RCAF Station Port Albert

{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2020}}

{{Short description|Second World War Royal Air Force Training Base}}

{{Infobox military installation

| name = RCAF Station Port Albert

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| location = Port Albert, Ontario

| nearest_town = Port Albert, Ontario

| country = Canada

| image = RAF No. 31 Air Navigation School Aerial 1940s.jpg

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| caption = No. 31 ANS, circa 1940s{{cite book

| last1 = McGee

| first1 = E. C.

| title = History of Port Albert

| publisher = McGee, E. C.

| year = 1987

| location = Goderich, Ontario }}

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| coordinates = {{coord|43|53|N|81|42|W|display=inline,title}}

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| pushpin_map = Canada Ontario

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| ownership = Royal Canadian Air Force

| operator = Royal Air Force

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| condition = Reverted to farmland

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| garrison = No. 31 Air Navigation School

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| elevation = {{Convert|691|ft|abbr=on}}

| r1-number =6/24

| r1-length ={{Convert|3000|ft|abbr=on}}

| r1-surface =Hard Surfaced

| r2-number =14/32

| r2-length ={{Convert|3000|ft|abbr=on}}

| r2-surface =Hard Surfaced

| r3-number =1/19

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| r3-surface =Hard Surfaced

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RCAF Station Port Albert was a Second World War, Royal Canadian Air Force station located near Port Albert, Ontario, Canada in the Ashfield–Colborne–Wawanosh township. The station was home to the Royal Air Force's No. 31 Air Navigation School.

In the summer of 1940 the United Kingdom was faced with the loss of Norway, Denmark, the Low Countries, and France, and the British Isles came under constant air attack by the German air force, in what is known as the Battle of Britain. The British decided to move some of their air training schools elsewhere, and reached an agreement with the Canadians to transfer fourteen training schools to Canada. The first was No. 7 Service Flying Training School from Peterborough, England, which was relocated to Kingston, Ontario as No. 31 Service Flying Training School, and the second was Navigation School No. 48 General Reconnaissance from St. Athan, Wales, which moved to Port Albert as No. 31 Air Navigation School in October 1940. The school opened 18 November 1940 and closed 17 February 1945. The RAF school was integrated into the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in 1942.{{cite book

| last1 = Hatch

| first1 = F. J.

| title = The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, 1939-1945

| publisher = Directorate of History, Department of National Defence

| year = 1983

| location = Ottawa

|page = 68, 69

| isbn = 0-660-114437}}

Like other RAF schools in Canada, it was subject to RCAF administrative and operational control.

The Canadian navigator Group Captain Kenneth C. Maclure developed his method of Grid Navigation while stationed at No. 31 Air Navigation School in 1941, and in 1945, became one of the first men to fly over the North Pole.{{cite web |title=Kenneth Cecil Maclure |url=https://www.cahf.ca/CUSTOMPAGES/907/MemberList.cfm?firstLetter=M#127 |website=Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame |access-date=6 July 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027035638/https://www.cahf.ca/CUSTOMPAGES/907/MemberList.cfm?firstLetter=M#127 |url-status=dead }}