Chapter Six
Luke missed the excitement, and some of the Officers and men of Task Force #1. Now his main assignment was to provide medical care for Company A, 973rd Engineer Construction Battalion, which came from Fort Carson, Colorado, close to his home in Colorado Springs. Their mission now was to finish the work on repairing and extending the airfield, to build several large tanks for fuel oil, aviation fuel, including jet fuel, and to help the civilian contractor finish the radar facilities nearby.
Luke moved into nice permanent quarters with the engineering Officers. They had good food, and all they wanted of it. There was a movie every evening in the Officer’s quarters, a dart game featuring a naked lady as a target, and a powerful short wave radio, which they used to listen to Moscow Molly every night.
She reported that Moscow knew that Task Force #1 had departed, and that Company A, 973rd Engineer Construction Battalion had been left at Frobisher Bay. She tried to discourage them, and said that they were going to be left there all winter. They wondered how she had gotten this intelligence information. They felt that there must be another spy in their midst, and reported it to the Canadian commander.
The weather was getting steadily colder, and it snowed again. The libido of the men seemed to increase day by day, since they had been away from civilization for over three months. The company commander reminded all personnel that they must not fraternize with Eskimo women. Luke, however, was allowed to treat all sick or injured Eskimos at his aid station, regardless of sex, and there was a constant stream of them at sick call. He actually saw more sick natives than military personnel.
The constable and Sarah Caribou brought in a five year old girl with weight loss, chronic productive cough, and low grade fever. The constable told him that both parents had pulmonary tuberculosis. Luke showed them how to check her sputum, and he was able to demonstrate acid-fast bacilli on the smear, thus confirming active tuberculosis. Luke had none of the new antibiotic, streptomycin, to treat her. Since her condition was deteriorating rapidly, he advised that she be transferred to a tuberculosis sanatorium at Ottawa, and the constable agreed to arrange it if her parents were willing.
Constable Bulloch told Luke of the problems that had come up in the past when Eskimos were sent to Ottawa. Records as to where they came from in the north were sometimes lost, and the native patients could not give a description or name of their place of origin in English. This was especially true in the case of children. The constable said he would carefully write the needed information for this little girl, and would ask Sarah to write out the same information in the native syllabics to accompany her to the sanatorium.
The constable went on to say that as a last resort, lost Eskimo patients were sent out on the government supply boat that went to all major settlements each summer, and often they found their homes. And there were some very happy patients and families when the connection was made!
On September 7, Constable Bulloch took Luke into the Eskimo village to see sick patients, who were mostly children. The constable told him there had been eleven deaths among the children in the past six weeks, mostly due to infections. Bulloch also said that the people did not trust the white doctor when he first came, but now they were beginning to, especially since Sarah Caribou spoke so highly of his work.
They would remain in their summer tents until the snow piled up enough so that they could build igloos. Luke noted that the tents measured about six by ten feet, and that several families shared each tent. The floors were mostly dirt, and there was a raised wooden platform at one end on which they slept under dirty blankets. Trash often littered the floor, and recently killed seals were in one corner. The odor was very strong and fishy! Arctic char or trout were strung up on the central tent pole.
Most of the people were several inches shorter than the average American. They had flat, oriental faces, with black hair. They tended to be chunky, and did not seem malnourished. Most of them were not really attractive to Luke, except for Sarah, who was a real beauty. They rarely had an opportunity to take a bath, except in the warm days of summer. They were all pigeon-toes. And they were generally a friendly and cheerful lot.
After they finished seeing patients in the village, the Mountie took Luke to the tents of several ivory carvers, saying that Luke could get a better price here than at the Hudson Bay Company store. He purchased a number of items carved from walrus’ tusks, including another beautiful cribbage board decorated with the head of a walrus on the end, an ivory bear, a kayak with an Eskimo hunter paddling it, a standing Eskimo man with a parka decorated with red trim, a fox, several ivory rings, and a seal and walrus on soapstone bases.
He also purchased several arctic fox pelts, which had been trapped the previous winter. They were soft and beautiful. The fur of the arctic fox is brown or blue-grey in summer, but it becomes snow-white in winter to camouflage the animals against the snow.
By mid-September the days were considerably shorter and the nights correspondingly longer. The temperature was dropping, and it snowed a bit every few days.
The airplane mechanics flew in from New York, pulled the crippled DC-4, which was known to the military as a C-54 Skymaster, into the hangar, and started repairing its smashed nose.
