RCAF Station Port Albert was a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

station located near Port Albert,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the

Ashfield–Colborne–Wawanosh The Township of Ashfield–Colborne–Wawanosh is a municipality in Huron County, Ontario, Canada. It was formed as an amalgamation of the former Ashfield, Colborne and West Wawanosh townships in 2001, in an Ontario-wide local government restruct ...

township. The station was home to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

's No. 31 Air Navigation School. In the summer of 1940 the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

was faced with the loss of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

, and

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, and the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

came under constant air attack by the German air force, in what is known as the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. The British decided to move some of their air training schools elsewhere, and reached an agreement with the Canadians to transfer fourteen training schools to Canada. The first was No. 7 Service Flying Training School from Peterborough, England, which was relocated to

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

as No. 31 Service Flying Training School, and the second was Navigation School No. 48 General Reconnaissance from St. Athan, Wales, which moved to Port Albert as No. 31 Air Navigation School in October 1940. The school opened 18 November 1940 and closed 17 February 1945. The RAF school was integrated into the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

in 1942. Like other RAF schools in Canada, it was subject to RCAF administrative and operational control. The Canadian navigator

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Kenneth C. Maclure developed his method of Grid Navigation while stationed at No. 31 Air Navigation School in 1941, and in 1945, became one of the first men to fly over the

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Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942, the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome - Port Albert, Ontario at with a variation of 6 degrees west and elevation of . The aerodrome was listed with three runways as follows:

Postwar

The site came under the control of the Canadian Government's War Assets Corporation, and by the summer of 1949 the buildings had been demolished or sold to other governments and private individuals. The Royal Canadian Branch 309 Lucknow, Ontario building and the Dungannon Agricultural Society hall are both buildings moved from No. 31 Air Navigation School. Mr. Reg McGee purchased the property in 1950, and for a few years in the late 1950s the London Automobile Sports Club held car races on the runways. McGee's sons sold the site in 1969, and subsequently the airport site has had several more owners, who used it as farmland. A memorial cairn was erected in 1988 on Highway 21 near the north entrance road to Port Albert. There are still a few signs of No. 31 on the airfield site in 2017. File:RAF No. 31 Air Navigation School Dungannon.jpg, Runway area, 2017 File:RAF No. 31 Air Navigation School Fence.jpg, Hangar line and fence, 2017 File:RAF No. 31 Air Navigation School Entrance.jpg, Main entrance, 2017 In 2020, the old airfield is easily identified from the air. Compare these modern aerial photos with the 1940 aerial photo. File:RAF_No._31_Air_Navigation_School_Southwest_View.jpg, Southwest view, 2020 File:RAF_No._31_Air_Navigation_School_South_View.jpg, South view, 2020 File:RAF_No._31_Air_Navigation_School_East_View.jpg, East view, 2020 The Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol in

Goderich, Ontario Goderich ( or ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County, Ontario, Huron County. The town was founded by John Galt (novelist), John Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop of the Canada Company in 1827. First ...

has an extensive and accessible collection of artifacts from No. 31 Air Navigation School.

Remembrance

Mr. Eugene McGee compiled a list of thirty-six airmen who died while serving at Port Albert. Three of the men were members of the

, one man was from the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

, but most of them served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Some perished in

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

, and their remains have not been recovered. The names of these missing men are recorded on the

Ottawa Memorial The Ottawa Memorial is a monument in Ottawa, Ontario, that "commemorates by name almost 800 men and women who lost their lives while serving or training with the Air Forces of the Commonwealth in Canada, the West Indies and the United States and ...

. The others are buried at various locations in Canada, including the Maitland Cemetery in

. McGee's list is publicly displayed at the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol. RAF No

References

Bruce Forsyth's Canadian Military History Page - No. 31 Air Navigation School
Retrieved: 2018-08-14 {{DEFAULTSORT:Port Albert Royal Canadian Air Force stations Military airbases in Ontario Airports of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Defunct airports in Ontario Military history of Ontario Military installations closed in 1945