Final Closure
In all probability, one of the most interesting things that I did while stationed at Stephenville was to assist with the final closure of the 642nd AC&W Squadron which had been located at Red Cliff (St. John’s) and the Gap Filler complex which had been located at Elliston Ridge.
The time period was June and July, l961 and the my boss asked if we would like to get out of operations for a couple of months to go on TDY to Red Cliff and Elliston Ridge.
There were about fifteen of us guys that were still young and dumb enough to volunteer. I think I was twenty at the time. That very afternoon, all of us were placed on TDY to the Motor Pool and started learning how to drive 6X6 trucks. I was the oldest of the volunteers so they put me into a big GMC tractor trailer. We drove around the squadron area for most of the afternoon and then down the hill and all along the back roads, out as far as Fox Island river. I did the most damage with that 45 foot trailer. I think I ran over two fire plugs at the squadron and tore out several yards of guard railing on the way down the hill. When we got back to the site, we were given our drivers license's and told to go pack for 60 days.
I packed everything I had into a duffel bag and loaded it into the cab of that big Jimmy. The convoy (eight 6X6's, one 45 ft tractor/trailer, two 1.5 ton Ford flat-decks and two pickups) left at 5:00 a.m. and got as far as Cornerbrook the first day. A Captain was in the first pickup, and as convoy master, he allowed a maximum of "thirty" (that’s 30) mph speed. My god, I hardly had any brakes left by the time we got to Cornerbrook.
We set up pup tents in the provincial park (I think it was a park) and ate cold sandwiches and drank water for supper and since there were no lights we went to bed. I thought I was in the jungles of Viet Nam. The "Newfie Nippers" damn near ate me alive.
I crawled out of bed next morning at 3:00 a.m. and fired up that big Jimmy. That woke up everybody else and it didn't take long for us to find out that the Captain had some nice mosquito netting in his tent. He arose with no "Nipper" wounds and sallied forth to do his bloody duty.
We left before sunup and I slipped the tractor/trailer in behind the Captain’s pickup. We started out 30 MPH and I let the truck ride as close to the back of that pickup as possible. The A/2C that was driving could only see the grill and bumper of the Jimmy and he sped up a little. By noon I had him up to 55 MPH and the convoy rolled through Deer Lake. We stopped at the end of pavement and ate lunch. Then it was 25 tops the rest of the day. We talked the Captain into keeping on through the night and we made two hundred miles that night, getting into Grand Falls at 10:00 a.m.
We pitched our tents and sacked out for several hours, and then we sneaked off for a few beers. It turned into more that a few, and a very unhappy Captain and a M/Sgt. got everybody rounded up by 5:00 p.m. and we pulled out for Gander. The M/Sgt. took the lead. We were now doing 60 to 65 MPH right through Gander and we made St. Johns before midnight.
It should be remembered that both the 642nd AC&W Squadron, located at Red Cliff, and the Gap Filler complex located at Elliston Ridge had just been closed down and as a result, these sites were no longer operational when we arrived with our convoy. There were still some Air Police at Red Cliff and a couple of cooks and some administrative people there. They were USAF, but none of the operations types were still around. There were some civilians that took the communications and radar gear apart and supervised its loading. I'm not sure but I believe that they were from Canadian Marconi.
At least we had bunks to sleep in that night and next morning we started loading the trucks. No tents thank God. We made use of the barracks at Red Cliff and took mattresses and bedding with us to Elliston Ridge where we slept in offices and the mess. We had a cook. He really was a cook but I think his claim to fame was that he could make more types of sandwiches that any other man in the world. That is what we ate most of the time. He bought most of the food locally and we had a grand stock of Blue Star beer. The officers drank Molson’s, but us grunts had to make do with Blue Star.
We took all of the equipment and any fixture that wasn't bolted down and loaded them onto the trucks. My 45 foot tractor/trailer carried the radar gear and most of the scopes and other equipment was on the 6X6's.