General Stinchcomb and staff flew in from Goose Bay to survey the situation. They decided that only fifty men from Company A of the 973rd Engineer Construction Battalion need remain at Frobisher, and he ordered Luke and Sgt. Redd to remain with them to provide medical support. This decided, the General and his staff officers went out to do some fishing and hunting.
Luke had already made up his mind to make the best of the situation, to do his duty, and try to help the sick in the Eskimo village.
More Eskimos were coming to sick call at the aid station. Constable Bulloch or Sarah Caribou came with them each time to act as interpreters. Luke was amazed at how intelligent she was. She could log the patients in, have them remove the proper part of their clothing, and then interview them regarding their symptoms, writing down the information on the patient’s record sheet. She quickly learned how to set up a surgical tray and prepare for minor surgery or suturing. And she became conversant with medications, and could dispense them as ordered by Dr. Luke. And she would carefully give the doctor’s instruction to the patients in their own language, answering questions as they arose.
Luke marveled at her ability, and asked her about her plans to attend nursing school. She replied that she had been accepted at the nursing school in St. Johns, but was awaiting information on a scholarship for the following year. He was sure that she could handle the nursing program.
At the end of September a Nnavy salvage crew came in with a tugboat to try to refloat the tanker on the rock in the bay. But at high tide they could not budge it, so they ordered an empty tanker to off load the oil cargo first.
Also a troop transport put into Frobisher Bay to take about half the engineers back to the ZI, leaving 51 men as ordered by General Stinchcomb. The men left behind to finish the work were envious of their departing comrades.
Early in October, Captain Cane, RCAF commandant, was called back to Ottawa regarding the trial of the construction worker. This left Lt. William Brewster, USAF, in temporary command of the base. This gave Luke land his fellow American officers some concern, since it was evident to all that Brewster was a chronic alcoholic.
The Americans asked Luke to do something about the situation. He spoke frankly with Lt. Brewster, and recommended that he request transfer back to the States for treatment. Unfortunately, Brewster went into complete denial, and refused to consider Luke’s medical advice.
Luke tried to send a TWX to the port surgeon in Goose Bay, but Brewster sensed what was going on, and refused outside communication access to all Army personnel. So all Luke could do was write a letter to Colonel Cantrell and wait for the next MATS plane to fly it to Goose Bay.
But the next night their worst fears were realized. A large four-engine airplane made several passes over the base at low altitude, and playing a spotlight below. The control tower, thinking this was a friendly aircraft, turned on the runway lights, but the plane made no attempt to land. The tower then tried to send a radio message to the plane, but there was no response. It kept circling low over the base, the airfield, the ships anchored in the bay, the radar site, and the surrounding terrain.
By this time all officers had gathered outside their quarters, and were staring up into the sky trying to identify the aircraft. They could see no markings on it in the dark, but it did have its navigation lights on. Occasionally it would be silhouetted against a nearly full moon, and they could see it was a very large plane.
One of the Air Force Sergeants exclaimed, "That looks like the silhouette of a Russian Bear bomber! Wish we had a search light to show it up better, but we don’t. What would a Bear bomber be doing here?"
Luke replied, "Probably for reconnaissance. But how could a Soviet bomber fly from Russia to Frobisher Bay and back without running out of fuel?"
The sergeant said, "Not likely, but not impossible. It’s about 2,500 miles from Murmansk across Greenland to Frobisher, making it about a 5,000 mile round trip. This is well beyond the range of the average Bear bomber, but they might have installed extra fuel tanks, or perhaps even refuelled in the air with a Russian tanker plane. The Russian are experimenting with the idea, as we are."
Luke then said to 1st lt. Bill Cross, commander of the engineering troops, "Let’s roust out Lt. Brewster and have him get on the radio to Northeast Air Command at St. John’s, and perhaps he should even radio Thule Air Force Base on northern Greenland to scramble their jets and try to intercept this guy, if he flies back that way!"
Lt. Cross agreed, and they started for the base headquarters on the run. An RCAF sergeant was on duty. He told them Lt. Brewster was in his quarters, and had left orders not to be disturbed. They urged the Sergeant to radio RCAF headquarters in St. Johns or Ottawa about the still circling plane, but he said he could not do it without the direct order of Lt. Brewster, the acting commander of the base.
Luke groaned and told them he would try to get Brewster sobered up. He went to Brewster’s quarters, and found him lying on his bunk, snoring loudly, with several empty whiskey bottles lying on the floor. There was a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Luke aroused him only with great difficulty. He was skunk drunk!
Luke tried to get him on his feet, and it was a monumental task. With much help, he got him into a chair. He explained the situation to Brewster, but he was too drunk to comprehend clearly, let alone take any action.
