CFB Greenwood - RAF Station Greenwood

RAF Station Greenwood

The relatively fog-free climate of the farming hamlet of Greenwood was selected by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal Air Force for an airfield as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), following the signing of that formal agreement on December 17, 1939.

The airfield for RAF Station Greenwood was constructed between 1940 and 1942 with the first training units arriving as part of No. 8 Operational Training Unit (OTU) on March 9, 1942. Early training aircraft types included the Lockheed Hudson MK III, the Avro Anson, and the Westland Lysander, all from Britain's Royal Air Force. By the end of August, 1942 there were 36 aircraft, and 194 trainees out of a total of 1,474 RAF personnel. By November, 1942 the number of trainees had doubled and aircraft had expanded to 80.

In addition to the BCATP program, RAF Station Greenwood was involved in combat operations through maritime reconnaissance to counter U-boat activity in the western Atlantic. These war-time anti-submarine patrols, combined with BCATP training, led to dozens of aircraft crashes throughout the first year of the base being operational, resulting in the deaths of Canadians, as well as 31 airmen from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

On December 4, 1942, the Canadian Army provided an anti-aircraft searchlight battery, the 5th Special Mobile Anti-Aircraft Search Light Troop, to provide realistic night training to aircrews.

By the end of 1942, the BCATP program was changing across Canada in light of Allied successes in Europe. RAF Station Greenwood was selected to train aircrew on the De Havilland Mosquito, beginning July 3, 1943. The last Hudson left the base on October 3 of that year. Supporting the Mosquito BCATP training were the Airspeed Oxford and Bristol Bolingbroke. The base also became home to North American Harvards and Lockheed Venturas.