Moosonee, ON

1997 - General History - The NBC Group

Station Moosonee (site C-44) was located at Sasakipao just east of the town of Moosonee on the north shore of the Moose River delta which flows into James Bay. The area has had a long and rich fur trading history dating back to 1671. Station Moosonee was established in 1956 as a component of the Mid-Canada Line. RCAF Station Moosonee officially opened on 15 December 1961. The first of the RCAF personnel arrived on that date to take over the station with 15 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron as its operational unit. It had a relatively short life as a manual radar facility. The Squadron became operational with SAGE on 1 October 1963 and reported to 41 NORAD Division at North Bay. In 1965, the squadron was no longer a part of the Mid-Canada Line as that line was stood down that year. They were now part of the Pinetree Line and were, in fact, one of the most northern sites within that line.

On 1 October 1966, 15 AC&W Squadron was renamed 15 Radar Squadron Moosonee. This name did not last long; as of 16 February 1967, they became CFS Moosonee.

At the end of July 1973, a railway strike isolated CFS Moosonee. In order to ensure uninterrupted operations, aircraft from 424 and 436 Squadrons based in Trenton, flew in 105,200 pounds of food and essential technical spares.

Station personnel had been very active in the region's community affairs. A prime example was the support offered to 632 "Moose Factory" Squadron of Royal Canadian Air Cadets. The station also had a very popular radio station which provided residents with an alternate source of music and chit-chat.

In January 1975, an announcement was made with regards to the closure of CFS Moosonee. On 1 April 1975, the station was declared non-operational and the order came into effect on 1 August 1975.

--The NBC Group - Don Nicks, John Bradley, Chris Charland.