View source for Debert

{{Short description|Human settlement in Nova Scotia, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{for multi|the French sculptor|Camille Debert|the Canadian Forces station|CFS Debert}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Location map|Canada Nova Scotia
|width=220
|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N
|lat_deg = 45
|lat_min = 26
|lat_sec = 12.9
|lon_deg = 63
|lon_min = 27
|lon_sec = 23.3
|caption = Debert in [[Nova Scotia]].
}}
'''Debert''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|d|ə|ˈ|b|ɜːr|t}} {{respell|də|BURT}};<ref>{{Citation| author = The Canadian Press| author-link = The Canadian Press| title = The Canadian Press Stylebook| place = Toronto| publisher = [[The Canadian Press]]| edition = 18th| year = 2017}}</ref> 2006 pop: 1,471) is an [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] farming community in [[Nova Scotia]], Canada. Located in the central-western part of [[Colchester County]], it is approximately {{convert|20|km|abbr=on}} west of [[Truro, Nova Scotia|Truro]].

The community has two churches ([[Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada|United Baptist Church]] and [[United Church of Canada]]), [[Royal Canadian Legion]] (Branch 106), a skating rink, a community centre, two vehicle repair garages, one convenience store, and a volunteer fire department.

Debert is situated near [[coal]] and [[iron]] ore deposits that were mined in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Debert became a station stop on the [[Halifax Nova Scotia|Halifax]]-[[Montreal]] mainline of the [[Intercolonial Railway]] in the 1870s. This railway line continues to this day under the ownership of [[Canadian National Railway]] (CN Rail), with passenger service provided by [[Via Rail]], but without a stop at Debert.

==Military history==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2021}}
During the [[World War II|Second World War]] Debert was the location of a [[Canadian Army]] base named [[CFS Debert|Debert Military Camp]] and an adjoining [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] station named RCAF Station Debert. Camp Debert was an army facility capable of accommodating division-size units where personnel received training prior to deployment to [[Europe]]. RCAF Station Debert was used as a [[British Commonwealth Air Training Plan]] facility which saw pilots and aircrew from Commonwealth nations trained for military service.

Demobilization of the military during the post-war brought about many other changes at Camp Debert with many of the barrack buildings and workshops being demolished. Many materials were salvaged from the demolition and reused to help construct numerous new homes in the nearby village of Debert and throughout this part of Colchester County.

For a brief period shortly after the war, the [[Nova Scotia Agricultural College]] (NSAC) operated out of the old Camp Debert hospital. The temporary relocation of NSAC resulted from a major fire that had occurred at the principal campus in [[Bible Hill, Nova Scotia|Bible Hill]], which destroyed many barns and academic facilities.

Camp Debert's role as a training facility was eliminated in the early 1950s with the opening of the much larger [[CFB Gagetown|Camp Gagetown]] in [[New Brunswick]]. The airfield ([[Debert Airport]]) was downgraded at this time to an adjunct facility for [[CFB Shearwater|RCAF Station Shearwater]].

A new lease on life was given to the military facility in the early 1960s when Camp Debert was chosen as the location for a Regional Emergency Government Headquarters, also known as a "[[Emergency Government Headquarters|Diefenbunker]]". This facility became the focus of the newly formed [[CFS Debert]] by the late 1960s.

The primary unit attached to CFS Debert was the 720 Communications Squadron, which maintained the REGHQ and provided communications support to [[Canadian Armed Forces]] units throughout [[Atlantic Canada]] and around the world. Substantial radio transmitter and receiver stations were constructed close to the nearby villages of [[Masstown]] and [[Great Village]] to support the military operations at CFS Debert, providing worldwide radio communications.

In 1971 the aerodrome and training facilities were declared surplus and were purchased by the provincial government to create the "Debert Air Industrial Park" as well as a municipal airfield.

[[CFS Debert]] was closed in the mid-1990s and decommissioned in 1998 with remaining military facilities being transferred to a local development authority named "Colchester Park". The ongoing residual military communications role of Debert was transferred to the transmitter/receiver facilities near Great Village and Masstown.

The [[Debert Airport]] is now also the location of [[Royal Canadian Air Cadets]] Summer Glider Scholarship program for the Atlantic region. More than 50 cadets earn their [[Transport Canada]] Glider Pilot License during a 6-week course each summer. The Debert Airport also offers the Advanced Aviation Course through Royal Canadian Air Cadets as of summer 2011.

==Paleo-Indian discovery==
{{main|Debert Palaeo-Indian Site}}

A significant [[Paleo-Indians|Paleo-Indian]] site was discovered on the grounds of the old military camp by a private contractor who was preparing a plot of land to be used as a [[tree farm]]. Researchers from [[Saint Mary's University (Halifax)|Saint Mary's University]] were requested to conduct a thorough archeological excavation on the site. Preliminary reports suggested that the site held evidence of human activity that pre-dated any other sites found within the northern part of [[Nova Scotia]].

