RCAF Station Alliford Bay, BC.

Alliford Bay is located on the southern shore of Skidegate Inlet in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Alliford Bay is the Moresby Island terminus of the important inter-island ferry between Alliford Bay and Skidegate Landing on Graham Island.

The route is served by the MV Kwuna, a small ferry built in 1975, that shuttles between the two main islands of the Queen Charlottes several times a day, carrying passengers and vehicles on the 20-minute ferry ride.

Alliford Bay also serves as a seaplane base for flights to remote communities, lakes, inlets and parks on the islands. Anglers flying from Vancouver to Sandspit are bussed to Alliford Bay for floatplane flights to the fishing lodges deep in the wilderness frontiers of Langara Island, Kano Inlet, Naden Harbour, and other world-class fishing areas of the islands that are not accessible by road.

Alliford Bay was originally built as a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) seaplane air base, operating during World War ll. The only recorded RCAF action during World War II occurred on 27 October 1942, when an RCAF Shark aircraft attacked a submarine off the West Coast with no known results. The small houses along School Road in nearby Sandspit were built by the personnel stationed at the RCAF seaplane air base in Alliford Bay during World War ll. They were later moved from the beach at Sachs Creek into Sandspit after the base closed down. The base was shut down after the war, and the community of Alliford Bay gradually evolved into a logging centre. Alliford Bay is named after Able Seaman William Alliford of the Royal Navy vessel Beaver, which surveyed the bay in 1866.

Population: 50

Location: Alliford Bay is located 15 minutes west of Sandspit on the northern shore of Moresby Island. The Queen Charlotte Islands are accessed by ferry from Prince Rupert to the Skidegate Landing Ferry Terminal on Graham Island, by air from Vancouver to Sandspit on Moresby Island (770 km), and by air from Prince Rupert to Sandspit. Other commercial air services (including float planes and helicopters) are available at Sandspit, Queen Charlotte City and Masset. A 20-minute ferry ride connects Graham and Moresby Islands.

[Station Crest]

RCAF Station Alliford Bay Crest - Courtesy Matthew Ferguson


Click on the description text to view the photograph.
  1. RCAF Station Alliford Bay - Historical Detail - 1938-1945.
    Courtesy Assorted Sources.

  2. Aerial view of Alliford Bay, looking north - 24 October 1944.
    Courtesy Rowe Library.

  3. Housing in the native village of Skidgate - October 1944.
    Courtesy Jack Newman.

  4. A totem pole in the native village of Skidgate - October 1944.
    Courtesy Jack Newman.

  5. Aircrew with Canso in front of Alliford Bay hangar - 1943.
    Courtesy McGregor Knight Collection.

  6. "Bottom's Up Kwuma" - 1943.
    Courtesy McGregor Knight Collection.

  7. "Kwuma" in the Officer's Mess - October 1942.
    Courtesy CFS Masset.

  8. Farewell dinner for F/L Huggett, Station Adjutant - 1942.
    Courtesy Colbec Collection.

  9. Aerial photo of RCAF Station Alliford Bay - 1942.
    Courtesy Chris Weicht.

  10. RCAF and Canadian Scottish basketball teams enjoy an after game dinner - 29 November 1941.
    Courtesy Colbeck Collection.

  11. Cheers for departing Commanding Officer, S/L Mike Doyle - August 1941.
    Courtesy Rowe Library.

  12. General view of the station - 1941.
    Courtesy National Archives of Canada PA 141383.

  13. LAC Baribeault dressed in S/L Wray's uniform - November 1940.
    Courtesy Baribeault Collection.

  14. Shark #525 after it crashed at Alliford Bay - 19 July 1940.
    Courtesy Rowe Library.

  15. Remains of Shark #525 - 19 July 1940.
    Courtesy Rowe Library.

  16. Barracks at RCAF Station Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy Galbraith Collection.

  17. Officer's Mess and Army guard barracks - 1940.
    Courtesy Baribeault Collection.

  18. High tide at RCAF Station Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Note the supply boat (foreground right).
    Courtesy Baribeault Collection.

  19. Shark #518 mooring at Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy Baribeault Collection.

  20. Airmen's quarters at Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy Baribeault Collection.

  21. Grumman Goose #524 at Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy Baribeault Collection.

  22. Airmen's barracks at low tide - 1940.
    Courtesy Barineault Collection.

  23. A supply ship at RCAF Station Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy Galbraith Collection.

  24. Transmitter shack at Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy Galbraith Collection.

  25. Wireless room at Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy Galbraith Collection.

  26. Airmen and Officer's quarters - 1940.
    Courtesy Galbraith Collection.

  27. Sharks on the beach at Alliford Bay - 1940.
    Courtesy CFS Masset.

  28. Shark at Rose Harbour whaling station - 1940.
    Courtesy CFS Masset.


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Updated: June 26, 2005