The Ontario Regiment’s connection to the Oshawa Airport began in late 1947 with the acquisition of two of the former British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) buildings at the south end of the airport. As the Regiment was rebuilding after the Second World War new facilities were required for the updated training plan. The Regiment made extensive use of these buildings and the surrounding land for the remainder of the 20th century. The airport lands gave the Ontario Regiment a unique advantage over most city-based regiments by having a local training area.

The Canadian government purchased late-model Sherman tanks in 1946 with the intent of assigning a small number to each Reserve armoured regiment in order to carry on local training. The prerequisite to receiving any of these new tanks was the ability for each regiment to securely store and maintain them. The downtown Oshawa Armoury did not have suitable space, thus leading the Regiment to acquire the BCATP buildings. The north building, originally the canteen for No 20 Elementary Flight Training School, was converted for classroom and office use. The south building, formerly the flying school’s stores building, became a tank hanger.

Five tanks could be parked in the tank hanger where maintenance could be conducted. A secure vehicle compound was created by erecting fences between the tank hanger and the classroom building. In 1972 the tanks were retired and the Regiment focused on reconnaissance training employing jeeps for the role. The jeeps were kept in the compound while their related equipment was stored in the hanger.

The north building was configured with offices at the east end and two classrooms at the west end. There was a lack of office and classroom space at the downtown Armoury and this building allowed the armoured and reconnaissance squadrons their own facility.

A 30-yard shooting range existed on the east side of the buildings for many years where pistols and sub-machine guns were fired. As the aircraft traffic increased and houses were constructed near the airport, the shooting was eliminated. The range and its adjacent building were then used for storage. In the 1980s it was used as a basis for a field kitchen.

The role of the Ontario Regiment changed in the late 1950s and early 1960s to support rescue efforts in the event of a nuclear war. The airport facilities were augmented to include five fall-in bays, a 2.5 storey building, a gas warfare training hut, an air raid shelter and a firefighting building to allow the Regiment to train for its National Survival role. In 1965 the National Survival role was gone and the tanks were rumbling around the grounds again, for a few more years.

In the late 1940s and 1950s the area around the airport was wide open, with residential development still in the future. The Regiment made use of the land to conduct elementary driver instruction on the tanks and wheeled vehicles. A 1965 report indicated that the training area was five acres. Even after the airport vicinity became ringed with houses basic driver training took place on the airport roads before new drivers were allowed to enter the public streets.

The airport land was also used for other training as well. New recruits to the army need to learn the basics of soldiering, which includes foot patrols and infantry tactics. Again, the open space was advantageous to the Regiment as this type of introductory training could take place there, thus saving the time and effort of travel to a base or other training area. The trained soldiers of the Regiment also conducted dismounted training at the airport, allowing useful and practical exercises to take place even during the limited time of evening training.

The annual summer training exercise was normally held at a base such as Borden, Meaford or Petawawa and Ontarios trained with other units. The Ontario Regiment held its own summer camp in 1958. It was a combined civilian-military exercise that utilized the airport and other local areas to test civil defence procedures. This exercise was the first municipal-level civil defence exercise to be conducted in Canada.
The Regiment participated in various public events on the airport land. An airshow was held at the airport in May, 1949. The Ontarios conducted a demonstration of a tank attack, displayed other vehicles and weapons and gave members of the public rides in the tanks. Another display of military equipment was held at the airport in May 1967 as part of Canada’s centennial, again alongside an airshow.

The Ontario Regiment moved into a new facility at the north end of the airport in 2000. It served the same purpose as the south end buildings: vehicle storage, classrooms and offices. At that time the Ontario Regiment Ferret Club assumed control of the south end buildings. It continues to use the tank hangar and vehicle compound for a portion of its extensive collection of historic military vehicles.

In September 2021 the north building (former No 20 EFTS canteen and then as the Ontario Regiment classroom / office) was completely renovated and brought back to its Second World War configuration. It will be used as a classroom for the Ontario Regiment Museum, as well as telling the story of Second World War aviation at the Oshawa Airport. The south building is being restored by the Ontario Regiment Museum and will continue to be use for vehicle maintenance. The two former BCATP buildings are now part of the South Field Heritage Conservation District which also includes the No. 10 Building (now the site of the No. 420 Wing) and Airmen’s Park.

For over fifty years, about one third of the Ontario Regiment’s history, the land and buildings at the south end of the Oshawa Airport provided the Regiment with a multifunctional facility to augment the Colonel R.S. McLaughlin Armoury in downtown Oshawa. The Oshawa Airport formed an integral and vital part of the Regiment’s annual training plan which allowed it to quickly and efficiently train its soldiers in a manner that would have otherwise been impossible.

Rod Henderson

Rod Henderson is the Regimental Historian of the Ontario Regiment. He served as a Sergeant in the Regiment and is the author of “Fidelis Et Paratus: The History of The Ontario Regiment RCAC”.