In March 1942 the US Army Signal Corps 685th Air Warning Company was assigned to the Newfoundland Base Command, with their headquarters at Fort Pepperell. The initial contingent of personnel of the 685th was only about forty trained personnel. Their mission in Newfoundland was Top Secret.
During the spring of 1942 it was decided that the use of radar in Newfoundland was an absolute necessity, especially with the Atlantic Ferry Command in full operation at Gander, Goose Bay and Harmon Field and the US Naval Base operations at Argentia. The initial site chosen was Sandy Cove, Fogo Island. The very first US Ground Radar Early Warning Station in the North Atlantic area was to be installed. None of the people at Sandy Cove or on Fogo Island, knew what was going on when the 685th Air Warning Squadron crew arrived at Sandy Cove in the early summer of 1942. Work began immediately on the acquisition of land and the construction of several temporary buildings required for the station. All supplies had to be shipped by sea transport using US Army supply boats operating out of St. John's. By the end of the summer of 1942 the station was ready for the installation of the equipment and manning. Fifty-two personnel from the 685th Air Warning Squadron at Fort Pepperell were sent to Sandy Cove as a permanent operating unit. The detachment consisted of three officers, one doctor, two medical attendants and forty-six technicians.
The radar shack was located one mile from the main barracks area. It was secured by a barbed wire fence and continuously patrolled by soldiers and K-9 dogs. No one without Top Secret clearance was allowed near the area. The residents of all communities where the radar units were installed had no idea, until late in 1944, what the Americans were doing there, except that they were engaged in weather observations. There were seven 30 calibre machine guns within sand-bag-enclosed installations, mounted in strategic positions around the radar site. Altogether there were ten buildings on the site, including the restricted radar and radio equiment on "Radar Hill". It was self-contained with its own power plant of three 30kw Cummings diesel generators, a station telephone system, well water and treatment system, waste disposal plant and fuel storage plants. Besides this, a headquarters building, barracks, mess hall, recreation building and warehouse structures made up the complement of the station.
The complex at Fogo Island was completed by the early winter of 1943. It was a small installation and was initially provided with the SCR-271 radar equipment. The station's call sign was "Quad".
The radar unit was called Special Control Radar (SCR) 270, and the antenna was rotated by two 3 hp motors on the tower. The antenna was 80 feet high and 30 feet wide. Each motor had a 30 pound counter weight. This was the same unit installed in 1941 at Pearl Harbor. It had a 150 mile range, not much compared to radar units of today's standard, however it did provide an early warning and fast notification to alert Gander and the Newfoundland Base Headquarters at Fort Pepperrell. Gander had the 432nd Technical Bomber Squadron with fighters assigned to the base, and they were constantly on alert for warnings concerning an enemy or unidentified aircraft. The radar station at Sandy Cove was the most active of the five that were installed on the Island of Newfoundland. It tracked all of the traffic from Gander to Goose Bay and out into the Atlantic. Communications to Gander and St. John's was by radio with two transmitters, a 600 watt main radio and a 150 watt auxilliary.
The 685th continued to operate the complex at Fogo Island until November of 1944 when the unit was handed over to the RCAF. The Canadians quickly titled the complex as No 44 RU. We understand that the RCAF continued with the operation of the Fogo Island complex until 1 October, 1945.
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Updated: March 27, 2003