CFB Rivers

CFB Rivers was a Royal Canadian Air Force base located 5 km (3.1 mi) southwest of Rivers, Manitoba (30 km (19 mi) northwest of Brandon), Canada (50°00′38″N 100°18′49″W / 50.01056°N 100.31361°W / 50.01056; -100.31361Coordinates: 50°00′38″N 100°18′49″W / 50.01056°N 100.31361°W / 50.01056; -100.31361), at the junction of Manitoba Highway 25 (PTH 25) and Manitoba Provincial Road 259 (PR 259).

It was originally opened as RCAF Station Rivers in November 1940 as the new home of No. 1 Air Navigation School (No. 1 ANS), originally formed at RCAF Station Trenton.

In May 1942, No. 1 Air Navigation School opened as a part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). The base remained open after the war, becoming a training centre for Canadian Army pilots and flying instructors from the army, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force. Additionally, the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and the Air Dispatch School made Rivers their home.

Other post-war units stationed at Rivers included the Canadian Parachute Training Centre, the Army Aviation Tactical Training School, the Joint Air Photo Interpretation School, the Basic Helicopter Training Unit and the Army Air Tactical Training School (AATTS). The Royal Canadian Navy began sending trainees to Rivers after the closure of their own training facility at CFB Shearwater, Nova Scotia. Units established at the station included No. 6 Signal Regiment, the Air Support Signals Unit, No. 1 Transport Helicopter Platoon (No. 1 THP), The Canadian Airborne Regiment and 408 Tactical Fighter Squadron. As a result of the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces, RCAF Station Rivers was renamed CFB Rivers.

The station closed in 1971. That same year, the Oo-za-we-kwun Centre opened on the former base to provide vocational training for Canadian First Nations people, and closed in 1980. In 1982, the base was used for General Military Training (GMT). Future Air Reserve members trained in CFB Rivers for two months. A hog farm called Aero Farms Ltd, operated from the site until 2011. The site now sits vacant, with the remaining buildings rapidly crumbling. The airfield is marked as abandoned by the Canada Flight Supplement.^[1] Some scenes for the 1993 movie For the Moment, a film about an Australian pilot who comes to Manitoba to train under the BCATP, starring Russell Crowe, were filmed at the former air base.

References

• Canadian Joint Air Training Centre, Rivers, Manitoba

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