The areas around present-day CFB Borden have a long history.  The Canadian Army established Camp Borden in 1916.  In 1924, the Royal Canadian Air Force opened RCAF Station Camp Borden as their first base in Canada.  During the Second World War, dozens of schools and support facilities were built by both the Army and RCAF in the area. The two facilities operated independently until they were merged in 1966.

In May 1941, the RCAF initiated the formation of No. 13 “X” Depot for the supply of explosives and ammunition to units of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan just north of the army camp near the Village of Angus, ON.  The depot continued this function after the Second World War and was actually a separate defence establishment from Camp Borden, with its own barracks, messes, Permanent Married Quarters (PMQ), RCAF Police and RCAF Fire Brigade.

On March 20, 1958, at approximately 4 o'clock in the afternoon, an explosion demolished building Number 20, the receipts and issues building, located near the entrance to the depot's explosive storage area, killing six civilian employees and one airman. This was one of the worst peacetime munitions explosions in Canada. The resulting f‌ire was fought by the Depot f‌ire brigade, along with f‌iref‌ighters from the Army Fire Service in Camp Borden. Along with f‌ighting the f‌ire, which is dangerous under normal circumstances, the f‌ire brigade had to deal with munitions exploding, including a bullet that struck a nearby ambulance.

In August 2005,47 years after the tragedy, a ceremony was held at the Angus Cenotaph to dedicate a memorial stone plaque to the victims the RCAF 13 "X” Depot explosion. The inscription on the stone reads: