The Early Years
I was a young A1C Radar Technician in the USAF when I arrived in Goose Bay on a cold and snowy day back in January 1952. We had flown in via military aircraft from Westover AFB in Massachusetts. It is doubtful that I was fully prepared for what I would experience in the next year.
The radar station which was to become known as Melville AFS did not exist when I arrived – although it was under construction. Even my own unit, the 107th AC&W Squadron was not established. We eventually became operational as the 107th in May or June of 1952. We were located in a remote area but at the same general elevation as the airbase. Our unit was just referred to as Goose Bay but after being there for a year we had developed a few other pet names for the place.
We started out living in some World War II barracks which were heated with space heaters. They then moved us to new barracks which were located on the main airbase. Accommodation at this location was designed for two men to a room and all of the buildings had covered tunnels connecting from one building to another. You could leave your room in the barracks and walk to other buildings without having to go outside. We were able to see the advantage of this design during the winter months. There were many occasions when we experienced temperatures which exceeded 50 degrees below zero. We also experienced more than 160 inches of snow during the early months of 1952. It was mid May before the snow melted enough to let light in through the windows of our barracks. It was also in mid May when we learned that there were two steps leading up to the front door of the PX. In contrast, there was no snow on the ground for Christmas of 1952. You would think that there would always be a "White Christmas" in Labrador.
Defense exercises were held during the spring of 1952. The 101st Airborne did an air-drop on us. We set up defensive positions around the runways since that was the only place the "enemy" could parachute into and not become stuck up to their armpits in deep snow. It was a nice clear day. The planes came over and parachutes filled the sky. One guy was killed when his chute failed to open. All of the base personnel crouched in their "foxholes" dug in the snow and yelled "bang, bang, bang". The whole thing didn't make much sense and I never learned who won. Hope it proved something to somebody.
We never did visit what was to become the new Melville AFS. Construction at this location continued to progress and by the summer of 1952 you could easily see some of the buildings as well as the radome on top of the mountain. We worked with the CPS-5 search radar equipment. This radar equipment had been moved to Goose Bay from a site on Long Island. I remember the serial number was really low – somewhere between 1 and 10. One of my radar maintenance buddies had helped tear it down on Long Island. As luck would have it, he was later transferred to Goose Bay and he had to help rebuild it again. I recall he said that he wished he had been more careful when taking it apart.
Initially, we also had some type of USMC height finder that never worked – at least not for a long time. We called it the "Rocking Chair" since the arm supporting the feedhorn rocked up and down as it scanned the antenna.
Manning was a typical 6 and 2 shift. Two days, two midnights, two swings and then two days off. The rotation just continued and while it may have left something to be desired – well, you got used to it after a while.
You had to travel around the end of the runways to reach the Canadian side of the base. It is interesting to note that the Americans were also building a site in Thule Greenland and, as a result, there were many supply planes that were passing through Goose Bay en route to Thule.
There were a number of activities that we took part in during our off duty hours. Movies were available on both the American and the Canadian sides of the base. We could swim in the Goose River in late July and early August. Snowshoes were a popular activity during the winter months. We were provided with a two week R&R leave back to the States after six months and we also made use of what the US side of the air base had to offer, such as their PX and NCO Club.
You had to plug in any vehicle when it was not being used during the winter months. There were "hitching posts" in front of every administrative building. You would drive up, park, get out and plug in. Just like tying up your horse in the old westerns.
When we first arrived the mess served powered milk (lumps and all) hand made by the cooks. Later on they installed a machine that mixed it. Great improvement. The building that contained it was called the "barn" and the machine was called the "cow". Well, one night the "barn' burned down and killed the "cow". Back to the lumps in the milk.
There were over 50 aircraft (a combination of military and civilian) that either crashed or were wrecked on the ground trying to land or take off during 1952. I recall one day when there were three crashes. This was also the year that the USAF ferried hundreds of F-86 jet fighters to Europe as part of the NATO commitments. Goose Bay received its own squadron of F-94 all weather fighters and during the same year "Whirlaway and Hopalong" came through Goose Bay on their way to becoming the first helicopters to fly across the Atlantic.
I served my year in Goose and eventually departed in January 1953 for Rapid City AFB, SD, now known as Ellsworth AFB. Melville was still under construction when I left and the CPS-5 was still in use.
This detail was provided by Bob Jones for use on the Pinetree Line web site in March 1999.