RCAF Station Rivers
General Information
Base / Station:
- Rivers
Province:
Period of Information:
- 1939 – 1945
- 1946 – 1971
Units:
- No. 1 Air Navigation School
- Moved from Trenton, Ontario on 11 November 1940
- No 1 Central Navigation School
- No. 2 Detachment No. 165 Transport Squadron
- Joint Air School / Joint Air Training Centre
- No. 417 Fighter Reconnaissance Squadron
- No. 444 Squadron Air Observation Unit
- Transport Support and Area Reconnaissance
- No. 408 TacS & AR Squadron
- No. 4 Advanced Flying School – OPENING DATE
- 3 Flying School – OPENING DATE
Unit Duties / Information:
- November 23, 1940 No. 1 Air Navigation School was moved to Rivers from Trenton. This school was formed to give navigators/bomb aimers advanced navigation training as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
- May 11, 1942 No. 1 Air Navigation School was redesignated Central Navigation School after an amalgamation with No. 2 Air Navigation School from Pennfield Ridge, NB. The duties of this newly created school remained the same as those of the original school.
- No. 2 Detachment of No. 165 Transport Squadron was formed at Rivers on April 23, 1943 with the task of initiating paratroop training in Canada. The unit worked in conjunction with the Canadian Army’s 1st Parachute Battalion.
- In 1947 the Joint Air School was opened to train the Armed Forces in the techniques of air/army/navy operations. New airstrips were constructed in 1947 and 1948 and, at the time, made the airfield at Rivers one of the biggest in North America. The airstrip could be used as an emergency landing area for commercial airliners en route between Vancouver and Winnipeg.
- June 1, 1947 No. 417 Fighter Reconnaissance Squadron formed. This squadron was used in close support training with army units and worked with the Joint Air School.
- October 1, 1947 No. 444 Squadron was formed as an Air Observation Post Unit in cooperation with the Joint Air School. It assisted artillery units in training to range and direct artillery fire.
- In March 1949 the Joint Air School was redesignated the Joint Air Training Centre, continuing with its previously tasked operations.
- May 1, 1964 No. 8 Photographic Squadron moved to Rivers from Rockcliffe and redesignated Transport Support and Area Reconnaissance. March 15, 1966 the squadron was redesignated No. 408 TacS & AR Squadron. This unit was created to provide support to army units by providing aircraft and aircrew trained in weapons delivery.
- Helicopter Conversion Flight was set up in 1947 to provide conversion training for RCAF pilots from fixed wing aircraft to helicopters which had been a new addition to the RCAF.
- No. 4 Advanced Flying School evolved from the helicopter conversion flight and continued to train pilots in operating the helicopters. NO OPENING DATE.
- No. 3 Flying School was opened to provide advanced training for pilots on the Expediter. NO OPENING DATE.
Aircraft Flown:
- No. 1 ANS
- Anson
- No. 2 Detachment
- Lockheed Lodestar and
- Douglas Dakota
- No. 444 / LAS
- de Havilland Chipmunk,
- Auster,
- Cessna L-19 Bird Dog
- No. 417
- North American Harvard and
- Mustang
- No. 408
- Lancaster,
- T-33,
- C-119
- No. 3 FS
- Expediter
- HC Flight / No. 4 AFS
- Sikorsky H5 and
- H13
Financial Impact:
- $1,617,635 (total cost of construction to 15 Mar 1942)
- $5,000,000 loss to community upon closing.
Commanding Officers:
- G/C W.A. Murray (as at Aug 43-Aug 1944) (Source Message to Base)
Date / Reason for closure:
- The Central Navigation School was moved to Summerside PEI in the summer of 1945 and became dormant September 15, 1945 following the cessation of hostilities.
- No. 2 Detachment ceased training June 30, 1945.
- In 1953 the Central Navigation School, which had been radically reduced following WW II, was moved to Winnipeg for the purpose of training NATO aircrew.
- August 1, 1948 No. 417 Fighter Reconnaissance Squadron at Rivers was disbanded.
- April 1, 1949 No. 444 Squadron was disbanded when the Light Aircraft School assumed its duties.
- September, 1964 No. 3 Flying School was moved to Portage la Prairie. ??WHEN WAS THIS SCHOOL FORMED AND WHAT WERE ITS TASKS??
- No. 4 Advanced Flying Training School was moved to Portage in 1970.
- April 1, 1970 No. 408 Squadron was disbanded.
- In 1971 the base at Rivers was turned over to the Department of Indian Affairs as an Indian training center and then,
- in 1981, it was transferred to the Department of Public Works. The property – including hangers, airstrip, nine-hole golf course, swimming pool, bowling alley, recreational facilities in addition to numerous other buildings was put up for public sale in 1983. It was eventually sold to a private businessman for just over $700,000.
Current Status:
- abandoned airfield,
- runways/taxiways still exist
- most base buildings still exist
Base Facilities and Infrastructure
- Private Married Quarters
- Rail infrastructure
- The base was serviced by Canadian Pacific Railroad on the abandoned Lenore Subdivision (please click the link for more infromation)
Location – Google Map
Photo Gallery
Photo Provided by Euan Price on Facebook
YouTube
Station Magazine
“MTB – Message to Base”
Daily Diary – Index – No. 1 Air Navigation School
The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon, Manitoba has created a transcription of this Daily Diary.
