During the Second World War the Royal Air Force (RAF) needed trained pilots to conduct bombing raids. Enter into this, Prince Edward County, Ontario. It was not overly populated and the long stretches of land, well away from Nazi territory, made it ideal training grounds for British pilots.

During the summer of 1940 construction began on the soon-to-be training area for Britain. That November the area was ready to be used for small arms combat practice. The base was officially opened on April 28, 1941 as the "Number 31 Bombing and Gunnery School".

When completed it offered plane hangars, runways that were up to 2500 feet long, 5 bombing ranges (areas to test bomb drop accuracy) and housing for up to 1000 officers. Postal service was provided from 1942 until 1944 by Cpl. Garnett and Sgt. Ferguson who acted as postmasters. Six week courses were offered for navigators and air gunners with up to five concurrent classes being run.

Aircraft used at the base included the Avro Anson, Fairey Battle, Bristol Bolingbroke and Westland Lysander.

The base offered very little in way of entertainment which meant that the soldiers traveled to the nearby town of Picton. As expected, many weekends were spent brawling with the local bar patrons. This was common with many of the military bases throughout Ontario.

In November 1944, the bombing unit was disbanded and the camp was turned over to the Royal Canadian Air Force for aircraft maintenance purposes while the RAF kept a small detachment on the site. The RCAF kept up operations until 1946 at which time it became a training grounds for the Royal Canadian School of Artillery (Anti-Aircraft).

One of the projects that took place was the testing of Velvet Glove, an air to air missile. In 1952 ground-launched testing started at the Picton Range. By 1954 the testing began in air-to-air launches from a CF-100.

In 1960 the aerodrome became known as Camp Picton. It would be renamed to CFB Picton on July 1, 1961.

CFB Picton closed in September of 1969. After closure, the site was used by the Ontario Ministry of Health as a home for up to 450 mentally handicapped persons. The site was named "Prince Edward Heights" or "The Heights" to the locals. The facility was closed in September of 1999 when it was no longer considered politically correct to house handicapped people in institutions.

Today the camp is known as the Loch Sloy Industrial Park. The Central Region Gliding School of the Canadian Forces currently uses the property in Summers for glider training of deserving Air Cadets from across Ontario.

A majority of filming for CBC's 1993 mini series "Dieppe" took place on the site. A few of the buildings were restored and a watch tower which still stands was constructed for scenes.

Trivia:

Look also for the base appearing as the location for Discovery Channel's "Canada's Worst Driver" show. The entire first season was filmed on the base. While out on the remaining taxiways you can see car skidmarks and such.