RCAF Station High River was a station of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) located at High River, Alberta, Canada. High River Air Station The Flying Operations Branch of the Canadian Air Board relocated the Morley Air Station to High River over the winter of 1920-21. The Morley Air Station was one of the initial five stations established for civil operations in the summer of 1920. From experience gained during the 1920 flying season, the weather at Morley was determined to be too erratic and dangerous for flying. The High River Air Station commenced flying operations on 6 May 1921. In the early days, the station had an entirely civil function and was the largest in Canada with ten war-surplus Airco DH.4 aircraft that were part of the Imperial Gift provided to Canada by Britain after the First World War. Initially, most of the flying operations consisted of fire-spotting forestry patrols over the mountains and foothills to the west. Two patrols were made daily, to the Clearwater, Bow and Crowsnest Forest Reserves. One patrol flew north as far as the Clearwater River, and one south to the International Boundary. Of the early Canadian air stations, High River was the most active, with 215 flights flown on forest patrols. Other responsibilities of the station included aerial photography, parachute experimentation, aircraft testing, and aerial pesticide spraying. In the early 1920s the station became involved with experimenting with radio. Wireless equipment was developed in cooperation with the Canadian Corps of Signals to develop radio signals to be broadcast over distances greater than 300 km. The most powerful radio transmitter in North America began operating from the High River Air Station in 1922. In 1922 sub-bases were established at Eckville and Pincher Creek at the northern and southern ends of the patrol routes. Patrols were flown outbound in each direction in the morning, refuelled at the sub-bases, and returned in the afternoon. Aerial photography operations were also begun in 1922, using modified DH.4 aircraft. Following the cancellation of part-time training for military pilots on 31 March 1922, the Air Board restructured its flying operations, merging the Flying Operations Branch into the Canadian Air Force in June. Changes to the organization of the air stations were deferred to the fall to avoid administrative issues during the flying season. On 25 November 1922 the High River Air Station was renamed C.A.F. Unit High River and the