Luke went back to the nearby headquarters and exhorted the RCAF sergeant to get on the radio, but he refused, saying he could take such orders only from the base commander. So Luke and Lt. Cross got a pot of coffee from the mess hall and started loading Brewster up with it.
After about thirty minutes, Brewster began to be a little more coherent; however, by this time the unidentified plane had flown off to the northeast. Luke and Lt. Cross helped Brewster up and started walking him around his room, and then out into the cold air. They felt extremely frustrated since valuable time was being lost, giving the big airplane a chance of escaping without identification. They finally stuck Brewster in a cold shower, and after about an hour, he started to sober up.
He finally reached a point where he could comprehend the gravity of the situation, and agreed to order radio notification of RCAF and USAF headquarters in St. Johns, and the American air base at Thule, Greenland, but by this time the circling airplane was long gone.
They later found out that jets were scrambled from St. Johns and Thule. The planes from St. Johns made no sightings of unidentified aircraft, but those from Thule picked up the blip of a large plane of unknown identity flying east-northeast over central Greenland; however, it was beyond the range of the jet to reach it and return to home base, so they abandoned pursuit.
Luke and Lt. Cross were both disappointed and disgusted, and they registered it with Lt. Brewster, who said he deserved a little drink now then, and denied that he had done anything wrong.
The following day, a MATS plane came in and Luke sent a dispatch to the port surgeon at Goose Bay, telling him of the situation, and requesting that he use his influence with the Air Force to get a replacement for Lt. Brewster, and have him returned to the ZI for treatment for his alcoholism.
Within 24 hours, a Captain John Nichols, USAF, arrived on an Air Force transport plane with orders to relieve Lt. Brewster, who was to return at once to St. Johns on the same plane. All the Officers at Frobisher were relieved that the Air Force had acted so quickly, particularly Luke.
The next morning Constable Bulloch came running breathlessly into the base headquarters saying, "The ‘skimos have reported finding tracks in the snow just over the hills north of the base. They think the tracks were made by three or four people. There was also some blood on the snow, and the ‘skimos think the party carried or dragged a heavy object to the east! They also found several parachutes partially buried in the snow! Could you form a search party with me to check it out?"
The new commander, Captain Nichols impressed everyone with his quick decision. He ordered up two half-tracked snow cats since the snow was about a foot deep. He led five airmen, who were armed with carbines and carried snowshoes, and were wearing white parkas to camouflage them in the snow, in one of the snow cats. Lt. Cross picked four of his enlisted engineers and Luke, similarly equipped, and they piled into a second snow cat.
Nichols planned to go over the hills with the Eskimos, and follow the tracks of the intruders to the east. Cross would proceed directly east for a mile, turn north over the hills, then rendezvous with the first snow cat. They would keep in touch with walkie-talkie radios.
As they started out, Luke noted that winter had really set in. There was a coating of snow up to a foot deep almost everywhere one looked, except for a few spots where it had been blown off the tundra, which had assumed a dull brown color. It was now near the end of September, and they had only about eight hours of sunlight daily. And the temperature no longer climbed above freezing. Luke became acutely aware that this was really cold country!
Lt. Cross had the snow cat driven eastward along the north side of the bay at about ten miles per hour. In about thirty minutes they received a message from Captain Nichols on the walkie-talkie stating that they had come upon a Russian soldier with a broken leg, accompanied by a female medic from the Soviet air force! Nichols also said that they had apparently parachuted out of the low flying bomber a few nights before, along with two other Russian soldiers who left them and gone ahead. Nichols went on to say that the medic, whose name was Tatyana Nikolosky, could speak some English, and wanted to talk to Dr. Martin on the radio.
She said, "Doctor, my patient suffered compound fracture of lower right tibia during parachute jump. I have no splint. What shall I do? I have first aid kit."
Luke replied, "Put sulfa powder on the open wound, if you have it, and cover it with a dry sterile dressing. Ask the Americans if there is something in the snow cat that could be used for a splint. As a last resort, they could unload one of their carbines, and you could use that as a splint."
She thanked him and put the Captain back on the radio, who said, "I’ll have some of the ‘skimos who are coming up with constable to watch these two Russians while I follow the tracks of the other two east. You watch for them as you proceed eastward. These two are not armed, but the others may well be, so be careful. Now we have a better idea why that Bear Bomber was flying around here a few nights ago. Over and out!"
As they continued eastward, Lt. Cross and Luke could barely make out two men in white camouflage suits coming down from the hills toward the edge of the bay. And they indeed were carrying rifles. As the snow cat got closer, they could see the two hurrying out into the bay, as the tide was far out. They disappeared behind a hill, which was actually a small island when the tide was in. They obviously realized that the snow cat was after them.
