Fox Harbour, Labrador

I was working as a Technical Representative for the Bendix Aviation Corporation in 1957. The Bendix Radio Division were builders of FPS-14 and other radars. Department 474 (later the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation) was called the Bendix Pimlico Depot (for USAF contracts). Here. I attended school for the FPS-14 search radar in preparation for assignment some place in the Gap Filler network.

I volunteered for assignment to Labrador/Newfoundland after Murray Weingarden (then the Supervisor Overseas Operations and later the President of Bendix Field Engineering Corporation) visited the class on the Friday before the last week of training and asked for volunteers. No one volunteered at that time. He said "I'll give you until Monday to decide which four will take the assignment or I'll pick four". On Monday we (Gene Smith, Walter Berryman, Roy Rose and Donald Siekmeier) volunteered The assignment was from 7 March 1957 (depart Baltimore) and stay until the end of the contract on 15 June 1958 (Depart site).

From Baltimore, I drove home to York, PA and my parents drove me to McGuire AFB, New Jersey. I then proceeded in USAF planes to Pepperrell AFB, St. Johns, Newfoundland. After Meeting with NEAC officers we flew to Goose Bay, Labrador where we hung around until a H-21 helicopter was available to transport us to our final destinations along the Labrador coast.

I arrived in Fox Harbour in March 1957 and assumed the position of a Technical Representative. My orders stated "You are assigned for duty to Detachment #3, 922nd Air Control and Warning Squadron, effective 18 March 1957, for the purpose of advising and instructing in the operation and maintenance of Air Force Electronic Equipment, AN/FPS-14".

Bendix was not well known then for their radar but many bases had the Bendix Washers. My roommate at Pepperrell was a Major and he asked who I worked for. When I said Bendix, he said "do you work on washing machines?" I said yes and left it die there.

I was on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but normally worked a standard day shift, Monday to Friday.

Recreational facilities were limited to a day room and a record player, card playing (not gambling) and reading was about the extent of it. Beer drinking had to be the number one activity during our off duty hours. In the summer, on weekends, I'd hike down to the Harbour on the lake and fish. We would bring the fish to the mess hall and the cooks would let us in the kitchen to fry our catch, mostly trout.

During the spring of 1958, I took a dog sled ride to St. Mary's which was about 25 miles away for an annual dance and auction of lunch baskets made by the local girls. I paid $25 for mine and that was all I got – the basket.

We'd often run down to the Harbour if a plane was coming in. I visited in the village and became good friends with a family there. Some times we would take a camera hiking trip for a day. My friend took me to Battle Harbour to see where they processed the cod and I managed to see the old Marconi Antenna. By the way it used spark modulation and when on the air it raised havoc with all of our receivers. And yes I did see how cod liver oil is made. I also painted several paint by number pictures. This took many hours.

My supervisor stopped at Goose Bay on his way home from Europe and called all the Tech Reps. in for a meeting. We stayed at the Polaris Hotel (Officers transit BOQ) and were stuck there an extended time due to bad weather for the helicopters. A contractor was going to Fox Harbour via bush plane (Beaver) so I asked if I could go along. Well that was some ride. The pilot got lost and we were over the ocean when I thought we should be over land. Well he stayed below the clouds and ran into a boxed in valley. Then he found a village and recognized it but the ice had water on it but the trees still marked the landing area. If the ice was bad the trees should be removed. The pilot wasn’t sure if they were unable to get out to remove the trees or it was safe to land. He decided to land and told me to get the door open right away in case we broke through the ice. The locals ran up to me and asked if I was the doctor. It seems they were expecting another plane with a doctor. We finally got to Fox Harbour.

The weather at Fox Harbour was typical. Cold in winter and warm and buggy in summer. There were less than 25 personnel working at the Gap Filler site in total. Four or five Canadians were employed to operate the power plant and maintain the utilities. I was employed as a Tech Rep, and the balance of the staff were American Air Force personnel. There was a contractor crew that came in to try and install a water line from the lake to our water pond. Also, there was a crew that came there to install the Tropospheric communications facility.

We had the Hatfield brothers as a baker and cook but they could only do things by the mess book – so food was very bland. We asked them to make mashed potatoes so one day they did and when we saw what they offered, it looked like soup. They didn't know better. When asked what happened they said they did it by the book "boil the potatoes, drain and keep the water, put in mixer and add water" they put all the water back. We were eating lots of good meats until the brothers left. The new cook discovered they cooked up all the good meat and only the less desirable meats remained in the refer. Not to fear – a ship would be in before long – but it got in an ice flow and all the meat on board became spoiled. It finally came into the Harbour breaking ice. The CO walked out to the ship on the ice and declared the meat unfit even for the local dogs – it was all dumped in the harbour. I have a photo of this incident.

I do not recall whether we had any alcohol other then beer which was good because we sat around and consumed a lot of beer. My fee for the dog sled trip was a case of beer which we consumed at St Marys. As best I remember no one drank when we were on duty or during the day. I remember one weekend the Canadians got into a "how much can you drink?" contest. Well one guy drank a case in several hours. We thought he was going to die when beer came foaming out his mouth and nose. I think that was the end of that foolishness. We had movies on Saturdays and some local men would visit to see the movie and partake of the bubbly. The RCMP man was stationed over at Battle Harbour and would make a visit to let us know we were not permitted to give beer to the locals. One time the locals came to see the movie they brought their own 'home brew'. They insisted I try it - boy was it bad tasting. Speaking of the movies – many times the chopper couldn't make it to the site so we were stuck with a movie for an extended period, sometimes over a month would pass before they would give us an air drop. I remember one time we had a movie and after seeing it so many times we decided to watch it in reverse. We did have movies, but there were no USO Shows during the time that I spent at Fox Harbour.

As for paying for the beer I think we would buy a case for $2.40 and set it out for anyone to drink. When it ran out, someone else would buy another case of 24 cans. Bottom line: we consumed a lot of beer but I don't think it ever was a problem. Well, one time I had a bit to much. A Radar Maintenance guy was upset at our temporary CO so I challenged Lt. Conrad to shape up and even called Cartwright headquarters – the CO was nice to me. At least he didn't have me sent home.

The town consisted of about 15 houses was around two miles down the hill. The people were simply wonderful. There was considerable mingling between those at the radar site and the local townspeople. At least in my case, and for some of my Air Force friends. There were no village hookers or degeneration of that nature.

Mail was delivered via chopper and Fox Harbour was at the limit of their range so any bad weather or winds would cancel the service. During Christmas of 1957 we finally got a chopper in and what did it have – "Christmas trees". They forgot the mail bag. When I left in June 1958 the dried up trees were still along side the Helo Pad. If they did bring mail for a long time they would send an SA-16 sea plane and give us a mail drop.

I eventually left Fox Harbour on June 15, 1958 or the next Helo available. I was sent to the Tokyo Depot in Japan for further assignment to an FPS-3 radar site at Unishima – a small island 25 acres between Japan and Korea

I would like to thank Gene for sharing his memories and making these available for the Pinetree Line web site.