The military research facility located north of

Suffield, Alberta Suffield is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada within Cypress County. It is located on the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) approximately northwest of Medicine Hat, and just south of CFB Suffield. History Established by the Canadian Pa ...

, operated under the name of the Suffield Experimental Station (SES) from 1950 to its renaming to the

Defence Research Establishment Suffield The Defence Research Establishment Suffield was the name of the military research facility located north of Suffield, Alberta, from 1967 to its renaming to ''DRDC Suffield'' in 2000. History After being renamed from the Suffield Experimental Sta ...

in 1967.

History

Experimental Station Suffield

The military research facility located north of

, operated under the name of Experimental Station Suffield (or the Field Experimental Station) from its inception into 1941 to its renaming to the Suffield Experimental Station in 1950. When

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

fell to the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

in 1940, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

lost access to the joint British/French experimental station located in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

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, two hundred miles south of

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

. Following the loss of the Algerian experimental station, the

Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...

indicated that it was willing to provide an alternative location. In October 1940, the Superintendent of Experiments at Porton Down, England, Mr. E. Ll. Davies, arrived in Canada to discuss the issue with Lt. Colonel Morrison and Dr. Otto Maass. Of the sites considered; Tracadie NB, Northern Quebec, Northern Ontario,

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

, and

Maple Creek, Saskatchewan Maple Creek is a town in the Cypress Hills of southwest Saskatchewan, Canada. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Maple Creek No. 111. The population was 2,084 at the 2016 Census. The town is southeast of Medicine Hat, Alberta, and n ...

;

was selected. The area, which was given the name the Suffield Block, contained one hundred and twenty-five farms plus additional lands that were mostly owned by the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

and the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

. A small nucleus of British scientists arrived at the experimental station in the spring of 1941.D.J. Goodspeed
A History of the Defence Research Board of Canada
1 Jan 1958 Experimental Station Suffield, under the administration of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

, commenced operations on June 11, 1941 as a joint British/Canadian biological and chemical defence facility. The name appears on several reports from the period and was most likely following a British naming convention. By the end of the

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 ...

, the station employed 584 personnelDinosaurs to Defence - A Story of the Suffield Block trained in chemistry, physics, meteorology, mathematics, pharmacology, pathology, bacteriology, physiology, entomology, veterinary science, mechanical and chemical engineering. In 1946, the station was placed completely in the hands of the

when the

withdrew their support. The responsibility for administrating the station, including the Suffield Block, was transferred to the

Defence Research Board Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC; french: Recherche et développement pour la défense Canada, ''RDDC'') is a special operating agency of the Department of National Defence (DND), whose purpose is to provide the Canadian Armed Forces ...

on April 30, 1947 by Order in Council PC 101/1727. In August 1950, the station was renamed to the Suffield Experimental Station (SES). A note on the

: Based on the recommendations of Dr. Solandt, Director General of Defence Research, an Order in Council was signed on October 17, 1946, that created the Interim Defence Research Board. The four interim board members were Dr. C.H. Best, Dr. Otto Maass, Dr. P.E. Gagnon, and Colonel R.D. Harkness with Dr. Solandt as the chairman. The first meeting was held on December 16, 1946. On March 28, 1947, Bill 19, which amended the National Defence Act of 1927, became law and legally established the

. A note on the joint British/Australian "Australian Field Experimental Station (AFES)": AFES was constructed at Gunyarra, a railway siding about 12 miles south of

Proserpine, Queensland Proserpine () is a rural town and locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Proserpine had a population of 3,562 people. Geography Proserpine is situated on the Bruce Highway. Proserpine is located on ...

in 1944. AFES was established to continue the research and experimental work carried out by the Australian Chemical Warfare Research and Experimental Section (A.C.W.R. & E.S.) at

Innisfail, Queensland Innisfail (from Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town of Innisfail had a population of 7,236 people, while ...

in 1943/44. Activities at this Station continued until the end of the war. For some time it was placed in a care and maintenance situation but was finally dismantled.

SES

Control of Experimental Station Suffield was transferred from the Canadian Army to the

(DRB) on April 30, 1947 by Order in Council PC 101/1727. In August 1947, approval was given for the construction of 60 prefabricated housing units at a site named after the Honourable J.L. Ralston. Due to delays, major construction did not complete until 1953. Suffield Experimental Station came into official existence when

Experimental Station Suffield An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

was renamed in August 1950. The station was responsible for the administration and operation of the 2690 square kilometre Suffield Block. The DRB's annual report for 1951 listed various major construction projects in progress at station: Shopping and Recreation Centre, Transport Garage, CMHC Housing (76 homes), th
Ralston School
(a Recognized Federal Heritage Building), and a Fire Hall. The designs for the Central Laboratory were to be completed by December, 1951. On September 29, 1955, the Central Laboratory (Building 1) was opened by Major General William M. Creasy, Commanding General, U.S. Army Chemical Corps and is now
Recognized Federal Heritage Building
In July 1967, the Suffield Experimental Station was renamed to the

(DRES).

Large explosive events

* A 100-ton detonation occurred on 3 August 1961 * The

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500-ton detonation (hemisphere form) on 17 July 1964G.H.S. Jones, Complex Craters in Alluvium, Defence Research Board, 1977 formed an 87-meter diameter craterNeville J. Price, Major impacts and plate tectonics, University College London, 2000 * The Distant Plain series of explosive and detonable gas tests up to 100 tons from July 1966 to August 1967 * The Prairie Flat 500-ton detonation (spherical form) These experiments were meant to simulate and study nuclear weapon detonation effects including airblast, ground shock, cratering and effects on military targets.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suffield DRDC Suffield Canadian Forces bases in Canada (closed) Military research installations of Canada