Comox, BC

1998 - A Visit to Comox – Ron Guy

July, 1998

Ron Guy definitely qualifies as being one of the most active supporters of the Pinetree Line web site. I do not know of anyone who has made as many telephone calls from coast to coast - trying to trace down Pinetree Line co-workers, and in doing so, he has rekindled many friendships.

Ron was kind enough to help us out by making a trip to Comox. We seem to know very little about this station. Construction took place in 1953 and 1954 and records indicate that 51 AC&W Squadron, callsign "Waterfall", became operational on 1 November 1954. The station had a very short lifetime, and it was closed down in June 1958 - with less than four years of operational life. It appears that the station was a GCI, was then downgraded to an Early Warning status, and was eventually passed on to the Air Traffic Control function - who continued in a RAPCON (Radar Approach Control) environment.

I have this visual image where the AC&W Squadron just handed over the keys of the buildings to the Air Traffic Control function and walked away.

While 51 AC&W Squadron was operational, they made use of the CPS-5D search radar, and they had two TPS-501 height finders - thereby verifying the existence of three radomes. Time has passed, and we can offer the following photographs as evidence that there actually was a Pinetree Line radar station located at Comox.

We start our visit with a photo that takes in most, if not all, of what once was known as 51 AC&W Squadron. This photo shows (from left to right) the tower that housed a height finder, the tower that housed the search radar, and the Operations building. The third tower (that housed a height finder) would have been located behind the Operations building. This tower was levelled to the ground and will be mentioned later in the article.


Click on the description text to view the photograph.
  1. Height and search radar towers with Operations building - July 1998.

The next series of photos are distant and close up pictures of the height finder and the search radar towers.

  1. Height finder and search radar towers - July 1998.

  2. Close up of height finder tower - July 1998.

  3. Search radar tower - July 1998.

  4. Close up of search radar tower - July 1998.

The next series of photos show the Operations building from a number of different angles. We are also fortunate to have an exterior photo of the Operations building while it was under construction in March of 1952. Comparison between the 1952 and the 1998 photos of the Operations building show little exterior change in 46 years.

  1. Operations building - July 1998.

  2. Operations building - July 1998.

  3. Operations building. Take note of the green tank behind the Operations building on the right hand side.- July 1998.

  4. This green tank is presently being used as a storage area for contaminated liquids. The tank is located on a concrete base that once supported a height finder tower and radome. - July 1998.

  5. Operations building. Building #73, front entrance. - July 1998.

  6. Operations building. Building #73, front entrance. - July 1998.

  7. End view of Operations building. Note area which was once a side door has been bricked closed. - July 1998.

  8. End view of Operations building. Note area which was once a side door has been bricked closed. Search radar tower on right hand side of photo. - July 1998.

  9. End and back view of Operations building. - July 1998.

  10. Back view of Operations building - July 1998.

The next series of photos are of what was once the power plant for 51 AC&W Squadron. This building was located near the height finder tower.

  1. Front of power plant building #71 - July 1998.

  2. Rear of power plant building - July 1998.

  3. Rear of power plant building - July 1998.

Hopefully, some of these photos will bring back some memories to those who once served at the Comox Pinetree Line radar station.

There is one additional item which must be mentioned. Most of the Pinetree Line radar stations were small communities upon themselves. These would include not only the Operations site - but a fully functional Domestic site which consisted of barrack blocks, a Combined Mess, an assortment of clubs, MSE, CE, Supply sections etc. 51 AC&W Squadron was unique in that it was physically located within the boundaries of RCAF Base Comox. As such, personnel stationed at 51 AC&W Squadron made use of the RCAF Base Comox facilities. There was no need for the AC&W Squadron to have their own domestic site facilities. To the best of my knowledge, there were only three AC&W Squadrons that offered this luxury - Comox, Penhold and Cold Lake.

On a somewhat sad note - we have NOT been able to obtain any photos of the 51 AC&W Squadron Operations site from the days when it was operational as a GCI or an Early Warning unit. Historical detail pertaining to the 1954-1958 time frame has been equally difficult to obtain. I continue to hope that something will show up - someday.

Photographic Credits

All photos are used with permission.

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Updated: April 25, 2000