RCAF Station Clinton

Canadian Forces Base Clinton, CFB Clinton for short, was a Canadian Forces Base located near Clinton, Ontario. It initially opened in July 1941 as RAF Station Clinton under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as a training unit for radar operators during a period when radar was a top secret device. UK, Canadian, US and other servicemen were trained at Clinton, with practical flights being carried out at nearby RCAF Station Centralia. Clinton remained the primary radar training site for Canadian Forces personnel through the Cold War era, with continued expansions throughout the 1950s and 60s. As part of a centralization effort, CFB Clinton was closed in 1971, with the site abandoned by 1972. A number of buildings remain on the site, including a large "golf ball" radome.

The station was established in July 1941 by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as RAF Station Clinton under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

From its start, the station hosted the No. 31 Range and Direction Finding (RDF) School (RDF was the British cover name for radar). In July 1943, No. 31 RDF was decommissioned and No. 5 Radio School was created in its place by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), with the station becoming RCAF Station Clinton. In June 1944 the BCATP began to scale back and No. 5 Radio School was transferred to the RCAF's Home War Operations Training command.

Unlike many RCAF stations across Canada, RCAF Station Clinton was not mothballed at the end of the Second World War and in November 1945 became home to the No. 1 Radar and Communications School (No. 1 R&CS), which it co-hosted with nearby RCAF Station Centralia.

During the Cold War, RCAF Station Clinton hosted other units, including No. 12 Examination Unit, No. 1 Air Radio Officer School, School of Food Services, and the Aerospace Engineering (AERE) Officer School.

...
Wikipedia