During the summer of 1953, Allan Banfill was 22 years old and employed as an Installer with the Bell Telphone Company of Canada. According to Allan, Bell Telephone officials began searching for volunteers within their organization. They were looking for volunteers but would accept only from a select group that fitted into a certain profile. It was under these circumstances that Allan applied, and was accepted for his skills in what eventually became known as Pine Tree Construction Project Job #2. This project was very "hush hush" and even for civilians, the basic handout was clasified as SECRET. Things were obviously quite secretive in those days - as the last paragraph in the project handout stated "Finally anyone arriving at point of departure for the job under the influence of liquor will be taken off the project and returned to their headquarters immediately. Any forbidden articles such as liquor, guns, cameras etc., found in luggage at the time of departure for the job will be confiscated".
Initially, the selected few knew nothing, and they were told even less. They were apparently being sent to remote locations to install communications lines and networks. They had no indication as to how long project would last or the locations where they would ultimately be working.
Allan and his group left Montreal's Dorval airport on July 13, 1953 - destination Goose Bay, Labrador. He recalls that he only spent a few days in Goose Bay. Allan and his group were then placed on a Canso and they departed Goose Bay for Hopedale - where they worked for a period of some 5 weeks. The work being completed at Hopedale - it was back to Goose Bay for a few days, and then north to Frobisher Bay for about a month and a half. There were three teams in all, and the other two handled the initial installations at Resolution Island, Saglek, Cartwright and St. Anthony.
Allan has kept some of the initial communication and detail (all these years) and he has shared this with us - so we can get some idea as to what took place back in 1953 - at the time when Pinetree Line radar stations at Frobisher Bay, Hopedale and even Goose Bay, were still under construction - and at the best, providing limited facilites and amenities.
Allan wrote "It was interesting to read the the detail about Frobisher Bay having two sites. The upper site, as I recall, was the area for the BQ (bachelor quarters), the RX (receiver) and TX (transmitter) sites as well as the radar installation. We lived in the middle in an area referred to as "Tent City" which was a temporary location.
It should be mentioned that, at the time of our arrival in late August 1953, the radar station (upper site) was still under construction. The small number of USAF personnel on site at that time filled supervisory roles related to the construction of buildings and other similar duties. The radar equipment itself, was not to become operational until December 1953. Our group from Bell Telephone was to install communications at locations such as the receiver and transmitter sites.
The lower site was close to the runway and was the area where Canadian and American military personnel stayed. The RCMP also had their headquarters here.
Further on was the village where the native people lived. This group of Eskimos lived in tents during the summer months and snow houses in the winter. They were smaller in stature than their counterparts in Hopedale and I do not recall the natives being able to speak English at that time."
Hopefully, some of these photos and detail will bring back memories to those who once served at the Frobisher Bay Pinetree Line radar station.
I wish to thank Allan for his assistance and his support of the Pinetree Line web site. The detail and the photos which were provided have managed to provide an update and another chapter for the radar station which was once located at Frobisher Bay, NWT.
Updated: January 10, 1999
