RCAF Station Tofino: Difference between revisions

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When Japan entered the Second World War the emphasis shifted from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. On Vancouver Island we had a sea plane base at Patricia Bay. The RCAF, due to the threat of Japanese incendiary balloons established an airfield at Tofino BC. First access was by logging road and water. An airfield was built that exists to this day for the purpose of shooting down incendiary balloons. An air base was built and a complete squadron was stationed there.

Because of the terrain of Vancouver Island the mountains formed a hazard to pilots flying them. Most pilots in the area had only flown a short time, not to mention, never in mountains. There were a number of significant crashes, so the secondary responsibility appears to have been crash sight location and investigation. But, not one single incendiary balloon was ever recorded in our area.

At the end of the war the station was de-commissioned and virtually abandoned. However, it is now the municipal airport for the town of Tofino, and many buildings survived.

This story is from my father who was Station Sargent and anyone wanting further information is invited to contact me at thomas.wagner@shaw.ca

The RCAF Base at Tofino was operational until at least 1958.

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-When Japan entered [[World War II|the Second World War]] the emphasis shifted from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. On [[Vancouver Island]] we had a [[Seaplane|sea plane]] base at Patricia Bay. The RCAF, due to the threat of Japanese incendiary balloons established an airfield at Tofino BC. First access was by [[Forest Service Road|logging road]] and water. An airfield was built that exists to this day for the purpose of shooting down incendiary balloons, basically firebombs that followed the air currents. When they landed they were supposed to start [[Wildfire|forest fires]]. An air base was built and a complete squadron was stationed there, at that time virtually in the middle of no-where. One day a call came in that there was a Japanese balloon floating overhead. The lady that called it in said it was so close that she could read the Japanese writing on it. The squadron was dispatched. Imagine their surprise to only find a boy flying a huge [[box kite]] with "Freddy" written on it. They didn't shoot it down, if they did it would have made a great story for some small kid to tell. From then on they were known as "The Kite Squadron".
+When Japan entered [[World War II|the Second World War]] the emphasis shifted from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. On [[Vancouver Island]] we had a [[Seaplane|sea plane]] base at Patricia Bay. The RCAF, due to the threat of Japanese incendiary balloons established an airfield at Tofino BC. First access was by [[Forest Service Road|logging road]] and water. An airfield was built that exists to this day for the purpose of shooting down incendiary balloons. An air base was built and a complete squadron was stationed there.
 Because of the terrain of Vancouver Island the mountains formed a hazard to pilots flying them. Most pilots in the area had only flown a short time, not to mention, never in mountains. There were a number of significant crashes, so the secondary responsibility appears to have been crash sight location and investigation. But, not one single incendiary balloon was ever recorded in our area.
+At the end of the war the station was de-commissioned and virtually abandoned. However, it is now the municipal airport for the town of Tofino, and many buildings survived.
-The way that pilots could take off rapidly often consisted of bouncing the plane to get it airborne. One incident resulted in the ultimate collapse of the undercarriage. A photograph exists in a private collection of them actually landing one plane on top of another. It had only been known to have happened once before in Australia. Another number of incidents resulted in pilots landing on the nearby beach.
-At the end of the war the station was de-commissioned and virtually abandoned. However, it is now the municipal airport for the Town of Tofino, and many buildings survived for many years.
 This story is from my father who was Station Sargent and anyone wanting further information is invited to contact me at thomas.wagner@shaw.ca