1 Air Division

2001 - The Bunker System at 1 Air Division - John Wainwright

John Wainwright made a visit to the property that housed 1 Air Division Headquarters in May 2001. After taking a number of photos of the Chateau de Mercy and other remaining buildings such as the Chapel and the barracks, John then proceeded to check out the remains of the bunkers which were used by the RCAF during the 1950s and the 1960s. He did bring back a number of photos - most of which are not identified as to content or to location. We have included these photos - along with John's notes - in an attempt to provide current detail on this area which was located adjacent to the 1 Air Division Headquarters property.

There are some additional points which should be mentioned. The property has "No Trespassing" signs in many locations - as it is categorized as "Military Property". This was Johns first trip to this area - and it isn't as if there were signs providing directions such as "This way to L'Ouvrage d'Ars", or "L'Ouvrage de Jury - 100 meters". By visiting in May, foilage and shrubs were in growth and made vision of the remains that much more difficult to deal with. Put all of this together and it is safe to say that John was "fighting a lost cause".

None the less - he provided a "hand-drawn" map of the area (see below) and marked the location of where some of the photos were taken. We are very thankful to John for taking his time to travel to this area on our behalf - and for providing photos which depict the local area - as of May, 2001.

Print this map and compare locations with the photos below.