It was most recently used during the Cold War as a communications facility and was home to a "Regional Emergency Government Headquarters" (REGH) complex, more commonly known by the nickname "Diefenbunker.
Located on the Montreal-Halifax main line of Canadian National Railways, the flat plain surrounding Debert Station were considered ideal for an army staging facility in addition to an aerodrome.
The camp was bisected with named avenues and numbered streets having innumerable quonset huts, mess halls, warehouses, canteens, and other buildings.
[3] The surrounding community of Debert grew rapidly with movie houses, restaurants, bars and other businesses being set up and the economic effects spilling over into Truro.
Camp Debert was the final staging area for units embarking from Halifax and was the location where the majority of troops received and trained with their personal weapons.
Component units arrived at Camp Debert from across Canada and were organized into larger formations before being carried by trains to troopships at Halifax, usually at night in black-out conditions.
In addition, the 7th Canadian Infantry Division of Atlantic Command was formed at Camp Debert, although its volunteer troops went overseas as reinforcements rather than an intact combat unit.
Following the war, Camp Debert was used in the repatriation of troops returning from Europe before undergoing significant downsizing with the majority of training and marshalling areas being decommissioned.
The regiments are listed in chronological order from date of arrival: In the fall of 1938 the Royal Air Force (RAF) purchased land for constructing an aerodrome on the north shore of Cobequid Bay near the farming community of Debert.
31 O.T.U was one of several similar facilities constructed in the Maritime provinces in support of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and RAF Ferry Command.
After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, RCAF Debert briefly hosted 420 and 425 Squadrons as part of Tiger Force, a long-range Commonwealth bomber group formed to strike against Japan.
In 1958, at the height of the Cold War and the infancy of the ICBM threat, Debert was selected as the site for 1 of 6 communication centres and "Regional Emergency Government Headquarters" complexes being located across Canada.
The end of the Cold War and reduction in the ICBM threat, as well as the Diefenbunker's obsolescence, saw all remaining military personnel removed from CFS Debert by the mid-1990s.
Today the only remnant of a once-vast military presence in Debert is a firing range used by militia reserve units from Cumberland, Colchester and Pictou counties.
Air cadets from Atlantic Canada ranging in age from 15 to 18 trained at the adjacent Debert Airport for the Advanced Aviation Course and Glider Pilot Scholarship programs.
In November 2012 the Diefenbunker was sold again by the Municipality of the County of Colchester to recover unpaid taxes from the previous owner, Dataville Farms Ltd.[23] It was purchased by Jonathan Baha'i for $31,300 along with the adjoining parking lot for $4150.