RCAF Station Hamilton was an air force base of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) 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 environ ...

located in Mount Hope,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, south of Hamilton.

History

World War II

During 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, it was a base for the

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 Z ...

, teaching pilots from allied

commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

nations the basics of elementary flying. Schools located here were No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School (No. 10 EFTS), which flew De Havilland Tiger Moth and Fleet Finch aircraft, and No. 33 Air Navigation School (No. 33 ANS), which flew the

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) ...

. No. 10 EFTS relocated to RCAF Station Pendleton in 1942; No. 33 ANS closed in October 1944.

Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome - Hamilton (Mount Hope) Ontario at with a variation of 7 degrees west and elevation of . Three runways were listed as follows:

Postwar

After the war, it became a base for Hamilton 424 Reserve Squadron, supported by regular force personnel. During the postwar years, 424 Squadron, under Air Defence Command, flew the

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

and Vampire jet fighter. Later, under Air Transport Command, 424 flew the

Beechcraft Expeditor The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to Novem ...

and the De Havilland Otter. Other units located here included No. 16 Wing (Auxiliary), No. 2424 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (Auxiliary), which trained

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across the northern United States and southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Run by North Ame ...

radar operators, and the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve's No. 1 Training Air Group. The airport was known as Mount Hope Airport for many years and today is called the

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is an international airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The airport is part of the neighbourhood of Mount Hope, Hamilton, Ontario, Mount Hope, southwest of Downtown Hamilton and ...

. The airport is also the home of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

Closure

In the 1960s, the Canadian military was reorganized and eventually unified. The reorganization resulted in many military bases being closed, including Hamilton. The station was closed in 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton Canadian Forces bases in Canada (closed) Hamilton Hamilton Military airbases in Ontario Defunct airports in Ontario Military history of Ontario 1940s establishments in Ontario 1964 disestablishments in Ontario