We literally stripped each place clean – radar systems, furnishings, bedding, office equipment, etc. If it wasn't part of the existing structures, we removed it. I do know that we left the heating systems intact as well as the electricity, but we even took most of the light bulbs. The radar systems were being dismantled when we arrived at Red Cliff, as was the communications gear. This was first loaded and hauled immediately. Then we came back for subsequent loads. When the radar and communications gear was dismantled at Red Cliff, the civilian crew moved on to Elliston Ridge and by the time we got there, they had it all ready for us to load. Pole Vault was taken care of by the 1933rd AACS Squadron, also out of Harmon, but they had their own transportation and crews. They did make off with one pool table though and it almost caused a friggin riot.
I personally made five round trips to Red Cliff. There were three more trips that I didn't make so, in total, there were eight trips required to clean out Red Cliff. A total of six trips with all the trucks was needed to clean out the Gap Filler complex which was located at Elliston Ridge.
Each trip was almost like the others. We counted the really rough ones as those that had at least twenty or more blowouts or flat tires or radiators that blew up or how much mud there was if it rained.
The most interesting thing that we, as Americans, could not believe was the attitude of the men and women from Canada Customs and the RCMP. We really wanted to give as much of the furniture and fixtures to the people or the communities that had hosted the site for so long. But, these "bureaucrats" were there every minute watching everything we did and writing most of it down. There were actually more Customs and RCMP at Elliston Ridge than there were USAF personnel. I actually saw two of them get into a big argument because one of them didn't have a "Yank" to supervise for himself. There were however a couple of young ladies, Canada Customs types, but they were girls at night and I got to know one of them quite well. I tried to get her to follow me to Stephenville and work out there, but alas, she had a boyfriend in St. John's and she "broke me 'eart".
What the whole thing amounted to was we went to each site and stripped them to the bare walls and left nothing but the buildings. The plumbing and heating systems were left intact as were the electrical systems. But we even took the light bulbs, because half the time we couldn't get them at the 640th and had to buy them for ourselves down at Harmon. I had about sixty in a box, everything from 15 watt to 150 watt. When we got back to the site at Stephenville I realized that I had not cushioned them properly and I think I had about ten left.
When we first arrived at Red Cliff, there were a small number of Air Police (three of them) along with a few cooks and some administrative personnel – and later the security company's people. When we were finished removing everything, about all that was left was the buildings themselves. We did leave some ratty pictures of airplanes, presidents and a general or two hanging on the walls but everything else went to Stephenville.
I think that the Security Company people took over as we left. I wasn't the last to leave either location so I didn't "turn off the lights" so to speak. When we left Red Cliff, the Pole Vault communications equipment was still there but was in the process of being dismantled. The buildings were still OK as they were serviceable and I think, I'm not real sure but I think, that some provincial government people were going to move into some of the buildings at Red Cliff. In the case of Elliston Ridge, well, we just seemingly walked away from this location.
All of the radar and communications gear went to the warehouse at Harmon and I understand that it was shipped back to the States. I can tell you right now that we kept the nicest furniture, the pool table, all of the carpeting, and all of the bedding. I still think I have a couple of blankets the say "U.S." on them instead of "His" or "Hers". The supply people at Harmon looked the other way a lot. That was how I got the nice parka, that I kept until I returned Stateside after Harmon's closing. The damn movers stole that parka and I couldn't say too much about it.
There were fifteen guys that participated on these trips and I think that each of us would honestly say that it was more of an adventure than a job. We met some fantastic people along the way – who gave us everything from food to booze and we also met some lovely ladies. Of the fifteen troops that did that operation, nine – "count 'em" – nine got married to Newfoundlanders.
Note: – Chuck Hobbs served as a Radar Technician with the USAF at the 640th AC&W Squadron, Stephenville, Newfoundland – on two different tours. His first tour was between 1960 and 1962, and he returned for a second tour between 1965 and 1966.