RCAF Station Carberry, Manitoba

[Ewen B]

There may be more information for this at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum at the Brandon airport, Brandon, Manitoba. They have collected information from all the air training plan locations. South of Justice (possibly the Chater hanger previously mentioned by Rob) you can see the remnants of an airstrip and east of the correctional center on the low road to Shilo, there is remnants of a concrete wall that appears to have been used by aircraft?? Gunnery range possibly. Great find. I'll have to look for the old strip when near Carberry next. Ewen

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Ewen B

on the low road to Shilo, there is remnants of a concrete wall that appears to have been used by aircraft??

I trust you are talking the cement wall on the hill just to the east of the RCMP highway detachment/municipal offices. I have always wondered what that was and have yet to get a definitive answer.

[Robert Bergeron]

Gents,

I have visited at least 20 of those former training bases in Québec , New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia.

They all have the cement wall.As a matter of fact that cement wall is still in use in Saint-Jean Québec : A pistol range .

On advanced fighter training bases the wall probably would of been used to zero the machine guns or collimate them as per official vocab. At the time the most avanced fighter the Hurricane had .303 MG on both sides.

In Bagotville Québec ,home of 425 Hornet Squadron, the wall existed until very recently. I remember using it as a pistol and .22 rifle range.

I am almost sure it was used during the war to collimate the Mosquito Mg's there.

My two cents.

Cheerio !

[rob love]

This one is not the standard pistol range. It's location is just before the crest of a very large hill. There is no base there either. Also, the pistol range is still there at the Brandon airport, which was the main training center in this area.

[maple_leaf_eh]

There is a wall type range just off the apron in St Hubert. The now-pistol in Trenton had a soft roofed shelter over it so the Air Force guys don't have to walk through the snow when they shoot their qualifications. (Did the Taliban ever shovel snow on their battlefields?)

[David Dunlop]

The Gun Butts at the BCATP airfields were all quite tall, with two buttresses at the back with a small storage shed attached. A couple of photos attached. The one at former RCAF Station Winnipeg is still alive and well, just across the street from the ESSO Avitat Terminal. The one at RCAF STation Yorkton, Saskatchewan was recently still used by a local Cadet Sqn as the backstop for their rifle range using .22 cal Enfields.


David

[Robert Bergeron]

That picture exactly captures my intent David .

Thanks .

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

There is a wall type range just off the apron in St Hubert. The now-pistol in Trenton had a soft roofed shelter over it so the Air Force guys don't have to walk through the snow when they shoot their qualifications. (Did the Taliban ever shovel snow on their battlefields?)

Having used that one a bunch of times, I think its more a function for achieving a zero template (for ricochets anyway) rather that protection from the elements. Although pretty ironic being on an AFB, especially coming from Petawawa where conducting a PWT3 in the middle of Feb at Y Range, you were simply given an extra 15 seconds to navigate the snow during the run downs. Good times.