8


B A T U S 2 0 1 0


was still less than hospitable. Some 64,000 acres were put under the plough. An ambitious irrigation scheme was planned and vast sums of money invested in the project. Suffield expanded rapidly in size and stature and became, for a short period, a place of some importance. A number of independent communities were created. On the western edge of the training area the ‘Hochwald’ region was home to Dutch settlers from 1910. In the summer of 1912 a Dutch Reform Church was built and its remains are still visible today. By 1921 the community numbered 160 people but by 1925 only 4 families remained. The highest area of the block is the Bingville region. Due to its higher rainfall per year it was more attractive to settlers. The small numbers of Scottish and English immigrants settled at Bray Lake.


10. In 1941 one hundred and twenty-five families were moved out and resettled elsewhere as the area became an experimental range used jointly by the British and Canadian Forces for testing chemical warfare agents and the largest non-nuclear explosions ever detonated. After the Second World War, the British element withdrew and the range was taken over by the Canadian Defence Research Board.


11. Between the late 1950s and 60s research was conducted in the area around Jadex Junction, named after General J. A. Dextraze, a former Canadian Chief of Defence Staff, to find the blast effects on various structures above and below ground using non-nuclear sources. The first explosion in July of 1959 was 1000lb. This progressively increased and on 17 Jul 1964 Event Snowball marked the detonation of a 500 ton explosion. On 9 Aug 1968 Exercise Prairie Flat involved another 500 ton explosion.


12. In 1971 a memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the British and Canadian Governments allowing the British Army to use the range for battle group training. In January 1972, the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) was established. The first Battle Group was commanded by RHQ 4 RTR and the first live round was fired on 15 June 1972. Since the initial MOU the British Army presence in BATUS was reviewed periodically, but following the recent MOU signed in Jul 2006 both governments have agreed for the British Army to remain in Suffield indefinitely.


13. Since the founding of BATUS oil and natural gas have been discovered in commercial quantities, and their exploitation by the Alberta Energy Company continues. There are currently 6000 gas wells and 500 oil well heads in Suffield with the count increasing almost daily. In addition to these developments it is worth noting that the training area is one of the last remaining tracts of short grass prairie left in North America, a designated wildlife sanctuary, a treasure trove of Native archeological sites and includes Canada’s second largest National Wildlife Area.


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