in married quarters or PMQs consisting of 443 apartments at nearby Saint Avold. Other families were accommodated in private homes in local villages or in trailers on the base. Some personnel resided in single quarters on the station. Schools were located at Saint Avold and on the station. Recreational facilities on the base included an arena and pool. A grocery and general store, as well as a hospital were also located on the station. NATO bases in France, including Grostenquin, were short-lived. In 1963 the Government of France announced that all nuclear weapons in France were to be placed under French control. This was unacceptable to the Canadian Government (and to other NATO governments with forces stationed in France), so the two nuclear strike squadrons of 2 Wing (421 and 430 Squadrons) were hastily relocated; 430 Squadron moved to 3 Wing Zweibrücken and 421 Squadron moved to 4 Wing Baden-Soellingen. RCAF Station Grostenquin closed in 1964. Post-RCAF After 1964 the airfield was transferred to the French Armed Forces, but abandoned until 1979 when it was re-used as an electronic warfare training range (Polygone) by the French Air Force, French Army Aviation Corps, Luftwaffe and USAF. Other than the hangars most of the RCAF logistics facilities are gone. The runway, taxiways and tarmac remain visible from aerial photos (as late as 2010) but markings have changed since the RCAF left in 1964. See also Ouvrage Kerfent – a former Maginot Line fortification used as a communications relay station by the RCAF in support of Grostenquin Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport - a functioning public airport located west of Grostenquin History of the Royal Canadian Air Force References Notes Bibliography Greenhous, Brereton and Halliday, Hugh A. Canada's Air Forces, 1914–1999. Montreal: Editions Art Global and the Department of National Defence, 1999. . Milberry, Larry, ed. Sixty Years—The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924–1984. Toronto: Canav Books, 1984. . Roberts, Leslie. There Shall Be Wings. Toronto: Clark, Irwin and Co. Ltd., 1959. No ISBN. Dempsey, Daniel V. A Tradition of Excellence: Canada's Airshow Team Heritage. Victoria, BC: High Flight Enterprises, 2002. . Loubette, Fabrice. Les forces aériennes de l'OTAN en Lorraine, 1952-1967 (Part II, Chapter 3, Grostenquin RCAF 2 Wing), Metz (France) : Serpenoise, 2008. . External links RCAF Station Grostenquin home page 416 Squadron History 421 Squadron History 423 Squadron History 430 Squadron History Grostenquin Canada–France relations Buildings and structures in Moselle (department) Polygone Range