Following the outbreak of World War II and the creation of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, the city of Charlottetown offered its airfield to the federal government in December 1939 for military use until the conclusion of the Second World War. The offer was accepted and on 1 May 1940 the Department of National Defence announced the establishment of No. 5 Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), with the provision for a bombing range to be built in the Prince Edward Island National Park near the fishing port of Covehead. Local fishermen on the north shore protested against the school and plans were cancelled in 1941 when No. 5 B&GS was ultimately moved to RCAF Station Dafoe in Saskatchewan.