The first land aircraft movement was recorded on 9 December 1941. By spring of 1942 the base, now carrying the wartime codename Alkali, was bursting with air traffic destined for the United Kingdom. In time, the USAAF and the British Royal Air Force (RAF) each developed sections of the triangular base for their own use, but the airport remained under overall Canadian control despite its location in the Dominion of Newfoundland, not yet a part of Canada. The 99-year lease arrangement with the United Kingdom was not finalized until October 1944. Aerodrome In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome – Goose Bay, Labrador at with a variation of 35 degrees west and elevation of . The field was listed as "all hard-surfaced" and had three runways listed as follows: The northeast side of the facility was built to be a temporary RCAF base, complete with its own hangars and control tower, while the south side of the facility, built for the Americans, was being upgraded with its own aprons, hangars, earth-covered magazines, control tower and infrastructure. The Canadian and American bases were built as an RCAF station and later a United States Air Force base known as Goose AB, housing units of the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Defense Command. It was later home to permanent detachments of the RAF, Luftwaffe, Aeronautica Militare, and Royal Netherlands Air Force, in addition to temporary deployments from several other NATO countries. Cold War history 1950 – The Rivière-du-Loup Incident Goose Air Base was the site of the first US nuclear weapons in Canada, when in 1950 the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) stationed 11 model 1561 Fat Man and Mark 4 atomic bombs at the base in the summer, and flew them out in December. While returning to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base with one of the bombs on board, a USAF B-50 heavy bomber encountered engine trouble, had to drop, and conventionally detonate, the bomb over the St. Lawrence, contaminating the river with uranium-238. 1954 – Construction of the Strategic Air Command Weapons Storage Area Construction of SAC's Weapons Storage Area at Goose Air Base was officially completed in 1954. The area was surrounded by two fences, topped with barbed wire. It was the highest security area in Goose Air Base and comprised One guard house One administration building Three warehouses (base spares #1, base spares #2,