canadian Forces Base Summerside (CFB Summerside) was an air force base located in St. Eleanors, Prince Edward Island, Canada, now part of the city of Summerside.

RCAF Station Summerside

The airfield was constructed by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) between 1940-1941 and was named RCAF Station Summerside.

It was home to No. 9 Service Flying Training School (SFTS), a flight school that operated under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Relief or emergency airfields were located at nearby RCAF Station Mount Pleasant and Wellington. Airmen were trained on Harvards. In July 1942 No. 9 SFTS moved to RCAF Station Centralia and was replaced by No. 1 General Reconnaissance School (GRS) which flew Ansons. No. 1 GRS was changed to No. 1 Reconnaissance and Navigation School in 1945.

The station was closed in 1946 but reopened in 1947 with the formation of No. 1 Air Navigation School (ANS). This was a NATO training facility. No. 1 ANS left in 1953 and the Central Navigation School was established. In 1949 No. 2 (Maritime) Operational Training Unit started operation. The influx of personnel and their families required the building of more accommodation quarters. In 1949 the base housing was completed and named "Slemon Park" in honour of Air Marshal Roy Slemon.

During the Cold War, the base was home to anti-submarine and coastal patrol aircraft such as the Lancaster B.X, CP-122 Neptune, CP-107 Argus, and CP-121 Tracker. Other aircraft operated from Summerside include the CC-115 Buffalo and CH-113 Labrador. These aircraft were operated by various squadrons and units including No. 2 (Maritime) Operational Training Unit, No. 107 Rescue Unit, 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron, 420 Air Reserve Squadron, 880 Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron (Royal Canadian Navy), 31 Support Air Group (Royal Canadian Navy), and 415 Maritime Patrol Squadron.

CFB Summerside

On 1 February 1968, the merger of the three service branches into the unified Canadian Forces saw RCAF Station Summerside change its name to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Summerside.

CFB Summerside's chief role in the 1980s was support for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the government department responsible for managing Canada's ocean resources. CP-121 Trackers were used to patrol Georges Bank and the Grand Banks to monitor foreign fishing fleets. However, Search and Rescue (SAR) was a secondary role which was no less important to the civilian population of the Maritime Provinces which, relied on SAR aircraft for urgent medevac to Halifax Nova Scotia, and for the fishermen who frequently found themselves in distress due to weather and required rescuing.

The 1989 federal budget cuts to the Department of National Defence identified CFB Summerside as a candidate for base closure. In 1991 the base was closed and the majority of military personnel were transferred to CFB Greenwood in Nova Scotia.

Current use

The entire property including airfield, housing units, hangars and support structures was renamed Slemon Park and was transferred to a local development authority named "Slemon Park Corporation". Today the site is host to a mix of public and private sector operations, including Holland College, Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods Inc. and several aerospace companies. Employment at Slemon Park facilities now exceeds pre-1991 levels.

The airfield remains active as the Summerside Airport. The airfield has the longest runways in the province, however it only supports general aviation with scheduled passenger flights being offered through the Charlottetown Airport.

External links

* [http://www.rcaf.com History and Heritage of Canada's Air Force]
* [http://www.slemonpark.com Slemon Park Corporation]