Originally opened at the Crumlin Airport on 24 June 1940
as the home of:
No. 3 Elementary Flying Training School
and
No. 4 Air Observer School of the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
The expansion of No. 4 AOS necessitated the closing of No. 3 EFTS on 3 July
1942. By the time No. 4 AOS closed in December 1944, 4439 students had graduated
from the school.
RCAF Station Crumlin remained open after WWII, eventually becoming part
of the post-war RCAF. The name of the station changed to RCAF
Station London.
Several RCAF Auxiliary units formed at RCAF Station Crumlin, including:
420 (Fighter) Squadron of
the RCAF Auxiliary. In September of 1948, Crumlin became home to 420 Fighter
Squadron (Auxiliary), flying first Harvards, then Mustang fighters and for a short time Thunderbird jet fighters until
disbanded on 1 September 1956.
MU 4004, a Medical Unit
2420 AC&WS All of the
Auxiliary ACWUs achieved Squadron status on 1 December 1953. On 1 July 1956 RCAF
Air Defense Command reformed 2420 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
(Auxiliary), training Fighter Control Operators. As the ACWUs were created for,
and occupied with air defence, it was decided that these squadrons would report
directly to Air Defence Headquarters. This change came into effect in October
1958. All were to share the same fate with the coming of SAGE. As SAGE
was an automated system and all auxiliaries were trained with the manual
system only, It was decided that they could no longer augment the Regular Force and
would not be trained to operate SAGE as a cost-cutting measure. All Auxiliary Aircraft Warning & Control Squadrons were disbanded
by the end of 1961 after performing more than a decade's worth of valuable and
much appreciated service.
22 Wing (Auxiliary) formed in
1956
3049 Technical Training Unit of
the RCAF Auxiliary.
NATO Training & Induction School (in 1950). Airmen from Norway, West Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark,
Belgium, Portugal and Turkey arrived for three month courses. English language
training for up to 12 weeks was added. The graduates went on to elementary flying
training at Centralia. The NATO school re-located to RCAF Station Centralia in
1959.
RCAF Station London became the home of the After being abandoned by the RCAF, various uses were made of the building
complex. For a time, they housed a Veterans Hospital, a morgue, and the hangars
were used to store military aircraft.
The former station is now theLondon International
Airport(CYXU). Two buildings from the WWII era remain: one of
the original hangars and
the Air Force Association of Canada, 427 (London) Wing
Building which began life in 1940 as an Airman's
Canteen.
No. 1 Officers School in 1951. At the
Officers Selection Centre, trainees underwent Air Force indoctrination prior to
undertaking flying training elsewhere. Later known as #2
Personnel Selection Unit (Officers) (2 PSU(O)
