VIRDEN
No. 19 Elementary Flying Training School
Ref: archive.org
Opened under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan on
16 May 1941 north of the Town of Virden. A Relief Landing Field was constructed
near Lenore Hargrave, followed by a second near Lenore in the fall
of 1943.
No. 19 EFTS closed on 15 December 1944, as did RCAF Detachments
Hargrave and Lenore.
The former aerodrome later became home to 2 different
manufacturing companies. First Walden Industries, a farm machinery manufacturer,
set up a plant on the property. After Walden Industries closed, WedgCor
Inc, a manufacturer of steel buildings and aviation hangars, purchased
the land and opened their own plant. With the passing of the North American
Free Trade Agreement, WedgCor closed their Virden plant. The hangar now
sits abandoned.
Very little remains of the former school today. In addition
to the sole remaining hangar, a quonset hut, the gunnery backstop and a
samll, broken portion of the taxi-way also remain. The original airfield
was abandoned and a new runway and hangar were constructed at the north
end of the property in 1999. A new industrial park is slated to be build
on the south-east section on the property.
All that remains of RCAF Detachment Lenore is the concrete
base for the maintenance building (there was no hangar) and the roadway
into Detachment. The airfield was ploughed under long ago for crops.
Source Material: information supplied by Clare Cawston,
Royal Canadian Legion Branch 8, Virden, Manitoba (2001), "Wings For Victory
- The Story of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada", by
Spencer Dunmore, information supplied by Bob Andrew, Andrew Agencies, Virden
Manitoba (2003), Town of Virden web site - http://www.virden-wallace.mb.ca/ed6.htm
& the personal recollections of the author (2003).
