Lac St. Denis, QC

CFS Lac St.-Denis had its beginnings in the early 1950s when the Cold War was in full swing. This decade was a time of great growth for the RCAF with several new bases and stations created for Air Defence Command. Upon the recommendation of the Permanent Joint Board of Defence, a bi-national Canada-US body of senior civil servants concerned with North American defence matters, the RCAF and USAF together designated and built a large network of long-range radar sites in Canada capable of detecting Soviet bombers. Most of this radar line was strung out along the 50th parallel but to give yet better warning to major Canadian urban centres, a few stations were established in southern Ontario and southern Quebec. The Montreal area, for example, was covered by a station near Morin Heights.

The radar station at Lac St.-Denis began its life with an identity crisis. It was first referred to as RCAF Station Lac St.-Joseph, then as No. 202 RCAF Radio Station and finally, as Station Lac St.-Denis. The stations main operating unit was 11 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (11 AC&W Squadron). As a Ground-Control Intercept unit, its role was to guide interceptors towards enemy bombers; some of those interceptors were based at RCAF Station St.-Hubert. The radar squadron at Lac St.-Denis, along with the ones at Parent, Mont Apica and St.-Sylvestre, were supervised by the No. 1 Air Defence Control Centre (No. 1 ADCC) which itself was also at Lac St.-Denis.

The stations erection began in 1949 and the radar unit was declared operational on 1 July 1952. The secrecy surrounding the new base gave cause to all sorts of rumors, one of which was that the new installation was a nuclear weapons depot. The secrecy eventually faded away and later, its true purpose was revealed. With so many private contractors and civilians involved, there was little point in keeping its role confidential. Indeed, the RCAF overcame its shyness by eventually giving open houses and sponsoring Air Force days.

Typically of Pinetree sites, RCAF Station Lac St.-Denis was a self-sustaining entity. The base included dormitories, offices, mess halls, a chapel and Construction Engineering workshops for station maintenance. A number of Permanent Married Quarters and a school completed the picture. Communications with aircraft in the area were handled through a remote radio sire near St.-Adolphe dHoward. The station originally counted 275 men and women, somewhat higher than average because of the presence of No. 1 ADCC. In the 1950s, the station made use of two CPS-6B radars whose versatility was demonstrated by the fact that they were separately used for both search and height-finding. The CPS-6B was known as a three-dimensional radar capable of providing range, azimuth and height of a target. The radar towers were located on a ridge across the highway, and their domes, visible for miles, were often used as reference markers by hunters and hikers.

In addition to its responsibility for air defence operations, Lac St.-Denis had another role. The training of Fighter Control Operators, the men and women who guided interceptors towards their targets, took place at the No. 1 Radar and Communications School at RCAF Station Clinton, Ontario. What this school lacked was the ability to offer operational training so to provide more realistic instruction, a detachment of No. 1 R&CS was formed at Lac St.-Denis. As the station often took part in air defence exercises, the Fighter Control Operators had ample opportunity to hone their skills. The courses at Lac St.-Denis were about twelve weeks long and counted a maximum of 20 students.

The stations second and third decades saw several changes. The CPS-6B radars were traded for newer equipment and radar operations were automated in the early 1960s. With this automation came a new name for the Fighter Control Operator in 1965, Air Defence Technician. AD Techs. Still guided fighter interceptors but the calculation of interception co-ordinates was performed by an FST-2 computer. Also, with unification of the armed services, the base adopted a new name in 1967, Canadian Forces Station Lac St.-Denis, and the olive drab Air Force uniforms were replaced with dark green ones. Furthermore, when the Radar and Communications School at Clinton was closed, the training detachment at Lac St.-Denis became subsidiary to the new Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronic Engineering of CFB Kingston.

The 1980s brought one of the biggest changes to Canadian air defence. After a review of defence priorities by the new Conservative government in the middle of the decade, defence minister Erik Nielsen announced the closure of the Pinetree radar line as it was considered of limited use. The radars 200-mile range would not have given much warning of an enemy bomber attack and these had always been useless against ICBMs. The Pinetree line was shut down in three phases and as part of Phase 1, CFS Lac St.-Denis closed on 31 December 1985.

Key dates for RCAF/CF Station Lac St.-Denis are as follows:

11 Squadron reported to or was a component of:

Operational Squadron:

Not surprisingly considering its idyllic location, the federal government received a large number of bids for the station once on the market. Of the 26 offers it received, Dr. Duquettes was accepted. The promise of 300 new jobs in the area made it most attractive. Duquette paid $1.1 million for a base worth $8 million and tried turning it into a chronic care centre with the name of Medicaville. His problem: he never received a provincial licence. His inability to pay municipal taxes (the base is within the bounds of Saint-Adolphe dHoward) forced a legal battle and a settlement. The property later became a resort town known as Village des Terrasses and the operations site was used as the Defi Casado amusement park for a few years. Most of the station still stands but the odd building, such as those used by Construction Engineering have disappeared not too long ago. Today, one finds an inn, jujitsu studio and a musical camp there. A seniors home operated for a few years but now stands unused and the old CANEX also lies vacant. The ex-station is now called Domaine St.-Denis.

The scenery at Lac St.-Denis and Morin Heights is well worth the drive. One can see why so many artists and affluent businessmen have homes in the vicinity. The station can be reached by several avenues such as Highway 329 from Lachute or Highway 364 from Ste.-Adele.

-- Paul Ozorak