In 1941, World War II raged in Europe and eastern Asia. Canadian military officials were concerned over whether western British Columbia was safe and secure.

Enemy Japanese ships and submarines were sighted in coastal waters off Prince Rupert. Japanese troops manned bases in the Aleutian islands west of Alaska, and enemy aircraft carriers could launch strikes any where along the coast of BC.

Airfields had to be built quickly to supply and protect the coast of British Columbia.

By 1942, contractors built two military airbases in our region, complete with 5000 foot long asphalt runways. One was at Smithers and the other was built at Woodcock, west of Kitwanga. The Woodcock airfield was for emergency landings but Station Smithers, now Smithers Airport, was used for training as well as refueling. Fighter and coastal patrol aircraft often stopped by in Smithers on the way to the large airbase at Prince Rupert. Fifty Canadian Army troops guarded Station Smithers and a large contingent of Royal Canadian Air Force personnel flew and maintained military aircraft that included Ventura bombers and Hurricane fighters.

Bert Loader of Smithers documented some of the details of life at Station Smithers. Most personnel left at the end of the war, but Bert and his family stayed in the Bulkley Valley.