A Brief History

The first wood quarters were completed and occupied by 26 September. The first occupants were naturally the men of the Trained Soldiers Company, which had constructed the huts. While these men were moving in, the Rifle Range in Vedder Crossing was completed and in use by 28 September.

Throughout the remainder of the war, the sappers built permanent facilities while undergoing formal training. Some six thousand Sappers were trained in this fashion.

The eighth of May 1946 saw the arrival of an order which had the potential to destroy A6 CETC. The commandant was directed to release immediately all personnel who had requested a discharge and to hire civilians for labor. Naturally, concerns arose over whether or not there would be enough instructors left for courses. An immediate decline in military strength started and by 31 May a mere 142 soldiers, all ranks remained. The promise of immense wealth to be made "on the outside" was not exactly true; however.

There was the case of the Sapper driver who at first did well. He gave up his military career, which was paying $45 per month and returned 4 days later as a civilian, paid at $118 per month. It sounded too good to be true and it was. He received his first pay, which was debited by income tax, food, quarters, medical and all the other essentials, which had been free. His net pay as a civilian was less than what he had made while in uniform.

On 1 October 1946, A6 CETC was re-designated "The Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering" (RCSME) and the only military engineering field unit, in the shadow of the mountains and Camp Chilliwack became the permanent home station for the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers. In March 1947, the only post-war permanent force military engineer field unit, 23 Field Company RCE was assembled and located at Camp Chilliwack.

One of the effects of Integration of the three elements (army, air, navy) was the formation of the Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack in April 1966. The term Canadian Forces Base replaced its predecessor of Camp Chilliwack. In 1968, The Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering was designated the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME). The role of CFSME was to train officers and men for the Canadian Military Engineering (CME) Branch in combat and construction engineering. CFSME was also tasked with specialist training for civilians and other branches of the CF. CFSME conducted 72 different courses ranging from 5 days to 8 months in length.

In 1970, a third unit moved to the Base - the Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School (CFOCS). The school is a direct descendant of the Basic Officer Training Units of the former three services and now conducted the Basic Officer Training Course (BOTC) for all Canadians aspiring to the officer corps. Successful candidates carry on to the various schools responsible for the further training unique to their particular classification. The BOTC gave instruction in those military skills and knowledge areas common to all officers and provided guidance in the development of officer-like qualities. Most importantly, it provided opportunities to learn and practice leadership, emphasizing the development of self-confidence, determination and teamwork.

Since the unified Base concept, the Base still had the following three roles:

a. Conduct of training through the two schools, Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering and the Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School;

b. Administrative, logistic and technical support of all military regular, reserve and cadet units on the BC mainland; and

c. Conduct of operations in assistance of the civil authorities as required (e.g. assisting local authorities at natural disasters).

The Base staff had a number of detachments throughout BC to provide for the immediate needs of these units. These were located in Vancouver, CFS Aldergrove and Vernon Military Camp.

The total workforce in the lower mainland was approximately 1200 military and 800 civilians. 1000 military and 600 civilians of which were employed here at Vedder Crossing. This excluded the students, which were approximately 700 in number at any given time. The Base was like a self-contained community. The following facilities were part of the Base: Chapels, (Both RC and Protestant); a small 10 bed hospital and a dental clinic; retail store, convenience store and gas station; modern gym with pool, weight room, volleyball, squash, basketball courts, and a variety of sports fields; curling rink, bowling alley; Military Engineer Museum; and many varied clubs. Many of our married servicemen lived in the married quarters area called "Mitchell Gardens", named after LCol Coulson Norman Mitchell, a Royal Canadian Engineer who won the Victoria Cross in World War I. There were 388 houses in the area. Approximately 375 military and 1200 dependants occupied those PMQs. On Base, there were spaces for 1680 single members. Also, the Base, our military members and civilian employees, along with our dependants, made up about 15% of the population of the Municipal District of Chilliwack. Next to Agriculture, we were the Districts largest employers.

Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack and its predecessor Camp Chilliwack have never been the work of one individual but a collective effort by many people over several generations. Each staff member (military and civilian) and indeed many students contributed many long and hard hours to the development of "The Base”

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