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Quote:
The History of
Canadian Forces Base Gander
Gander – The World’s Biggest Airport
......... to appreciate the full history of Gander, and its military heritage, it is necessary to look back twenty years earlier to the construction of the world’s biggest airport deep in the forests of Newfoundland.
The Newfoundland airport, its official name until 1941, was originally planned and constructed as a purely civilian airport, but the timing of its construction, its size and its location made the airport one of the allies most vital military assets in the war against Germany. The initial idea of building an airport to support transatlantic passenger and mail traffic was discussed during a series of meetings held in 1933 between the governments of Newfoundland, Canada, Great Britain and representatives of Pan American Airways and Imperial Airways. All attending agreed it was only a matter of time before advancing aviation technology made transatlantic passenger flights possible. However, before services could begin, an airport with refuelling and engineering facilities was required. A site somewhere on the Island of Newfoundland was the chosen location. Soon after, British engineers were sent to the island and after several months of surveying along the railway line, a site near Gander Lake, at mile post 213, was selected for the new airport.
Construction of the airport began in June 1936, however, the complexity of building such a huge project in the wilderness meant construction was not complete until early 1939. Unfortunately, even by 1939, aircraft technology had not kept pace with the construction and there were no land based aircraft capable of crossing the Atlantic, although both Pan-Am and Imperial Airways had successfully pioneered seaplane routes using Botwood as a refuelling point.
On 3 September 1939, just as aircraft that could fly the great distances involved were finally being tested, the Second World War was declared and all transatlantic flights ceased. As the war in Europe escalated the British military saw little value in the airport, and at one point made plans to mine the huge runways in case of a German invasion of North America. Fortunately, the true value of the airport eventually became apparent, but Britain was struggling for survival and unable to spare any resources for the defence of Newfoundland; and the Government of Newfoundland had no money or standing defense force. Therefore the task of defending the airport and the waters around Newfoundland fell to the Government of Canada.
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