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2024-10-10T22:25:59Z

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{{Short description|Area in Alberta, Canada}}
{{about|the Suffield (or British) Block|the military base that manages the Block|CFB Suffield}}

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]].

==History==

On 9 April 1941, following discussions between the Province of Alberta and the federal government, the federal government issued an order-in-council that authorized the [[Department of National Defence (Canada)|Department of National Defence]] (DND) to enter into a lease arrangement<ref>[[s:Index:Order in Council PC2508-1941 4-April-1941.djvu|P.C. 2508-1941, "Lease arrangement with Alberta", approved 9 April 1941]]</ref> for land within the Tilley East area. A matching order-in-council by the Province provided the Minister of Lands and Mines the necessary approvals to execute the leased agreement to the federal government for 99 years at a cost of one dollar per year<ref>"The Provincial Lands Act, 1939 - Lease of Provincial Lands for Military Purposes - Approved", Alberta O.C. 562-41 (effective 23 April 1941), The Alberta Gazette, 30 April 1941</ref> to support the operation of the [[Experimental Station Suffield]] by DND. However, the land to be leased by DND was not vacant. A number of farmers and ranchers held rights to portions of the land by title and lease. Under the agreement, the Alberta Government was to arrange with the owners and leaseholders to vacate the land for financial compensation and land in other areas of the province. DND agreed to provide the Province the funds to obtain the privately held lands at fair market value. The Province sent agents to Medicine Hat to begin negotiations with the landowners. However, it soon became clear that most land holders were not interested in selling their lands for the compensation offered. The Province relayed this information to DND and the Federal Government made the decision to expropriate the land.

All non-Crown held land on the {{convert|2960|km2|abbr=on}} area of the Suffield Block was expropriated by the Canadian federal government<ref>Susan L. Smith and Stephen Mawdsley, [http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/iusps2/pdfs/AIAS_Smith_07Apr2009.pdf Proving Ground: Alberta's Role in U.S. Health Policy for Soldiers and School Children at Mid-Twentieth Century]</ref><ref>Donald H. Avery, The Science of War, Canadian Scientists and Allied Military Technology During the Second World War</ref> and included the cancellation of all lease arrangements. The expropriation orders were filed on 31 May 1941<ref>Instrument Number 7096 F.A., Dated 28 May 1941, Registered on 31 May 1941, South Alberta Land Title Office, Calgary, Alberta</ref> and 8 August 1941<ref>Instrument Number 8499 F.A., Dated 23 June 1941, Registered on 8 August 1941, South Alberta Land Title Office, Calgary, Alberta</ref> at the South Alberta Land Title Office in the City of Calgary.

Upon the termination of the Second World War, provincial-held lands within the "British Block" (or Suffield Block) were 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).<ref>[http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/9535.html Alberta Dept. of Education. Annual report. v.42nd 1947]</ref>

The community of Bingville was the largest village affected 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]] as a parody of a hillbilly newsletter complete with gossipy tidbits, minstrel quips, creative spelling, and mock ads. In 1941, a [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] officer 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.<ref>D.C. Jones, Empire Of Dust, University of Calgary Press, 2002</ref> 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, Alberta|Hanna]] – [[Medicine Hat]] [[Canadian Northern Railway]] grade within the Suffield Block that was never completed.


Two [[List of National Historic Sites of Canada|national historic sites of Canada]] are 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 ring]]s.

[[File:Suffield-Block-Outline-2013.png|thumb|The outline of the Suffield Block was traced from a Landsat 7 images. The background Landsat 7 image is "© Department of Natural Resources Canada. All rights reserved" and is available for use under the "Geogratis Licence Agreement For Unrestricted Use Of Digital Data". The outline includes the main base area of CFB Suffield and the Crown Village of Ralston.]]

==Named regions==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2024}}
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Name
! Event
! Conflict
|-
| Amiens
| [[Battle of Amiens (1918)|Battle of Amiens]]
| [[First World War]]
|-
| Batoche
| [[Battle of Batoche]]
| [[North-West Rebellion]]
|-
| Caen
| [[Battle for Caen]]
| [[Second World War]]
|-
| Cambrai
| [[Battle of Cambrai (1918)|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.

==Alberta Homestead maps (circa 1918)==

[[Image:AlbertaHomesteadMap1918 t17-18 r7-9 map44a.png|left|300px|Township 17 & 18 — Range 7, 8 & 9 — Brutus, Bingville, Tripola, Kalbeck, Sinensen]]
[[Image:AlbertaHomesteadMap1918 t17-18 r4-6 map43a.png|none|300px|Township 17 & 18 — Range Range 4, 5 & 6 — Along the S. Saskatchewan River]]

[[Image:AlbertaHomesteadMap1918 t15-16 r7-9 map44.png|left|300px|Township 15 & 16 — Range 7, 8 & 9 — Learmouth, Bemister]]
[[Image:AlbertaHomesteadMap1918 t15-16 r4-6 map43.png|none|300px|Township 15 & 16 — Range Range 4, 5 & 6 — Along the Saskatchewan River]]

[[Image:AlbertaHomesteadMap1918 t13-14 r7-9 map33a.png|left|300px|Township 13 & 14 — Range 7, 8 & 9 — Stair, Bowell, Dennis, Suffield]]
[[Image:AlbertaHomesteadMap1918 t13-14 r4-6 map32a.png|none|300px|Township 13 & 14 — Range 4, 5 & 6 — Bowmanton, Cousins, Redcliff]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* The [http://www.glenbow.org/collections Glenbow Museum] contains photographs and other material concerning the Suffield Block.

[[Category:Military of Canada]]
[[Category:Science and technology in Canada]]
[[Category:Geography of Alberta]]

Suffield Block - Revision history

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