civilian personnel were commissioned or enlisted into the Canadian Air Force. The name changed again when the Canadian Air Force was granted the "Royal" prefix effective 13 March 1923, becoming RCAF Unit High River, then RCAF Station High River in early October. None of these changes, nor the official formation of the Royal Canadian Air Force on 1 April 1924, substantially altered the role of the station. Late in 1924 five Avro 552 Vipers were delivered to replace the DH.4s on forestry patrol, with two of the latter type retained for the station's mobile photographic flight. In July 1925, retroactive to 1 April, all the RCAF's civil operations stations were re-designated as numbered squadrons, with High River becoming No. 2 (Operations) Squadron. The northern refueling field moved from Eckville to Rocky Mountain House in 1926, though Eckville was used again temporarily in 1927. On 1 July 1927 the RCAF's civil operations were transferred to the new Directorate of Civil Government Air Operations, and No. 2 (Operations) Squadron again became the High River Air Station. This directorate was nominally civilian, the director reporting directly to the Deputy Minister of National Defence, but was still staffed almost entirely by attached or seconded RCAF personnel. The following year all photographic operations were re-organized as independent detachments reporting directly to Ottawa, and High River provided support to No. 1 Photographic Detachment instead of fielding its own photographic flight. In 1928 De Havilland DH. 60 Cirrus Moths replaced both the DH.4s and the Avro 552s. The same year, a sub-station was established at Grande Prairie to enable the patrolling of the Peace River Country. After jurisdiction for natural resource management was transferred to the Province of Alberta in 1930, fire towers were built and spotting aircraft were no longer necessary. Fire-spotting patrols gradually ceased. No. 1 Photographic Detachment moved to Vancouver for the 1930 flying season. Other activities such as aircraft testing continued until the station closed on 31 March 1931, with its facilities transferred to the Winnipeg Air Station for care and maintenance. The station did, however, remain as an aircraft storage facility until the beginning of the Second World War when the station was reactivated to train pilots for wartime service. No. 5 Elementary Flying Training School RCAF Station High River was a major participant in British Commonwealth Air Training Plan aircrew training during the Second World War. No. 5 Elementary Flying Training