Point of Interest
CFB Gagetown
Street Address: 5 CDSB Gagetown, Burton, NB
In 1950 Canada’s peacetime army increased to more than divisional size. No training area in eastern Canada had sufficient room for such a force to exercise and maneuver. This prompted the search for a location near an all-weather port, with terrain suitable for all types of training, in a temperate climate and where there was minimum disturbance to the local civilian population. After an extensive search, the federal government announced in July 1952 that the largest military training base in Canada encompassing 1,106 square kilometers would be established between the villages of Upper Gagetown and Westfield in New Brunswick. The land expropriated in 1953 resulted in the removal of 750 families with a total of 3,000 residents, and the destruction of 20 communities. The first large scale exercise was held at Camp Gagetown in the summer of 1954 when the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade trained there for six weeks. During the summer of 1955, the 1st Canadian Division carried out a complete formation exercise in the new camp.
In November 1969, the Commander of the Army directed the disbandment of 3 Brigade and the formation of the Combat Training Centre in Gagetown, by moving and combining the Infantry and Armour Schools at Camp Borden, Ontario, and the Field Artillery School at Shilo, Manitoba. Since then, Canadian Forces Base Gagetown has been expanded to include the Tactics School, the Air Defence School and the School of Military Engineering.