Bomarc Missile Base

During the height of the cold war era, it was important for North America to protect itself from, and to deter, any possible attacks by overseas countries. During the fall of 1958 Prime Minister Diefenbaker’s government announced that under NORAD, an agreement was reached with the United States to supply two Canadian bases with a version of the U.S. “Bomarc” anti-aircraft missile.

Bomarc stood for Boeing and Michigan Aeronautical Research Centre, an abbreviation for the company that developed the missile. Each missile with a range of 640km and a speed of 3,434 km/h was an ideal replacement for the recently scrapped Avro Arrow project. The missiles were to be used against large bomber formations that might fly over North America.

At the time, the government did not want the missiles to have nuclear capabilities. It would not be until Diefenbaker’s government fell from power in 1963, and Pearson’s Liberals came into power, that the decision was made to accept nuclear capable missiles.

On December 30th 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a top-secret memo authorized the shipment of US nuclear weapons to Canada. The nuclear warheads were not shipped with any secrecy; in fact they were sent under a media circus. The missiles arrived at approximately 10:00 PM on New Years Eve in 1963.

At that time, a United States Air Force Military Air Transport carrier touched down at RCAF Station North Bay. There, seven CIM-10B warheads were removed from the aircraft, and convoyed to the Bomarc Site. The next shipment (of four) took place on January 5th, 1964. When the transportation was complete, the Bomarc site would contain 26 missiles.

There were only two Bomarc locations in all of Canada. The second location was at La Macaza, Quebec. During the summer of 1964 the location became a popular place for protestors to conduct sit-ins and block the main gate. During that year, the RCMP conducted secret observation on these citizens, and kept secret files.

The United States wanting to have defenses as far north as possible; covered most of the costs for the missiles. By the early 1970’s Canada was paying close to $4 million annually to keep the two Bomarc sites in operation.

By the early 1970’s the Bomarc missiles were becoming obsolete. First, they were intended to be used only until the late 1960’s. Second, the sitting missiles were vulnerable to missile attacks. Finally while the missiles served to defend the eastern portion of North America, the majority of land-based retaliatory forces were located in the west.

The North Bay BOMARC missle base and it’s Quebec equivalent were disbanded in April 7, 1972. The bases were closed on September 1, 1972 and the missiles returned to the United States.

The former Bomarc missle base is located along highway 11 just north of North Bay. It is surrounded by a chain link fence and is on private property.