The initial air base was established by the
Royal Air Force (RAF) with the purchase of Norman Tyndall’s 100-acre farm located at Lot 46 Concession 1 in Tuckersmith Township (now part of
Huron East, Ontario since 2001), in the spring of 1941 under the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The high bluffs overlooking
Lake Huron, ten miles away, was thought to be the perfect place to simulate the coastal conditions in
Britain. The objective of radar was to intercept German aircraft before they reached the coast of England. British radar training facilities were always under threat of German bombing, so an alternative training site was necessary. In 1943, the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF Clinton) took over and the school was renamed #5 Radio School. In June 1944 the BCATP began to scale back and No 5 Radio School was transferred to the RCAF's Home War Operations Training command. Although threatened with closure following
World War II, RCAF Station Clinton was, in fact, saved and authorized as a peacetime RCAF Signals School. In November 1945 it became home to the No. 1 Radar and Communications School (No. 1 R&CS), which it co-hosted with nearby
RCAF Station Centralia. With military forces’ integration in 1966, the base experienced remarkable growth and development over the next 24 years including married quarters and barracks supporting recreational facilities, clubs and sports teams. During the
Cold War, RCAF Station Clinton hosted other units, including No. 12 Examination Unit, No. 1 Air Radio Officer School, School of Food Services (1945–67), and the Aerospace Engineering (AERE) Officer School, the School of Instructional Technique (1962–71), and the Guided Missile School (1958-early 1960s). After the 1 February 1968 merger of the RCAF with the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Army to form the Canadian Forces, RCAF Station Clinton's name was changed to Canadian Forces Base Clinton or CFB Clinton. With the merger, the Canadian Forces were rationalized and many of its facilities consolidated to avoid duplication. CFB Clinton was closed by 1971, and its remaining units distributed to other facilities. Following the closure of the base, the buildings were sold to real estate developer John Van Gastel and now make up the small village. File:CFB_Clinton6.jpg|Aerial Photo File:CFB_Clinton7.jpg|Radar Dome File:CFB_Clinton8.jpg|Signal Towers File:CFB_Clinton5.jpg|Swimming Pool File:CFB_Clinton3.jpg|Jet Flyby File:CFB_Clinton4.jpg|Tech Training ==Transportation==