Area History

Canadian Forces Base Borden is located approximately 80km northwest of Toronto, in the southwestern portion of Simcoe County near the town of Angus, Ontario. Borden was opened on July 9th, 1916, as Camp Borden, a training base for the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

The idea of an army base in Simcoe County had been around since 1903, when the Minister of Militia and Defence, Sir Frederick William Borden, after whom the camp was named, sent out advisors to look over sites for a new training facility. The current training grounds at Camp Niagara were becoming inadequate to accomodate the vast number of soldiers passing through the base. New camps were established in Quebec and Manitoba, and the future site of Camp Borden, an area known locally as Pine Plains, remained empty, for now.

In 1916 the First World War had been fought for nearly two full years, and again the training facilities were becoming overcrowded. The Minister of Mililtia and Defence, General Sir Sam Hughes, came to the Angus area to inspect the Pine Plains site. The Canadian government decided that the location was ideal and construction began on May 12, 1916.

Many Canadian fliers and soldiers were trained in Borden during the closing years of World War I. After the war, medical and service corps, infantry schools, and Canada's first armoured school all called Borden home. Borden also housed an air base, until it was closed in 1970.

The Second World War saw nearly 200,000 trainees pass through Borden's barracks. After the war, construction began on permanent military and civilian support buildings, transforming the camp into a community that today houses over 4,000 permanent and up to 15,000 temporary residents. When the armed forces merged in 1968, the camp acquired its present name, Canadian Forces Base Borden.

C.F.B. Borden now occupies 85 square kilometres, and is Canada's largest training ground for military classifications and trades, with over 15,000 graduates per year.

Sources

The Canadian Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Hurtig Publishers Ltd., Edmonton. 1985.

Chajkowsky, William E., The History of Camp Borden, 1916-1918: Land of Sand, Sin, and Sorrow. Station Press, Jordan Station. 1983