RCAF Station Dauphin
General Information
Base / Station: Dauphin
Province: Manitoba
Dates of Operation: 1941 – 1945
Units:
- No. 10 SFTS
- Primary Relief Landing Field – North Junction (R1)
- Secondary Relief Landing Field – Valley River (R2)
Unit duties / Information: No. 10 Service Flying Training School was opened here as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan March 5, 1941. The formation order establishing the school can be found at, https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c12348/48?r=0&s=1
This school was responsible for advanced pilot training.
Aircraft Flown:
- Crane and
- Harvard
Financial Impact: $1,880,617 (total cost of BCATP construction to 15 Mar 1942)
Rail Road Service: The station was serviced by a Rail Spur of the Canadian National line nearby (Thanks to the Dauphin Rail Museum for pointing this out and providing the following photo highlighting the route the spur followed.)
Commanding Officers:
Image from the
RCAF Pilots Manual of Aerodromes and Seaplane Bases
circa 1942.
Date / Reason for closure: The school was closed April 14, 1945 in accordance with the BCATP agreement. The agreement had reached its end and, as a result of the progress of the war, was not renewed – thus closing those BCATP stations that Canada decided it had no use for. The disbandment order for No. 10 Service Flying Traing School can be found at, https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c12348/45?r=0&s=1
Site Evolution:
- Post war several buildings from the former SFTS were moved to Dauphin and used for various purposes. The following information was provided by Al Gray, ” a hangar from No. 10 SFTS was dismantled and moved to Dauphin…. the trusses were transported using two trucks… one end of the truss on one truck driving forward… and another truck driving backwards all the way to Dauphin (about 3 miles) with the other end of the truss… another hangar part and two storey hut was moved to town and used as the materials for an elementary school… another building was moved to town and used on the Recreational Grounds as a rec hall, and the first men’s home was built by using buildings from No. 10 Service Flying Training School.”
- The Publication On Track…the Pilot’s Air Travel Guide (First Annual Edition – 1978) lists the Aerodrome as “Dauphin” – See photos on this page.
Current Status: civilian airfield runways/taxiways still exist, two hangars, some base buildings still exist
Site Plan – Circa August 1944
On Track – 1978
Dauphin Aerodrome (Part 1)
Dauphin Aerodrome (Part 1)
Training Area Map – No 10 Service Flying Training School
Location – Google Map
Photo Gallery
Station Magazine
“”
School Daily Diary – Links – No. 10 Service Flying Training School
The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon, Manitoba has created a transcription of this Daily Diary.
Their web site is AirMuseum.ca
Fatalities –
This list was compiled from the entries in the Daily diaries of No. 10 Service Flying Training School. The list may not include all fatalities of personnel who died while stationed at RCAF Station Dauphin. From my reading so far there were 32 deaths of service personnel that were stationed at Dauphin.
24 May 1941
6 June 1941
28 June 1941
18 January 1942
21 February 1942
22 February 1942
9 April 1942
24 July 1942
3 August 1942
12 August 1942
24 August 1942
6 January 1943
11 January 1943
- Leading Aircraftman Murray Stewart Dewar
- Leading Aircraftman George Ernest Dunlop
- Flying Officer Rowland Stewart Thorpe
11 June 1943
19 July 1943
29 July 1943
12 August 1943
8 December 1943
17 February 1944
29 March 1944
17 August 1944
16 March 1945
Aircraft List –
Course List
No 10 Service Flying Training School
For More information – External Links
- Wikipedia
- MilitaryBruce.com – Canadian Military History by Bruce Forsyth
- Manitoba Historical Society
- Aerodrome Disposal File:
For More Information – Printed Sources:
- “Wings Over Dauphin – A History of a Forgotten Era” by Elsie Lesyk ISBN 1-55056-369-6 year 1995
What a wonderful compilation. I just happened to stumble upon this page and was pleasantly surprised you shared the photo I posted from a couple of years ago showing the rail spur line to the airport. This will be a wonderful resource to help me come up with a display related to a piece of timber from one of the hangers I will acquire for our Museum.
There is also a locally wrote book ‘Wings Over Dauphin’ written by Elsie Lesyk that covers some of the history of the station plus lots of pictures. I picked up a copy a few years back at the train museum.