Tofino Airport: 1942 and 2026

We visited Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada). We took a seaplane from Vanvouver harbor to the harbor in the town of Tofino. On the return trip we passed over the Tofino-Long Beach Airport (YAZ) located a few kilometers south of Tofino and we got a good photo of it from the air.

The airfield was constructed in 1942, shortly after Canada declared war on Japan. [RCAF Station Tofino]. It's purpose was to protect the west coast from Japanese submarines that were harassing merchant ships in the Eastern Pacific.

My father was Laurence Victor "Vic" Kirsch.¹ He got his wings in April 1942 and joined RCAF 132 Squadron. They were first stationed at Sea Island (now Vancouver International Airport (YVR)) then transferred to Patricia Bay (Pat Bay, now Victoria International Airport (YYJ)). On Oct. 15th the squadron landed at Tofino.

The new base wasn't finished—only one runway was open and the living quarters were far from adequate. Here's a description from the "KNOWBC" website. [Chapter 17: Wartime].

Personnel bunked down in the construction camp and looked around in complete dismay. Nothing seemed remotely ready. Only the east-west runway could accept flights; the other two runways were still covered with trees and stumps. When the barracks opened a few days later, they offered little more than a roof, walls, and a floor. “No partitions, no electricity, no water, no toilets, washing facilities or showers. Lavatories were of the outdoor multi-holed variety reached by a trek through mud and construction debris,” recalled Leslie Hempsall. “A few wood-burning stoves provided heat, their chimney pipes stuck through the nearest window…At times food was so short that rationing began. To add to the confusion, knives and forks were in short supply and not everyone could eat together at one time.” No hangars had been completed, so maintenance personnel and ground crews had to stand by, huddled in tents at the end of the runway during October storms. Tarpaulins over the noses of the fighter aircraft provided minimal protection during maintenance work. In a desperate move to speed up completion of the base, the RCAF assigned airmen to construction duties, never bothering to ask if they knew a hammer from a chisel, nor checking with the unionized construction workers, who promptly threatened to strike.