Their web site is AirMuseum.ca
Daily Diary – Index – No. 1 Central Navigation School
The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon, Manitoba has created a transcription of this Daily Diary.
Their web site is AirMuseum.ca
1942
Prior to May 1942, No 1 Central Navigation School was No 1 Air Navigation School, please see above for the daily diary index of No 1 Air Navigation School.
Fatalities
This list was compiled from the entries in the Daily diaries of No 1 Air Navigation School, The Daily Diary of the Central Navigation School and other sources. The list likely does not include all fatalities of personnel who died while stationed at RCAF Station Rivers, and likely includes some errors. Currently this list contains 40 personnel.
6 January 1941
- F/O Michael Desmond MacBrien
- LAC Leonard Joseph Gray
- Sgt Edward John Pink
- Sgt Gordon James Lewis
- Sgt James Douglas Ross
25 February 1941
- Sgt Joseph Goodwin Butcher
- Sgt Harry Albert Howarth
- LAC Lloyd Ross Lancaster
- Sgt William Henry Prest
18 August 1941
9 June 1942
- Sgt John Thomas Carter
- Sgt Joseph Charles Wilfred Gauthier Dit Larouche
- Sgt Adam John Mazur
- P/O Arthur Weatherley Willoughby
22 July 1942
- LAC Harry Dutton
- Sgt Horatio Charles Hamilton Hosford
- LAC William Henry Symons
- Sgt Ian Gordon Taylor
22 June 1943
5 October 1943
- LAC Royston Graham George Smith
- LAC Alexander MacArthur
- Sgt John Allenby Cummer
- Sgt Leroy Edgar Plate
- Sgt Lucien Pierre Guay
- Sgt Alfred Lawrence Capon
- P/O Thomas Westcott Nixon
- P/O David Renfrew Petrie
- P/O William Harry Earl
11 March 1944
- LAC William Barron Forsyth
- LAC Basil Henry Mervyn Jones
- F/O Ralph Morgan Robbins
- Cpl Benson Harold Wickware
29 June 1944
6 July 1944
8 August 1944
15 September 1944
6 April 1945
Aircraft List
Anson
DG872
6642
Course List – No 1 Central Navigation School
This List is incomplete and will be enhanced as my time permits and as requests are received.
| Number | Start Date | Graduation Date | Number of Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course 60B | Approximately 24 June 1942 | Approximately 13 November 1942 |
Course List
No 1 Air Navigation School
For More information – External Links
- Wikipedia
- MilitaryBruce.com – Canadian Military History by Bruce Forsyth
- Manitoba Historical Society
Hello,
I’m trying to find any information on Nick (Nicholas) Staynor. I’m told that he was a navigation instructor at Rivers. Any information is greatly appreciated. I’m compiling a biography for his daughter. Nick passed away in 1998.
Thank you,
Ray Di Cecco
Ray,
Thank you for reaching out to provide additional information on the history of RCAF Station Rivers. I will send you a personal email to provide some advise and guidance on how best to proceed with your research.
Nathan
Rivers was ultimately a tri-service base, not just RCAF. My father was a fixed wing and helicopter pilot and instructor there over 2 postings and he was Canadian Army.
Nora,
Thanks for the comment. I agree with you, to a point. The base was established as entirely a RCAF Station. This is the perspective that I established the site from. After the second world war the base closed and was reopened as an amalgamation of the air force and army and became the center of excellence for joint aviation operations, particularly with the army. I have not gotten to researching that piece of the bases history. If you have some input and would like to propose some edits to the site please feel free. I will reach out via email.
Nathan
Hello Nathan:
Do you have any reference material that describes the Air Navigation Instructors course which took place at No. 1 C.N.S. Rivers?
Cheers,
Chris
Chris,
Unfortunately, not that I recollect. If I see anything I will post.
Nathan
I was stationed at RIVERS 1955-56, electrical tech, on BRT THEN TRANSFERED TO 2 WING IN FRANCE,421 F86 fighter sqn,1956 then 423 CF100 sqn. when they arrived on base, Seems like I never got my nose out of manuals for the duration learned lots ,also good times !!!!!!!
Is there anyone using the lend for anything right now? Who would I contact to get information on being able to be on the land etc..?
Great article – love seeing all the history! We did a walkthrough of the site many years ago – you can see it here https://www.prairiepast.com/blog/explore-3/rivers-afb-45
Nathan.. this is amazing work you have done… my committee in Rivers is working on a website that hotspots will be placed on the map and information derived from them via videos, photos, data etc.
I see the map here…do you have another map of the airbase after the last of the additions were made and the names of the streets etc. Further, it was Roger Degobeo who was the last base commander and had the local golf course built for the officers of the Base. Would you have a map of that as well. We interviewed him many years ago but he did not have a map of either.
My grandfather, Joseph Duguay trained the Commando Paratroopers in hand to hand combat and other combat skills during the war at Rivers. My father, Raymond Duguay, was a jump instructor at Rivers from 1953~58 (not sure of the exact dates).
Hi there! This is all so very interesting!! I drove by there today and took a photo of one of the WWII-era hangars that’s still standing there as my father was an Aviation technician there before going over to Germany.
If anyone remembers Cpl Melvyn Comeau (AST)