Vanastra, Ontario
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Vanastra is a dispersed rural community and unincorporated place in the municipality of
Huron East Huron East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created from parts of Huron Centre, Huron North and Huron South ridings. ...
, Huron County in
southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario (census population 2,796,367 in 2021) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula, bounded by Lake Huron (includ ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, southeast of the community of
Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...
. It is located on the former property of a
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Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) station used to train and supply over 7,000
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
technicians and support staff for American, British and Canadian forces during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The base was renamed Canadian Forces Base Clinton in 1966 and experienced remarkable growth and development as a peacetime training facility for
wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using electrical cable, cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimenta ...
. Expansion of the base included recreational facilities, clubs and local sports teams. Following the closure of the base in 1971 the property valued at 40 million dollars, was purchased by a developer for $468,000. It was sold piece by piece to private home owners and businesses over the next several years. The recreation centre, parkland and the curling club were deeded to the Township. As a result of
amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...
in 2001, Vanastra became one of many communities to make up the Municipality of
Huron East Huron East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created from parts of Huron Centre, Huron North and Huron South ridings. ...
. In 2013 the municipality and the residents launched the Vanastra Revival Plan to honour the historical international contribution made by CFB Clinton, and to plan for a community revival.


Name

The name is derived from a combination of the name of local real estate developer John Van Gastel and of the RCAF motto, . Van Gastel had purchased four decommissioned Canadian Forces bases, including CFB Clinton, CFS Armstrong,
CFS Foymount Canadian Forces Station Foymount (CFS Foymount) was a military radar station in Foymount, Ontario, Canada, (part of Bonnechere Valley). RCAF Station Foymount was opened in 1952 as part of the Pinetree Line of NORAD radar stations. The radar it ...
and
CFS Ramore Canadian Forces Station Ramore (ADC ID: C-10) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east of Ramore, Ontario. It was closed in 1974. It was operated as part of the Pinetree Line network controlled by NORAD. It ha ...
. He held a contest to rename the CFB Clinton and find a new name for the town. Mrs. Margaret Rudd, a resident of Clinton, submitted the winning name Vanastra and received a free home.


History

The initial air base was established by the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(RAF) with the purchase of Norman Tyndall’s 100-acre farm located at Lot 46 Concession 1 in Tuckersmith Township (now part of
Huron East, Ontario The Municipality of Huron East is a Canadian municipality located in Huron County, Ontario. It was formed in 2001 as an amalgamation of the former Grey, McKillop and Tuckersmith townships with the town of Seaforth and village of Brussels, due ...
since 2001), in the spring of 1941 under the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a large-scale multinational military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Second Wo ...
. The high bluffs overlooking
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...
, ten miles away, was thought to be the perfect place to simulate the coastal conditions in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
. The objective of radar was to intercept German aircraft before they reached the coast of England. British radar training facilities were always under threat of German bombing, so an alternative training site was necessary. The site went from farmland to start-up of training in only fourteen weeks. Roads and over 40 buildings were built. The school was ready so quickly that the first group of RCAF trainees had not yet completed their
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
course, and so the first students were American Forces personnel. By the end of the war, over 5,000 Canadian airmen and 750 officers, as well as some 2,000 Americans, were trained in radar technology at Clinton. An August 1945 Time magazine article said: “The United States students, most of them university men, thought so highly of the school that it later became the model for U.S training centers …
t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...
the most modern electronics training centre on the continent”. The base was like a village in itself. There were 217 housing units, a fire station, a school, a hospital, a theatre, two churches, and facilities for ice skating, curling, swimming and bowling. When it first opened, the base was known as Royal Air Force (RAF #31 Clinton) Range and Direction Finding (RDF was the British cover name for
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
). In 1943, the
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) 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 environmental commands within the unified Can ...
(RCAF Clinton) took over and the school was renamed #5 Radio School. In June 1944 the BCATP began to scale back and No 5 Radio School was transferred to the RCAF's Home War Operations Training command. Although threatened with closure following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, RCAF Station Clinton was, in fact, saved and authorized as a peacetime RCAF Signals School. In November 1945 it became home to the No. 1 Radar and Communications School (No. 1 R&CS), which it co-hosted with nearby
RCAF Station Centralia RCAF Station Centralia was a Royal Canadian Air Force training base located just outside the village of Centralia near Exeter, Ontario, Canada. It became one of the largest training stations in Canada. It was turned over to civilian use after 1967 ...
. With military forces’ integration in 1966, the base experienced remarkable growth and development over the next 24 years including married quarters and barracks supporting recreational facilities, clubs and sports teams. During the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, RCAF Station Clinton hosted other units, including No. 12 Examination Unit, No. 1 Air Radio Officer School, School of Food Services (1945–67), and the Aerospace Engineering (AERE) Officer School, the School of Instructional Technique (1962–71), and the Guided Missile School (1958-early 1960s). After the 1 February 1968 merger of the RCAF with the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Army to form the Canadian Forces, RCAF Station Clinton's name was changed to Canadian Forces Base Clinton or CFB Clinton. With the merger, the Canadian Forces were rationalized and many of its facilities consolidated to avoid duplication. CFB Clinton was closed by 1971, and its remaining units distributed to other facilities. Following the closure of the base, the buildings were sold to real estate developer John Van Gastel and now make up the small village. File:CFB_Clinton6.jpg, Aerial Photo File:CFB_Clinton7.jpg, Radar Dome File:CFB_Clinton8.jpg, Signal Towers File:CFB_Clinton5.jpg, Swimming Pool File:CFB_Clinton3.jpg, Jet Flyby File:CFB_Clinton4.jpg, Tech Training


Transportation

Ontario Highway 4 King's Highway 4, also known as Highway 4, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Originally much longer than its present length, more than half of Highway 4 was transferred to the responsibility of local gover ...
or London Road is the main road that runs through Vanastra between Clinton and Exeter. There are no airports located within Vanastra; the closest major airport is located in
London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
. There is no local or regional bus servicing Vanastra. A pre-registered door to door transportation services operates within Huron County and Perth County.


Notoriety

In 1959 a local resident,
Steven Truscott Steven Murray Truscott (born January 18, 1945) is a Canadian man who, at age fourteen, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1959 for the rape and murder of classmate Lynne Harper. Truscott had been the last known person to see her alive. He wa ...
(aged 14 years at the time) was falsely convicted for the murder of
Lynne Harper Steven Murray Truscott (born January 18, 1945) is a Canadian man who, at age fourteen, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1959 for the rape and murder of classmate Lynne Harper. Truscott had been the last known person to see her alive. He wa ...
and sentenced to be executed. After a 48-year struggle to clear his name, Truscott was acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal on August 28, 2007.


References


Bruce Forsyth's Canadian Military History Page
* Maccaulay, Horace R. The Military Base at Clinton, Ontario. Ottawa: Horace R. Maccaulay, 2005. Print. * Whilsmith, Gwyneth J., ed. ''Tuckersmith Memories 1935-1985.'' Exeter, Ontario: Corporation of the Township of Tuckersmith, 1985. 274-79. Print.


External links

* - website of the municipality of Huron East facebook.com/groups/1480451675531249/ {{authority control Communities in Huron County, Ontario Buildings and structures in Huron County, Ontario