CFB Suffield History

The first human inhabitants of Southeastern Alberta, were the Blackfoot and Plains Cree Indians.

Traders and explorers from the East began to enter the region in the latter half of the 18th Century. The region remained relatively empty and ungoverned until 1874 when the Northwest Mounted Police marched into the Southern Canadian plains to control the infamous whiskey traders and maintain law and order on the frontier.

Ranchers, many from the United States, began to move onto the vacant unfenced rangelands in the 1870s. The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883 brought an influx of settlers, which changed the free and open character of the rangelands. Farmland was broken, fences were erected, and towns were established along the railway. One such town was Suffield, named after a financial backer of the CPR, Charles Harbord, Fifth Baron of Suffield.

After the extreme winter of 1906/07, which severely hurt the cattle industry, a British land speculation company, Southern Alberta Land Company, purchased a quarter of a million acres of land near Suffield for irrigation of the dryland. Its headquarters was in the thriving village of Suffield, which once boasted five grain elevators and three hotels. The venture was plagued by a number of problems and it collapsed during World War I.

Despite further difficulties, a few farmers and ranchers stayed on the land through the 1920s and 1930s. By 1941, there were about 125 scattered farms on the present range, of which only five were financially viable, and the village of Suffield had shrunk to approximately its current size of 200 people.

The first military unit established in the area was the Rocky Mountain Rangers, an active unit of irregular cavalry raised for the protection of Southern Alberta during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. This colourful unit of 150 ranchers and cowboys was raised in Fort MacLeod and later based in Medicine Hat. It was disbanded at the end of the Northwest Rebellion.

It is not related in any way to the current Rocky Mountain Rangers militia infantry regiment of BC, but is officially perpetuated by the South Alberta Light Horse militia regiment of Medicine Hat. Militia units, initially light cavalry, later infantry, machine gun or armoured, have been continually located in the area since 1901.

Some Air Force units were temporarily present in the area during and after World War II. A major Prisoner of War Camp was located in Medicine Hat during World War II.

In 1941, there was a requirement for a combined British/Canadian experimental station for trials in biological and chemical defence. Authorities, in seeking a large area of land as a suitable location for the experimental station, considered sites in various parts of Canada. Finally, the choice rested on Suffield, Alberta.

The Alberta Government was most cooperative in all respects and did everything in its power to facilitate the enterprise. The Canadian Department of National Defence arranged the actual purchase. Much of the land was purchased from the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Hudson's Bay Company at the nominal price of one dollar an acre and those farmers who had to be moved were compensated. Thus, Experimental Station Suffield, with the Canadian Army officially responsible for its administration, commenced operations on 11 June 1941.

In 1946, the establishment became an all-Canadian enterprise when British support terminated. Since the facilities at Suffield had been so valuable during the war, both to Canada and to her allies, and since the need for an extensive experimental range would continue in times of peace, there was general agreement that the station be maintained on a permanent basis.

Over the years the base evolved as a centre for defence research and for military training. CFB Suffield has also seen the need for environmnetal management of the wild prairie grasslands and with this the National Wildlife Area has evolved.

Today the work force at CFB Suffield comprises over 100 Canadian Military personnel and close to 600 civilian employees. BATUS employs approximately 200 permanent military staff and between 150 and 300 temporary personnel over the summer/winter months. DRDC Suffield employs approximately 300 full time civil servants.

CFB Suffield has grown tremendously over the years. The Base thrives all year round as the various organizations within are constantly involved in exciting training and activities both in the training area and in Garrison. A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for an indefinite period of service for the British Army has now been agreed upon and was signed on 24 July 2006. This will ensure the longevity and future of CFB Suffield, for years to come.