The site was designated a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site of Canada]] on 19 October 1972.<ref>{{CRHP|15981|Debert Palaeo-Indian Site|30 September 2012}}[https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=262]</ref>

==Climate==
Debert has a [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Dfb]]) with warm, wet summers with cool nights and long, cold, and very snowy winters. Debert's inland position gives it some of the warmest summer days in all of [[Nova Scotia]], but also gives it some of the chilliest winter nights.{{Weather box
|location = Debert, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1945–present
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan record high C = 16.5
|Feb record high C = 15.9
|Mar record high C = 19.4
|Apr record high C = 23.9
|May record high C = 31.5
|Jun record high C = 33.9
|Jul record high C = 33.9
|Aug record high C = 35.0
|Sep record high C = 33.1
|Oct record high C = 26.7
|Nov record high C = 22.8
|Dec record high C = 18.0
|year record high C = 35.0
|Jan high C = -1.4
|Feb high C = -0.9
|Mar high C = 3.1
|Apr high C = 9.4
|May high C = 16.1
|Jun high C = 21.0
|Jul high C = 25.0
|Aug high C = 24.4
|Sep high C = 20.1
|Oct high C = 13.6
|Nov high C = 7.6
|Dec high C = 1.9
|year high C = 11.7
|Jan mean C = −6.7
|Feb mean C = −6.2
|Mar mean C = -2.0
|Apr mean C = 4.0
|May mean C = 9.9
|Jun mean C = 14.8
|Jul mean C = 18.9
|Aug mean C = 18.3
|Sep mean C = 14.2
|Oct mean C = 8.3
|Nov mean C = 3.2
|Dec mean C = -2.7
|year mean C = 6.2
|Jan low C = -12.0
|Feb low C = -11.6
|Mar low C = -7.1
|Apr low C = -1.5
|May low C = 3.6
|Jun low C = 8.6
|Jul low C = 12.7
|Aug low C = 12.1
|Sep low C = 8.2
|Oct low C = 2.9
|Nov low C = -1.3
|Dec low C = -7.2
|year low C = 0.6
|Jan record low C = -35.0
|Feb record low C = -34.0
|Mar record low C = -30.0
|Apr record low C = -19.8
|May record low C = -6.5
|Jun record low C = -3.2
|Jul record low C = 2.5
|Aug record low C = 0.8
|Sep record low C = -5.0
|Oct record low C = -9.0
|Nov record low C = -18.0
|Dec record low C = -32.5
|year record low C = -35.0
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 91.0
|Feb precipitation mm = 77.1
|Mar precipitation mm = 81.4
|Apr precipitation mm = 90.4
|May precipitation mm = 89.3
|Jun precipitation mm = 98.7
|Jul precipitation mm = 87.5
|Aug precipitation mm = 91.9
|Sep precipitation mm = 118.9
|Oct precipitation mm = 117.5
|Nov precipitation mm = 113.7
|Dec precipitation mm = 121.3
|year precipitation mm = 1178.5
|Jan snow cm = 38.8
|Feb snow cm = 35.1
|Mar snow cm = 32.2
|Apr snow cm = 8.7
|May snow cm = 0.7
|Jun snow cm = 0.0
|Jul snow cm = 0.0
|Aug snow cm = 0.0
|Sep snow cm = 0.0
|Oct snow cm = 0.0
|Nov snow cm = 10.1
|Dec snow cm = 31.9
|year snow cm = 157.5
|unit precipitation days = 0.2 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 16.7
|Feb precipitation days = 15.0
|Mar precipitation days = 15.0
|Apr precipitation days = 14.9
|May precipitation days = 16.2
|Jun precipitation days = 14.8
|Jul precipitation days = 13.8
|Aug precipitation days = 14.6
|Sep precipitation days = 14.6
|Oct precipitation days = 14.8
|Nov precipitation days = 16.7
|Dec precipitation days = 18.3
|year precipitation days = 185.5
|unit snow days = 0.2&nbsp;cm
|Jan snow days = 9.2
|Feb snow days = 8.0
|Mar snow days = 6.3
|Apr snow days = 1.9
|May snow days = 0.11
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.0
|Oct snow days = 0.0
|Nov snow days = 2.4
|Dec snow days = 7.0
|year snow days = 34.8
| time day = 15:00 LST
| Jan humidity = 72.0
| Feb humidity = 68.2
| Mar humidity = 61.9
| Apr humidity = 58.2
| May humidity = 58.7
| Jun humidity = 62.2
| Jul humidity = 61.7
| Aug humidity = 60.3
| Sep humidity = 62.3
| Oct humidity = 65.8
| Nov humidity = 70.4
| Dec humidity = 74.5
| year humidity = 64.7
|source 1 = [[Environment Canada]] (snow 1981–2010)<ref name= "CCN1">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?stnID=6334&lang=e&province=NS&provSubmit=go&dCode=0
| title = Debert, Nova Scotia
| work = Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010
| date= 31 October 2011
| accessdate = 12 April 2015}}</ref><ref name= "CCN2">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1991_2020_e.html?searchType=stnName_1991&txtStationName_1991=debert&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=33000000&dispBack=1
| title = Debert
| work = Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020
| date= 30 January 2024
| accessdate = 11 April 2024}}</ref><ref name= "Debert A">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = https://climate.weather.gc.ca/historical_data/search_historic_data_stations_e.html?searchType=stnName&timeframe=1&txtStationName=debert+a&searchMethod=contains&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2024&Year=2024&Month=4&Day=11&selRowPerPage=25
| title = Debert A
| work = Canadian Climate Data
| date= 30 January 2024
| accessdate = 11 April 2024}}</ref><ref name= "November 2022">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=2003-12-11%7C2024-04-10&dlyRange=2003-12-11%7C2024-04-10&mlyRange=2004-01-01%7C2007-07-01&StationID=42243&Prov=NS&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2024&selRowPerPage=25&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&txtStationName=debert&timeframe=2&Day=1&Year=2022&Month=11#
| title = Daily Data Report for November 2022
| work = Canadian Climate Data
| date= 30 January 2024
| accessdate = 11 April 2024}}</ref>
|date=August 2011
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050828080854/http://destination-ns.com/common/places.asp?placeID=487 Debert on Destination Nova Scotia]

==External links==
* [http://debertmilitaryhistorysociety.weebly.com/ Debert Military History Society]

{{NSColchester}}
{{Coord|45|26|12.9|N|63|27|23.3|W|region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki|display=title}}
[[Category:Communities in Colchester County]]
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia]]