NBMHP | Canadian Forces Base Chatham

Point of Interest

Canadian Forces Base Chatham

Street Address: 50 Airport Dr, Miramichi, NB

Chatham was selected for a World War Two airfield because of the large average number of clear flying days per year. RCAF Station Chatham became an operational field under Eastern Air Commands. With U-boat activity in the Gulf of St Lawrence, between 9 September and 13 December1942, Hudsons from 113 (Bomber-Reconnaissance) Squadron were stationed at RCAF Chatham as a "special Submarine Hunting Detachment". On two occasions Pilot Officer R.S. Keetley, flying Hudsons from Chatham spotted U-boats in the Gulf. With the return of U-boats in the Gulf, No 119 (BR) Squadron operated from Chatham from 13 April to 2 December 1943.

It was also the location of training units of No 3 Training Command of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. No 21 Elementary Flying Training School for pilots was located there from mid 1941 to mid 1942 and No 10 Air Observer School from mid 1941 to the end of the war, training both navigators and wireless operators. The air observer school was run by a local civilian group headed by R.H. Biddy, an experienced bush pilot. They trained a total of 131,553 air crew from around the world.
In 1949, RCAF Station Chatham saw the start of the “Jet Age”, when Vampires and F-86 Sabre fighter jets were stationed there. Between the late 1950s and early 1960s the famous Golden Hawks aerobatic team made Chatham its home. The last F-86 Sabre left Chatham on February 19th, 1969 for the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

The next era began in 1962 with the arrival of No. 416 All Weather Squadron flying CF-101 Voodoos jet fighters. The Voodoos remained until 1984 when No. 416 Squadron was disbanded. During this period of the Cold War the airfield had a US controlled storage facility for nuclear warheads. One of No. 416 Squadron‘s Voodoos is on display on Voo Doo Island at the entrance to the Bangor Air National Guard Base in Bangor, Maine, resplendent in American insignia.

In the summer of 1985, No. 416 Squadron was replaced by No. 434 Tactical Fighter Squadron flying CF-5 Freedom Fighters. In 1987, CFB Chatham was one of six bases, including some in Spain and Turkey, considered for a NATO pilot training centre. Unfortunately, it was not selected and on 13 June 1989 the air force presence on the base ended when No. 434 Squadron was disbanded.

With the integration of the armed forces, the station assumed the name of Canadian Forces Base Chatham. In 1984, in an attempt to prevent the closing of the base, CFB Chatham became home to the Air Defence Artillery School and the operational 119 Air Defence Battery. In 198, in an apparent commitment to maintaining the base, a large two storey building was constructed to house the artillery school, a $12 million project. However, in a move to consolidate military training, the artillery units were moved to CFB Gagetown and CFB Chatham was closed in 1996.