The Bill Hillman Military Tribute Series
Presents
Canadian Joint Air Training Centre

CJATC RIVERS, MANITOBA
www.hillmanweb.com/rivers
Parts 1-15

SITE NAVIGATION CHART
CONTENTS
Rivers I | Rivers II | Rivers III | Rivers IV | Rivers V | Rivers VI
Rivers VII | Rivers VIII | Rivers IX | Rivers X | Rivers XI | Rivers XII
 | Rivers XIII | Rivers XIV | Rivers XV


View more oblique aerial photos of the base from the
Canadian Air Force Brats Association Site
.

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Bill Hillman Remembers

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Work on this Web page feature is long overdue. I spent many memorable hours on that base. Back in the '50s, while a member of #317 Strathclair Air Cadet Squadron for eight years, we were often bussed over to the Rivers base where we were thrilled to ride in most of the aircraft shown below. The visits to the Rec Hall were a favourite because it was our first exposure to a real gymnasium. We spent many enjoyable weekends practising drill on its huge hardwood floor as well as playing volleyball, Bordenball, and other gym sports. The building also housed a bowling alley, rifle range, snack bar, and an area for films.

I have fond memories of riding in the Bell helicopter on one of our Air Cadet visits. We landed on one of the drumlins close to the Rivers golf course. The pilot warned me to always walk stooped over to avoid the possible danger of being hit by the props. Sadly, we learned a few years later that the pilot had retired from the military to work for a logging company out in BC. The chopper was landed on a slope and he was decapitated while leaving the pilot's seat.

Another memorable flight was in the C-119 "flying boxcar" in which we flew to Air Cadet summer camp at Saint Jean, Quebec. It was a very rough and noisy ride. Along the way we lost an engine and had to make a forced landing at Toronto. The engine was soon repaired and we carried on to Saint Jean the next day.

This wasn't at CJATC Rivers, but while at summer camp at Sea Island, BC I was given a ride in a Beechcraft Expeditor over Vancouver Island. It was a thrill when the pilot let me take the controls for a bit. Luckiily, we survived :)

Later, in the early '60s, while earning tuition money for university, I worked summers in the CE section painting PMQs, hangars, fuel tanks, etc. I boarded in one of the barracks through the week but on many nights I climbed onto the military shuttle bus to Brandon -- guitar slung over my shoulder -- to play with one of the country, rock, pop or TV bands I was playing with at that time. Still later, in the late '60s, Sue-On and I performed many times in the various messes and clubs on the base.

After the base closed down, Sue-On and I played for numerous businesses that moved onto the abandoned base grounds. One of them was a fibreglass manufacturing company that supplied McDonald's restaurants with tables and chairs. For one of the gigs they paid us in part with a large canoe that they manufactured. Many great memories. 

Recently Rob Sproule sent an e-mail and photos to encourage me to make a start on this project.

Rob wrote: "I would encourage you to develop a page on CJATC ... It is much needed. To jump start this effort, I attach some photos, etc. My family was there from 1954 to 1957 ... And like you, we have some good memories."

The first stage of this project is to share some of the photos that Rob has sent us. We will add to this site as more material -- photos, anecdotes, documents, maps, etc. -- cross our desk.

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Some of the photos below are from the Rob Sproule Collection
Many of them may be clicked for full-screen images

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Prince Philip Royal Visit to CJATC Rivers
Autumn 1954

Base Commanding Officer G/C J.A. Sproule, DFC and HRH Prince Philip

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THE AIRCRAFT

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My first helicopter flight was in this Bell 47.
A real thrill for a 14-year-old kid.
The all plexiglass cockpit made for an incredible view
and gave the sensation of floating through the air.
We landed on one of the steep drumlin-like hills outside of rivers - I think to the southwest.
I heard a few years later that the pilot had retired from the forces
and gone into the lumber industry in BC
where he was decapitated after landing and exiting on a steep slope.

C-119 Flying Box Car
Our cadet squadron took many rides in this aircraft
-- an experience I never looked forward to.
For much of my time in my eight years in the squadron I was a Flight Sergeant and Warrant Officer
and was expected to set an example.
However, the ride was always very noisy and rough...
and I spent every hour in this craft trying to keep from vomiting.
The most memorable ride was the trip to summer camp at  St. Jean, Quebec.
Before reaching our destination, however, we lost an engine and
had to make a tense forced landing at Toronto where we spent and uncomfortable night.

The Dakota was another of the planes in which
we were "treated" to regular flights all over SW Manitoba.

The Harvard trainer was a plane I didn't catch a ride in until 40 years later at the
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, MB.
See the pictorial HARVARD WINGS OVER BRANDON
https://www.hillmanweb.com/rcaf/museum/harvard1.html

DH Beaver                                                                         L-19 A Cessna Bird Dog

T-33 Silver Star Jet Trainer

C-119 Flying Box Car

Click for larger size with info and credit: Larry Milberry's "Canada's Air Force in War and Peace, Volume 3"
P-51 Mustang

                                                                                                                       Mustang photos submitted by Ron Lapp
P-51 Mustang

F-86 Sabre Jet

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LIFE ON THE BASE

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Championship Tug-O-War Team with Colonel Saul.
Mike Chimko (upper left)

1955 Kids - Salisbury Lane

 

Little League, Rivers

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JOHN RAULSTON SAUL
REMEMBERS BOYHOOD AT CJATC RIVERS

"John Raulston Saul, Adrienne Clarkson's husband, has a more sentimental attachment to the region. Yesterday, he and Clarkson visited Rivers, where Saul lived for three years as a child when his father was commander of a parachute school on the military base that has since been converted into a hog barn.

"Saul climbed a hill where his family used to picnic and picked a bouquet of flowers for his wife, press secretary Stewart Wheeler said."

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