Metz, France

The first historical record of 61 AC&W Sqn will deal not only with the first operational period, from opening date 1 Aug 55 to 30 Nov 55, but also with the circumstances attending the formation of the Unit.

The requirement for a Canadian radar in Europe was realized in 1952 when it became evident that radars of 12^th Air Force, USAF, and 1er CATAC, FAF, were either inadequate in quality or quantity to provide the necessary control services.

In order to provide the Canadian 1^st Air Division with control of its own day fighter squadrons it was planned to establish one Tactical Air Control Centre and three subordinate Control and Reporting Centres. This plan was, however, amended by orders from Air Force Headquarters for one Type 80 radar to replace the three mobile radars which were intended for the Crocus. Air Division HQs requested the R3 Building, which is complementary to the Type 80 radar and which houses 23 display scopes, be installed underground near Metz; this building was planned to be operational by May 1956.

The urgency of the requirement for an operational radar led to a further change in plans and it was decided to house the display equipment in temporary quarters. The radar and ancillary gear were to be erected on the permanent sites but the Operations room, limited to six instead of 23 scopes, was to be in a prefabricated hut on the radar site. This was to constitute Phase I of the overall project; Phase II with the completion of the R3 building, would complete the project.

The site selected was geographical location 49 04 42W 06 14 34E which is 1.2 Km ESE of the Chateau de Mercy, the home of the Air Division HQ. Locations of the site, radar, and ancillary equipment are shown in the map as Appendix "A".

Preparation for construction of the site began on 7 October 1954 when S/L E McArthur was appointed Resident Engineering Officer. W/C SM Strange, DSO, DFC, CD, who was to become the Unit’s first Commanding Officer, was at this time Staff Officer Control and Warning at Air Division HQ. Construction was to be effected by local contractors through the French Genie Militaire with Colonel Jacques as Liaison Officer. The target dates and deliveries of equipment were to be as follows:

Location of the site was confirmed on 1 Nov 54, the day of which "Archer Cup" became effective as the nickname for the construction project, but clearance to commence work was not received from the French Liaison Mission until 15 Nov 54. F/L Swanberg was to be in charge of the Construction Engineering side of the project.

The sub-phase of construction, target date 20 Dec 54 was completed 27 Dec 54. The second sub-phase was, however, plagued by inaccuracies in the first; a total of 21 errors in the Modulator Building shell were discovered by 13 Jan 55, 15 of these errors being contributed to the contractor, the balance to drawing and translation errors. Progress was made in spite of these adversities, the inclemency’s of European winter and the ensuing spring mud. Copies of the photographic progress reports submitted 21 Dec 54 and 28 Mar 55 are attached as Appendices "B" and "C" respectively. Aerial photographs of the main and ancillary sites taken in May 55 are shown in Appendix "D".

The Chief of the Air Staff accompanied by the Air Officer Commanding 1 Air Division visited the site on 5 May 55 and later announced the official hand-over date as being between 4 and 6 July 55. W/C SM Strange became Commanding Officer on 1 Jul 55 and official hand-over took place on 5 Jul 55. S/L E McArthur became CTechO and F/L Legare became Acting COpsO on his arrival, 13 Jul 55.

Personnel had been arriving in steadily increasing numbers since late June. F/O WD Hawke, the earliest arrival among Fighter Controllers from Canada (12 Jun 55) took charge of training newly arrived FtrCops. WO2 LW Adams acted as a one-man administrative staff until July when the duties of SWO were assumed by FS O’Conner and the direction of working parties fell to Sgts. Santes and Fuller.

With operations scheduled to commence 1 Aug 55 and many finishing touches to be added, the month of July, with the exception of the 14^th, Bastille Day, became the most hectic for all. Working parties made up mainly of those FtrCops who were not at Air Division HQ cleaning up after Exercise "Carte Blanche", erected MPS-14 height finders, dug bush latrines for both male and female personnel, laid PSP pathways and erected numerous tents. It was a period of rugged work in rugged conditions.

S/L GF Ockenden DFC arrived 1 Aug 55 to fill the position of COpsO and F/O AJ Wylie took over as Adjutant from WO2 Adams who was repatriated 24 Aug 55, tour expired.

Attached as Appendix "E" is an abbreviated form of the unit establishment and a summary of the arrivals of operations personnel.