St. Hubert is located approximately 10 miles southeast of Montreal, on the south side of the St. Lawrence River. It was originally created to provide an airstrip terminus for the large lighter-than-air airships flying the north Atlantic route and to provide airmail service between Montreal and Rimouski. The first aircraft to land at St. Hubert was on 1 November 1927 and the first airship to arrive was the R-100 on 1 August 1930. St. Hubert would remain the main airport services for Montreal until September 1941, at which time Dorval opened on the west side of the city.
No. 1 (F) Squadron was mobilized at St. Hubert on 10 September 1939, but departed for Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in November 1939, prior to going overseas. The next resident of St. Hubert was No. 13 Service Flying Training School (SFTS). They would remain until the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) was disbanded in 1944. The final wartime resident of St. Hubert was No. 124 (Ferry) Squadron; it remained until 30 September 1946 when it disbanded. However, on 15 April 1946 No. 401 "City of Westmount" (Fighter) Squadron (Auxiliary) and No. 438 "City of Montreal" (Fighter Bomber) Squadron (Auxiliary) were formed at St. Hubert. After absorbing 401 Squadron in 1996, 438 continues to serve St. Hubert.
The post-war brought new life to St. Hubert. On 1 September 1948, No. 1 OTU stood-up, and, on 1 December 1948, No. 410 (F) Squadron stood-up, both at St. Hubert. 1 OTU moved in 1949, first to Deseronto and finally to Chatham. 410 Squadron remained until October 1951, when they departed on HMCS Magnificent for service with NATO. Other NATO bound squadrons that were formed at St. Hubert were 441 (F) Squadron, 427 (F) Squadron and 444 (F) Squadron. 441 Squadron formed on 1 March 1951 and its personnel departed on 15 February 1952 aboard an ocean liner for England. 427 Squadron formed 1 August 1952 and departed as part of operation "Leapfrog III" on 7 March 1953. 444 Squadron formed on 1 March 1953 and departed on 27 August 1953 as part of operation "Leapfrog IV". Another Sabre unit located at St. Hubert was the Overseas Ferry Unit (OFU). Although they were flying fighters, this was an Air Transport Command unit. It formed in 1953 and was tasked with delivering new Sabres overseas to the Air Division. It disbanded in June 1957.
425 AW (F) Squadron formed at St. Hubert 1 October 1954, flying the CF-100 until 1961, when they departed for Hamilton AFB for conversion onto the CF-101. 423 AW (F) Squadron formed at St. Hubert on 1 June 1953, but departed for NATO on operation "Nimble Bat II" on 12 February 1957. They were replaced with 416 AW (F) Squadron, a recently repatriated Sabre squadron, on 1 February 1957. 416 Squadron remained until 1 September 1961 when they were deactivated. On 1 April 1959, the Electronic Warfare Unit was formed. In August 1964 they departed for Uplands and on 15 September 1967 they were redesignated 414 Electronic Warfare Squadron.
Another flying unit that served at RCAF Station St. Hubert was 426 (T) Squadron. However, their time was very brief; 1 January 1962 to 1 September 1962. They were a part of Air Transport Command. Additionally, 429 (Tactical Transport) Squadron, flying Buffalo aircraft, served for a brief period in St. Hubert starting on 21 August 1967.
On 1 June 1951, Air Defence Command Headquarters stood-up and remained in St. Hubert until 1966, when they departed for North Bay and Force Mobile Command (FMC) Headquarters occupied their old accommodation. On 1 February 1968 RCAF Station St. Hubert became CFB St. Hubert. FMC HQ (renamed Land Force Command in 1994) remained until the summer of 1996, when they departed for Ottawa.
St. Hubert remains as an active airport.
Detail extracted from "Air Defence of Canada 1948-1997 by the NBC Group.
Updated: December 10, 2004