The Cold War was a conflict between the Soviet Union and Western democracies that lasted for forty years after the end of the Second World War. In the late 1940s it became apparent that the oppression of people in Soviet-occupied Europe under communism was incompatible with Canadian values.

Along with the United States, Great Britain, and the western European nations, Canada decided to stand up against the Soviet Communist system.

Unlike the Second World War and previous conflicts, the Cold War never became a “hot” war. The destructive power of nuclear weaponry had been proven to devastating effect after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. During the Cold War, the Western nations and the Soviet Union both held nuclear weapons and were prepared to fight if they had to. But open conflict was prevented by the prospect of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).

This is based upon the belief that any aggressive acts would be met with either equivalent or greater firepower, assuring mutual destruction on both sides. This is why the Cold War remained a war of ideologies, not a “hot” war of armed conflict. MAD also led to the Arms Race between the Soviet Union and the United States of America as both powers built up their nuclear arsenals to deter the other from attacking.

In response to the threat the Soviet Union posed to Western Europe after the Second World War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed in 1949, of which Canada was a founding member. NATO emerged as a result of a combination of Soviet interference and threats of war against Western European countries.

NATO’s basis was enshrined in the North Atlantic Treaty’s Article 5, which explicitly stated that an attack against one member of NATO was an attack against all members of NATO, thus inextricably linking Canada and Western Europe. Even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the NATO alliance remains the most important deterrent against Russian aggression into Western Europe.

When West Germany was remilitarized on 9 May 1955 and accepted into NATO, the Soviet Union organized the Warsaw Pact, stating that a remilitarized West Germany was a threat to peace and safety. The Warsaw Pact was signed on 14 May 1955 as a collective defence treaty between Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union. By unifying their militaries under one banner, the Soviet states would be on equal terms with NATO.

In 1957 the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) was established between Canada and the United States in response to the development of long-range Soviet bombers equipped with thermonuclear weapons. It was the prime air defence organization for Canada and the US. It also coordinated maritime forces, including Canadian patrol aircraft to counter Soviet submarines.

Radar lines provide early warning information to the NORAD Joint Command Centre in Colorado, which is a hardened facility designed to survive a direct attack. When the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile threat emerged and grew, NORAD expanded its detection capabilities.

This included the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) and the Missile Defence Alerting System, an American satellite constellation that could detect missile launches from space. Canada provided the deputy Commander-in-Chief of NORAD, who was the only non-American officer that could release American nuclear weapons in an emergency.

The city of North Bay, Ontario was home to the famous Underground Complex (UGC) at 22 Wing/Canadian Forces Base North Bay. Built 60 storeys beneath the surface and containing a three-story building of more than 142,000 square feet, the UGC was responsible for ensuring that all aircraft in Canadian airspace were properly identified and not a threat. The UGC opened in 1963 and ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until its closure in 2006.

During the Cold War, several crises developed between the Soviet Union, its allies, and the Western powers. In these periods, Canada had to increase its readiness in case of an attack. The best-known is the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union.

On April 17, 1961, the American government attempted to overthrow the Communist leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro, by invading the Bay of Pigs. The invasion was unsuccessful and only increased tension between American and Cuba.

On October 14, 1962, Castro, wary of America and the last invasion, made a deal with the Soviet Union to build nuclear launch facilities on Cuban soil. This frightened America, whose territories were within easy striking distance of the nuclear weapons.

After thirteen days of tension, the Soviet Union and America came to an accord – the Soviets would withdraw all nuclear weapons from Cuba, in return for America doing the same with their weapons in Turkey. This incident, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, was dangerously close to turning the Cold War into a hot one.

Soviet military forces were vast compared to NATO forces in the 1950s and 1960s. NATO countries adopted nuclear weapons to ensure deterrence. Changes in restrictive American laws meant that American nuclear weapons could be deployed to non-American forces, like Canada. As a result, select pilots of 1 Air Division were chosen for conversion from the conventional role of the Sabre fighter to the nuclear role of the CF-104 Starfighter.

Canada was instrumental in gathering intelligence against the Soviet Union, particularly when collecting signals intelligence (SIGINT). Radio signals were monitored closely, watching for indications of Soviet attack. Northern Canada’s proximity to the Soviet Union was ideal for SIGINT collection.

By the 1960s, the Supplementary Radio System (SRS) had operating locations at Massett, British Columbia; Aklavik, Northwest Territories; and Gander, Newfoundland. But the most ideal location was Alert in the Northwest Territories. Sitting on the northern tip of the Canadian Archipelago, Alert is the most northern permanently inhabited settlement in the world.