The Suffield Block is an area located within Cypress County, southern Alberta, Canada approximately bounded by Highway 884 on the west, Highway 555 on the north, the South Saskatchewan River on the east and the Trans-Canada Highway on the south. The Suffield Block is managed by CFB Suffield.
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The 2960 km2 area of the Suffield Block was expropriated by the Province of Alberta during the Second World War on behalf of the Canadian federal government.[1][2] The land was leased to the federal government for 99 years at a cost of one dollar per year to support the operation of the Experimental Station Suffield. Upon the termination of the Second World War, ownership of the "British Block" (or Suffield Block) was transferred from the province to the federal government in exchange for a large number of army and air camps and buildings from the Dominion government (War Assets Corporation).[3]
The community of Bingville was the largest village effected by the creation of the Block. The name of the community was drawn from a hat which resulted in naming the village after the comic strip Bingville Bugle. The Bingville Bugle was written by humorist Clyde Newton Newkirk (born August 29, 1870), was a parody of a hillbilly newsletter complete with gossipy tidbits, minstrel quips, creative spelling, and mock ads. In 1941, a Mountie appeared in Bingville, which was not quite an oasis in the desert, but it was a pocket of better land and was graced with a little more rain. Under orders from the federal government, by arrangement with Alberta, the Mountie bade the settlers to decamp within 30 days.[4] William Alfred Pratt, a trustee of the Bingville School, was one of the local farmers who had their property expropriated in the creation of the Block.
Brutus and Tripole were other communities within the Suffield Block. Learmouth, Bemister and Kalbeck are place names along the Hanna – Medicine Hat Canadian Northern Railway grade within the Suffield Block that was never completed.
Two national historic sites of Canada are located on the Suffield Block. The British Block Cairn National Historic Site is one of the best examples of a large boulder cairn and an important example of Niitsitapi cultural heritage. The Suffield Tipi Rings National Historical Site preserves a dense concentration of tipi rings.
| Name | Event | Conflict |
|---|---|---|
| Amiens | Battle of Amiens | First World War |
| Batoche | Battle of Batoche | North-West Rebellion |
| Caen | Battle for Caen | Second World War |
| Cambrai | The 2nd Battle of Cambrai | First World War |
| Casa Berardi | Assault at Casa Berardi, part of the Moro River Campaign | Second World War |
| Coriano | The battle for Coriano Ridge | Second World War |
| Dieppe | Dieppe Raid | Second World War |
| Fish Creek | Battle of Fish Creek | North-West Rebellion |
| Hochwald | The battle of the Hochwald | Second World War |
| Kap Yong | Battle of Kapyong | Korean War |
| Koomati | Part of the Battle of Leliefontein | Second Anglo-Boer War |
| Liri | The battle in the Liri Valley | Second World War |
| Lundy's Lane | Battle of Lundy's Lane | War of 1812 |
| Mons | Liberation of Mons | First World War |
| Moreuilwood | Battle of Moreuil Wood | First World War |
| Ortona | Battle of Ortona | Second World War |
| Paardeberg | Battle of Paardeberg | Second Anglo-Boer War |
| Queenston | Battle of Queenston Heights | War of 1812 |
| Ypres | Second Battle of Ypres | First World War |
Additional names not associated with a military event: AEC Oil Access Area, Owl, Eagle, Lark, Hawk and Falcon.
On 19 June 2003, the Suffield National Wildlife Area (SNWA) was created and comprises the Amiens, Ypres, Casa Berardi and Fish Creek regions of the Suffield Block.