RCAF Station Cranberry Portage

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RCAF Station Cranberry Portage
Mid-Canada Line Sector Control Station 700
Part of Mid-Canada Line
Cranberry Portage, Manitoba, Canada
Canada Manitoba location map 2.svg
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RCAF Station Cranberry Portage
Coordinates 54°35′08″N101°22′17″W / 54.58547°N 101.37139°W / 54.58547; -101.37139
Site information
Controlled byRoyal Canadian Air Force ensign.svg  Royal Canadian Air Force
Site history
Built1957
Built byRoyal Canadian Air Force ensign.svg  Royal Canadian Air Force
In use1957 - January 1964

Royal Canadian Air Force Station Cranberry Portage (also RCAF Station Cranberry Portage) was a military installation located in Cranberry Portage, Manitoba.

Located on Athapapuskow Lake, RCAF Cranberry Portage was one of eight Sector Control Stations (SCS 700) on the Mid-Canada Line system of early warning radar stations. Each SCS received signals from a series of unmanned doppler transmitters located approximately 50 km apart. In Cranberry Portage, radio wave signals were transmitted along the chain of stations to the SCS, then to RCAF Station North Bay by land line. The radar station achieved full strength in April 1957 and was supported by RCAF Station Winnipeg.

Mid-Canada Line Canadian radar defence line

The Mid-Canada Line (MCL), also known as the McGill Fence, was a line of radar stations running east-west across the middle of Canada, used to provide early warning of a Soviet bomber attack on North America. It was built to supplement the less-advanced Pinetree Line, which was located further south. The majority of Mid-Canada Line stations were used only briefly from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, as the attack threat changed from bombers to ICBMs. As the MCL was closed down, the early warning role passed almost entirely to the more capable DEW Line further north.

The Mid-Canada Line operations ceased in January 1964 [1] and RCAF Station Cranberry Portage was turned over by the Department of National Defence to the Government of Manitoba for civilian use.

The Department of National Defence, commonly abbreviated as DND, is a Canadian government department responsible for defending Canada's interests and values at home and abroad.

Civilian use

The residential and other facilities were used by the Frontier School Division and by the late 1960s, the Frontier Collegiate Institute was established, using one of the barracks as the Frontier Collegiate Residence, as well as the Area Four Administrative Office.

Frontier School Division is the largest geographical school division in Manitoba, Canada, covering most schools in northern Manitoba. With 41 schools operating across Manitoba, the Frontier School Division provides educational services to a larger geographical area than any other school division in Canada. A unique organization, the Frontier School Division operates schools in small Manitoba communities that are often only accessible by boat, air, rail, or winter ice road.

Today, the former mess hall provides all dietary services to high school students who reside on campus. The former Officers Mess is utilized primarily as a meeting room and location for large group presentations, and though the bar is still present, it has not been used for its intended purpose since the change of ownership. The helicopter hangar is now the home to the Area Four school buses. Officers houses are now homes provided to teachers at subsidized rents, while the three barracks are used only for storage. The facility-wide mechanical systems are also still operational including an underground freshwater storage tank.

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References

  1. The NBC Group (1997). "Mid-Canada Line". A History of the Air Defence of Canada 1948-1997. ISBN   0-9681973-0-2.