2015.08.20 Update:
After an excellent presentation by Ralph Cameron (VE3BBM) tonight at the former site of CFS Carp, now The Diefenbunker Museum, in the cafeteria, about Cold War communications infrastructure, I figured I should dust off this blog post and move it to the front of the line again.
It's not a revelation to anyone that CFS Carp (Now known as The Diefenbunker Museum) was not the only continuity of government facility in Canada; they were built across Canada for the local politicians and their civil servants to hide in, in case of nuclear annihilation. Each of the Regional Headquarters sites also had a separate communication bunker, usually a couple of stories down, like a "Diefenbunker", but a lot smaller. These TX and RX sites would have been built and maintained by the military to ensure communications were kept going after the world had gone to hell in a hand-basket. Antenna farms were on site with the mini-bunker, and there was a separate unmanned receiver site with another antenna farm.
This is where my research gets fuzzy.
If each Diefenbunker had a TX and and RX site, where exactly were they? I can find some information, but not every site has coordinates associated with it, or is it easy to find. Many of these facilities have been decommissioned and bulldozed.
Here is the map, to the best that I know, of where these sites would be. I'd really like to get better pictures of the sites and what condition they are in now. Are there still fences? Any sign of the bunker or antenna farm? Is there nothing buy cows? Inquiring minds would like to know...
After an excellent presentation by Ralph Cameron (VE3BBM) tonight at the former site of CFS Carp, now The Diefenbunker Museum, in the cafeteria, about Cold War communications infrastructure, I figured I should dust off this blog post and move it to the front of the line again.
It's not a revelation to anyone that CFS Carp (Now known as The Diefenbunker Museum) was not the only continuity of government facility in Canada; they were built across Canada for the local politicians and their civil servants to hide in, in case of nuclear annihilation. Each of the Regional Headquarters sites also had a separate communication bunker, usually a couple of stories down, like a "Diefenbunker", but a lot smaller. These TX and RX sites would have been built and maintained by the military to ensure communications were kept going after the world had gone to hell in a hand-basket. Antenna farms were on site with the mini-bunker, and there was a separate unmanned receiver site with another antenna farm.
This is where my research gets fuzzy.
If each Diefenbunker had a TX and and RX site, where exactly were they? I can find some information, but not every site has coordinates associated with it, or is it easy to find. Many of these facilities have been decommissioned and bulldozed.
Here is the map, to the best that I know, of where these sites would be. I'd really like to get better pictures of the sites and what condition they are in now. Are there still fences? Any sign of the bunker or antenna farm? Is there nothing buy cows? Inquiring minds would like to know...
https://www.facebook.com/Debert.Diefenbunker
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm following ;)
Deletei do some work there here is a fun video a friend of ours made
Deletehttp://vimeo.com/78304594
That's a great video! Do you know if the Folly Lake site still intact?
DeleteFolly Lake Satcom 3 Ground Satellite Terminal was just sold it was still intact a year ago, the Satellite was intact but the motor unit to turn it was severely dismantled likely done by the military upon decommissioning in 2006.
DeleteIf you have old or new pictures of the SGT at Folly Lake I'd be very interested...
DeleteNova Scotia's Masstown Rx site and Great Village Tx site are the only original sites left in Canada that are still currently being run and maintained by DND for the purpose for which they were built in the 1960s. All the other sites along with the Tx bunkers have been sealed/bulldozed.
ReplyDeleteWell there's more to it than that; not to troll, but...
DeleteIs Great Village and Masstown being used for the same purpose they were built for in the 1960s? I thought all the sites were built and used from the late 1950s to at least the 80s or 90s as a national back-up HF network for emergency communication in case the telco backbone was taken out? If not, what was their "original" purpose? What is the current purpose then, since the rest of the sites are no longer part of the network?
Masstown also has the Polar Epison SGT in place now, so that's new.
All the other sites need a little more said about them they've been sealed or bulldozed; each is in a different state of "sealed-ness". The details are what's interesting. The RX site at Almonte is standing, so is the RX site at Dunrobin, the one near Valcartier, the one near Borden, the one near Shilo... many of the RX huts are still around, and that's what I'm looking to at least get pictures of, and at most get full site diagrams of, including their antenna farm layouts. If you have pictures (or information) I'd be very interested in seeing them! :)
NATO currently is operating Great Village and Masstown as far as i know from what i have been told by retired DND workers. Great Village and Masstown are infact being used for the same purpose they were built for in the 1960s however they also serve a new purpose providing communication to Afghanistan for NATO.
ReplyDeleteMasstown at least is being used as a satellite ground station for Polar Epsilon; I'm not sure its really used by "NATO" per-se anymore, but I am not sure if it's co-run by the CF and NATO maybe, or wears multiple hats. ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Epsilon http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/news/article.page?doc=polar-epsilon-project/hnps1uo5
DeleteRegional Emergency Government HQ (REGHQ-Man) at Canadian Forces Base Shilo 49.800353, -99.627871, the bunker was buried, relatively intact.
ReplyDeleteReceiver station, Waggel Springs Road, at Canadian Forces Base Shilo 49.774757, -99.712099, no bunker/unmanned, some equipment remains.
Transmitter station, at CFS Camp Hughes, 49.872171, -99.539186, the small bunker was demolished.
Regional Relocation Unit (RRU) in support of the REGHQ, no bunker - proposed for the office space of the Canada Post Office Building, 1039 Princess Ave. Brandon, MB 49.847094, -99.952500
Zone Emergency Government HQ (ZEGHQ West-Man), 70 person bunker built in the basement of the Canada Post Office Building, 1039 Princess Ave. Brandon, MB 49.847094, -99.952500
Zone Emergency Government HQ (ZEGHQ East-Man), 70 person bunker built in the basement of the Canada Post Office building, 7 Saskatchewan Ave W, Portage la Prairie, MB 49.972973, -98.292276
Zone Emergency Government Headquarters (ZEGHQ North-Man), No bunker ever built, planned for the Canada Post Office building, 161 Fischer Ave, The Pas, MB 53.824933, -101.254326
Thank you Anon!
Delete