RCAF Station Mossbank opened 28 Oct 1940 and was home to No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School. The station 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 ...

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 ...

training facility located near Mossbank,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada. It was similar to the gunnery school at Dafoe, Saskatchewan. The proximity to a lake (

Old Wives Lake Old Wives Lake is a shallow saline lake in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about 30 km south-west of Moose Jaw. The lake is fed by the Wood River but seasonal water relatively flattened the terrain, and as such results in significant ...

) was important since the lake could be used for bombing and gunnery practice. Aircraft used include the

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

Bristol Bolingbroke The Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke is a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Built by Fairchild-Canada, it was a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber. De ...

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

, and

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...

. The school closed 15 December 1944, after having graduated 2,539 air bombers and 3,702 air gunners.

Aerodrome

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at with a Var. 18 degrees E and elevation of . Three runways were listed as follows:

RCAF Mossbank today

200px, Cairn at the location of the former base Today the airfield is abandoned with only the gunnery backstop, hangar pads and weedy, broken runways to see. It is used as a "practice airshow airport" for 431 Air Demonstration Squadron (The

Snowbirds The Snowbirds, officially known as 431 Air Demonstration Squadron (french: 431e Escadron de démonstration aérienne, links=no), are the military aerobatics flight demonstration team of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The team is based at 15 Wing ...

) as it is conveniently located in their training area CYR 303 (restricted). On December 10, 2004, a collision between two

CT-114 Tutor The Canadair CT-114 Tutor (company model CL-41) was the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and later Canadian Forces, standard jet trainer between the early 1960s and 2000. It was designed and produced by Canadian aircraft manufacturer Canadair ...

jets from the Snowbirds occurred during training over Mossbank. The collision led to the death of Capt. Miles Selby. Capt. Chuck Mallett survived the collision and subsequent crash after he was "thrown out" as the airplane disintegrated. Selby Road on the eastern edge of the airbase has been dedicated in the memory of Capt. Miles Selby. A cairn is located at the entrance of the Mossbank Golf Course, which borders the old base. The cairn is dedicated to all the people that have served at Mossbank. Turvey Centre, located near IPSCO (Interprovincial Steel and Pipe Corporation)(new name is Evares as of 2008) in Regina, was originally an aircraft hangar from Mossbank. The building, which now has a stage and second floor balcony, is now used for events such as wedding receptions, hobby shows, swap meets and other activities.

References

Town of Mossbank

COPA places to fly

Bruce Forsyth's Canadian Military History Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mossbank Military history of Saskatchewan Military airbases in Saskatchewan Defunct airports in Saskatchewan Mossbank Mossbank Canadian Forces bases in Canada (closed)