The A-20 Army camp in Red Deer. (Photo by City of Red Deer Archives

By Ian Gustafson

A-20 camp

A look back at Red Deer’s importance in WWII

Nov 9, 2024 | 12:37 PM

With Remembrance Day around the corner, some may be interested to know that Red Deer and Penhold once served as an important part in Canada’s efforts in the Second World War.

As Canada joined the war in the fight against the Axis powers, some major changes came to Red Deer and area.

The A-20 army camp, which was located in the area where Lindsay Thurber High School now stands, was a basic training camp for the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps that would have up to 500 recruits from across Alberta at one time.

Jillian Staniec, archives coordinator at the City of Red Deer, said the army set up the camp in Red Deer because it was central as they were trying to recruit quite quickly for the Second World War.

“They had four-week training that got them ready and sent them overseas,” she said.

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“As they were preparing for that to open in the fall, of course it had a big impact in our community. They had community meetings about how they were going to keep these boys entertained while they’re here.

“It also had a big impact on our restaurants. The beer parlors had to stay open later. It was a big impact having 1,000 guys coming through town every month.”

That continued for a while until May of 1941 when the military changed it to an eight week program. What started out as the active militia training centre changed to the A-20 camp.

“They got a lot more equipment in, trainers, and expanded the site,” she added.

Many of the buildings that were built for the camp remain standing in Red Deer including the Armoury, which is now occupied by the 41st Regiment. The Red Deer Memorial Centre was once a drill hall and the Red Deer Public Schools maintenance shop was a drill hall as well.

In addition, with an increased demand for air-based warfare, an airbase was created near Penhold, which hosted pilots from across the world as part of the Commonwealth Air Training Program in 1939.

It was one of a group of five Service Flying Training Schools built in Alberta at the same time. Two were built in Calgary, one at Medicine Hat, one at MacLeod, and one near Penhold. Penhold was called the No. 37 Service Flying Training School.

After the Second World War, the airbase became a training ground for NATO and the Royal Canadian Air Force until 1965. It then became the communities airport in 1966 and has remained the Penhold Airport to this day.

“The airport became very international. They had pilots from across the world training to head overseas,” Staniec added.