Beaverbank, NS
1997 - General History - The NBC Group
RCAF Station Beaverbank (site C-11) was situated in central Nova Scotia 25 miles from the twin cities of Halifax-Dartmouth. The station sat on 430 acres with about a half a mile separation between the domestic and the operations site. The two sites were divided by a county line. The domestic site was in Halifax County and the operations site in Hants County.
22 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron (C-11) RCAF Station Beaverbank (Halifax, NS) was a manual long-range radar facility. This unit opened in 1953 and it was declared operational in the fall of 1954. They reported to the Fredericton NORAD Sector at RCAF Station St. Margarets until September 1962 when they began to report to Bangor Sector at Topsham AFB, Maine. The squadron was SAGE-Operational as of 1 January 1964 but this capability did not last long as the squadron was disbanded on 1 April 1964 due to realignment of NORAD that year.
RCAF Station Beaverbank had occupied a unique location very near Canada's number one seaport. It overlooked a portion of the Atlantic seaboard, making it one of the most vital early warning radars in the manual environment. Since manned bomber raids in the area were quite likely, it was felt that Beaverbank fulfilled a critical role in the early days of air defence. The station was originally American financed and in 1962, the Canadian government assumed full responsibility. Beaverbank was SAGE-capable in January 1964, just three months before it and 22 AC&W Squadron were disbanded.
--The NBC Group - Don Nicks, John Bradley, Chris Charland.