DOMESTIC SERVICES (circa 1960)

ELECTRIC POWER

Electric power to the base was supplied by Ontario Hydro Electric Power Commission. It  was 8,000 volts, 3 phase feed. This was setepped down to 550 volts 3 phase for primary distribution in the establishment. Emergency power could be supplied to essential services by a 125 KVA , self-starting diesel generator.

FIRE FIGHTING

All buildings in Gloucester except the Married Quarters were connected to a control fire alarm system either by manual or heat activated alarm switches. The major fire fighting equipment consisted of a fire hydrant system with a jeep and pumper to increase the water pressure for multiple hose use. The pumper was capable of delivering 350 gallons per minute.

MARRIED QUARTERS

The thirty PMQs (Permanent Married Quarters)  consisted of six single unit buildings and twelve double unit buildings.

SEWAGE

A self contained mechanical aeration sewage disposal system was originally designed for a 300 person capacity. It was estimated that it was capable of twice that much capacity.

TELEPHONE

Five trunk lines were connected to a PBX in the Bell Telephone (now Bell Canada) Canada facility in Ottawa,.  The manually operated PBX had a 40 station capacity with 28 positions presently in use. The automatic PBX dial system had a 20 station capacity with 11 positions in use.

WATER

Two pumps of 40 and 15 gallons per minute capacity provided an ample supply of water from an artesian well. Water was pumped to a 100 foot diameter, 50,000 gallon water tank. It was estimated that the compliment of single and married quarters could double without undue strain on the existing water supply .
 

Gloucester's  main gate, as seen on May 22, 1957. It incorporated a cell for disciplinary cases and was the daytime office of the Master-at-Arms and, in off-duty periods, the office of the Duty Petty Officer.  (DND photo #O-9535 submitted by Ray White)

 

A view of the main entrance to Administration and Training Building. A Quarterdeck sentry is ringing the ship's bell.  (DND photo #O-11961 submitted by Ray White)

This land survey plan indicates the location of the base within Gloucester Township. The source of this graphic is not known as this time. (Graphic courtesy Abandoned Military Installations of Canada” Vol I Ontario, by Paul Ozorak)

 

A high aerial photo taken of Gloucester in 1950. At the top right corner of the wooded area, note the footpath to the HFDF shack. The dark “T” shaped building held the barracks, galley and recreation rooms while the small building to the left of this building was a classroom building.  Morse training, radio theory,  etc were given here. The white building at the end of the path to the HFDF shack was the Admin and Operations Building.  Gloucester's transmitter, CGI was administered through the Signal Corps at  Leitrim, but was physically located at a shared site in Orleans, Ontario. (NAPL photo A13345-243 submitted by Spud Roscoe)

A high aerial photo taken of Gloucester in 1960. The wooded area is now overgrown so whatever used to be there was no longer in use. The original photo has been intentionally reversed in order to make an easier comparison to the 1950 photo above.  (NAPL Photo #A17264-72 submitted by Spud Roscoe)

 

There was one rhombic array at Gloucester and this illustration shows its relative position to the base. Several other masts are discernible in the middle-center section of the original photo but the purpose of these masts are not known at this time. (DND photo submitted by Ray White)

These four low-level aerial photos were provided by Don Cameron and were probably taken in the early 1960's. The photo source is believed to be DND but no photo numbers are available at this time.

Administration/Training Building taken from atop the water tower. This is a most likely a pre-1960's photo. (DND photo courtesy Eric Earl).

Operations/Training building taken from atop the water tower. Near the left upper corner is the entrance to the Gymnasium building. This is a most likely a pre-1960's photo. (DND photo courtesy Eric Earl).

This document outlines the value of infrastructure at Gloucester. Click on image to enlarge.

Sept 20/21