CFB Rivers

CFB Rivers / RCAF Station Rivers
	Near Rivers, Manitoba in Canada
	CFB Rivers / RCAF Station Rivers
Coordinates	50°00′38″N 100°18′49″W / 50.01056°N 100.31361°WCoordinates: 50°00′38″N 100°18′49″W / 50.01056°N 100.31361°W
	Airfields

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 at the junction of Manitoba Highway 25 (PTH 25) and Manitoba Provincial Road 259 (PR 259).

History

1940-1945 - World War II

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).

1945-1971 - Post war

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 Air Dispatch School made Rivers its 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 the Air Support Signal 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.

1971-Present - Post closure

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.

Notable members

'Harlo "Terry" Taerum' - A RCAF navigator who was a member of the famous "Dambusters" (No. 617 Squadron RAF). Taerum, trained at Rivers and received his navigator's wing from Air vice-marshal Billy Bishop. In May 1943, in Operation Chastise, commonly known as the "Dambusters Raid," he successfully navigated the lead Avro Lancaster bomber (piloted by Guy Gibson), at night and at very low level, to its target, a German power dam. Raised on a farm near Milo, Alberta. He was killed on a later raid, in September 1943.^[2]

References

↑ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 19 July 2018 to 0901Z 13 September 2018.
↑ Dave Birrell, "My Son 'A First Class Man' - Honouring Terry Taerum" (Originally published in the Spring 2003 Edition of Airforce Magazine), reproduced at website of Bomber Command Museum, Nanton http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/taerum2.html

Canadian Joint Air Training Centre, Rivers, Manitoba

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[1] Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 19 July 2018 to 0901Z 13 September 2018.

[2] Dave Birrell, "My Son 'A First Class Man' - Honouring Terry Taerum" (Originally published in the Spring 2003 Edition of Airforce Magazine), reproduced at website of Bomber Command Museum, Nanton http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/taerum2.html