RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge was a

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 ...

and

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 ...

training station located in coastal Charlotte County,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

in the hamlet of Pennfield Ridge.

History

Construction of the

aerodrome An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...

began in the summer of 1940 after a suitable site was selected on a ridge high above the surrounding

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

of the north shore of the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

, east of the town of

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

. Proximity to a

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

line running between St. Stephen and Saint John eased the transport of building materials. General contractor Dexter Construction had 200 workers on the project by August 1940 and the runways were finished by November. The base was located southwest of the Camp Utopia, an army training facility for southwestern New Brunswick. The rugged, often foggy, coastline of the Bay of Fundy allowed pilots to train in conditions similar to those they would face in Southern England. The first test flights took place on January 1, 1941 and the base officially opened on July 21 of that year, housing No. 2 Air Navigation School RCAF and later No. 34 Operational Training Unit RAF, under the command of No. 3 Training Command RCAF, which was headquartered in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

as part of 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 ...

(BCATP). By the end of summer 1941, over 40 buildings were constructed on the base, including 4 large

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s, an observation tower, barracks, drill hall, mess halls and classrooms, along with a water supply and internal telephone system. The three runways were lengthened in the fall of 1941 into the classic BCATP triangle arrangement. The airfield was decommissioned by the RCAF toward the end of

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 ...

, with air force activities in eastern Canada being concentrated at RCAF Station Greenwood, RCAF Station Debert,

RCAF Station Summerside Canadian Forces Base Summerside (CFB Summerside) was an air force base located in St. Eleanors, Prince Edward Island, Canada, now part of the city of Summerside. RCAF Station Summerside World War II The airfield was constructed by the Royal Ca ...

and RCAF Station Chatham. The Pennfield Ridge base became the operational location for heavy transport until it was purchased several years later and operated by a commercial airline company as an alternative to the inadequate airport serving Saint John at

Millidgeville Millidgeville is a Canadian suburban neighbourhood in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick. Millidgeville is situated on the northern edge of the city, on Brothers Cove off the Kennebecasis River at the point where that westerly flowing river ...

. After the new

Saint John Airport Saint John Airport () is a Canadian airport in Saint John, New Brunswick. Located about east northeast of Uptown Saint John, in an area formerly known as Clover Valley, the airport serves the city of Saint John, the Greater Saint John metropo ...

was opened in the early 1950s, Pennfield Ridge closed as an operational airfield. One of its runways was used as a

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

track by the New Brunswick Drag Racing Association during the 1950s-1970s. Today, two of the three runways are used for drying

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

which is then marketed as a natural plant fertilizer. The remaining runway is still able to handle small aircraft under

visual flight rules In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) is a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better tha ...

(VFR) conditions; there is a small fuel reserve tank for the use of

J.D. Irving Limited J. D. Irving Limited (JDI) is a privately owned Conglomerate (company), conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a part of the Irving Group of Companies and consists of various s ...

and New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources aircraft. Less than to the east of the airfield is the location of the

Jim Mollison James Allan Mollison MBE (19 April 1905 – 30 October 1959) was a Scottish pioneer aviator who, flying solo or with his wife, Amy Johnson, set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930s. Early years Mollison wa ...

landing in August 1932, in which Mollison completed the first solo east-to-west

transatlantic flight A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, bal ...

. His aircraft was a

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

Puss Moth (G-ABXY) dubbed ''The Heart's Content''. On 24 September 2006, a memorial was erected at a nearby park in Pennfield by the Charlotte County War Memorial Committee (Members: J. David Stuart, Mark Pedersen and Morris Harris) to honour the sixty men who died while on training at Pennfield Ridge. Subsequent research by Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society shows that there were seventy men who died while serving/training at Pennfield Ridge Air Station. There were also six civilian casualties as well.

Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome - Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick at with a variation of 22 degrees west and elevation of . Three runways were listed as follows:

References

External links

Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society
– Professional research since 1989. The former track director for "Pennfield Dragway" (1989-1996) is conducting an intensive research project into the former Air Station. This website serves as a tribute to those who served there.
Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society Blog
- A blog dedicated to keep people updated to the ongoing research by Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society to preserve the rich history of Pennfield Ridge Air Station and A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre (Camp Utopia). {{DEFAULTSORT:Pennfield Ridge Defunct airports in New Brunswick Former Canadian Forces bases in Canada Airports of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Royal Canadian Air Force stations Transport in Charlotte County, New Brunswick Military history of New Brunswick Military airbases in New Brunswick Buildings and structures in Charlotte County, New Brunswick