Cross ordered the driver to speed up, and when they came abreast of the erstwhile island, what did they see, to their amazement but a submarine sitting behind the island-now-a-hill, and it was a Russian submarine, and "84" was painted on its conning tower and bow! It was the same sub the task force had encountered in the Sea of Labrador, and now it was in a bad situation – again! It was sitting almost entirely out of the water because of the receding tide.
As they got out of the snow cat, the two Russians climbed up onto the deck of the sub. The hatch of the conning tower opened, and the same Russian skipper they had encountered before appeared, along with several members of the crew, who trained their machine guns on the Americans, but held their fire.
The skipper yelled over a bull horn, "Stay away from this vessel, or you’re going to get hurt!"
Lt. Cross yelled back, "You are in Canadian territorial waters, so you better surrender to us!" And he started to walk towards the submarine.
The skipper called back, "I am not in Canadian waters! As a matter of fact, I’m clear out of water! But don’t come any closer." And to emphasize his meaning, he ordered a short burst of machine gun fire, but it was directed to the side and overhead so as to be sure that the bullets would miss the Americans.
Cross yelled back, "The tide will be rushing back in soon, but I am not sure you will be able to re-float your submarine."
The skipper replied, "We shall see. If we do, take good care of my Russian citizens. Any chance you would let them come aboard?"
Cross yelled, "No way!"
That ended the discourse, and Cross radioed Captain Nichols as to what had happened. He ordered them to sit tight until he could arrive on the scene, and said that he would have the base radio Goose Bay and St. Johns for instructions.
So they could do nothing more but wait and watch the tide and the submarine, which soon rested on the bottom of the bay, completely out of the water.
In about half an hour the first snow cat joined them Captain Nichols told them that he had ordered up more manpower, to be brought by truck across the empty floor of the bay. And he had ordered a third snow cat to pick up the remaining two Russians and take them back to the base. He also said that the news of the Russian incursion into Canadian territory was having repercussions all the way to Washington, DC and Ottawa. They were to stand by pending more instructions.
Within another hour they could see the tide beginning to rush back in. Then they got a report by radio that the RCAF was scrambling three jets armed with rockets and machine guns who should be on site within about ninety minutes, and a C-54 Skymaster was taking off from St. Johns with top American and Canadian military brass, and they should arrive in three or four hours. They ordered that the submarine not be attacked unless specified by the Pentagon and Ottawa.
Within a few minutes several truckloads of Canadian and American soldiers and airmen arrived with M-1 rifles and hand grenades. Several DUKWs maneuvered into position behind the stranded submarine, containing more armed fighting men. Also the American tugboat with one light machine gun mounted on the stern drew up out in the bay.
More waiting ensued, but after about an hour three RCAF jets came roaring in low over the submarine in perfect formation. One remained on station circling over the submarine, while the other two landed at the air base to refuel. The Soviets, for their part, remained inside their submarine out of sight. So the stalemate continued.
In about two more hours the tide was rushing in more and more. The water now came about half way up on the sides of the sub. At this time a C-54 lumbered into view and landed at the airfield. It was not long before an RCAF General was on the walkie-talkie, and gave orders, saying, "You will hold your present positions, pending a decision to be made at the highest levels in Ottawa and Washington. You will not fire upon the Soviet submarine unless you are fired upon by them. We cannot run the risk of starting a nuclear World War III with the Russians if we can possibly avoid it!"
More time went by, and the tide had carried the waters up to the deck of the submarine. The hill behind which the sub had hidden was fast becoming an island again.
All present were feeling the strain and uncertainty. The Russian Captain appeared beside the conning tower and waved to the Canadian and Americans as though saying goodbye.
There was still no word from Ottawa or Washington as to what course of action should be followed. The suspense was so heavy that one could have cut it with a knife.
Another hour went by, and the brief northern day was coming to an end. The tide kept surging in so that submarine was almost floating.
Suddenly the Captain blew his tanks, which gave the vessel enough buoancy to float! Then he started his diesel engines slowly and turned on his running lights. He was trying to get underway!
However, he soon ran onto a rise in the floor of the bay, and came to a halt. Then he put his vessel in reverse, backed off the impediment, set his rudder in a left turn towards the center of the bay, and slowly advanced again. However, his progress was again thwarted, this time by a submerged rock, which the bow scraped against.
The Captain again reversed engines and backed off the rock with ease. He again turned to port, and this time his advance was not blocked. They were going to escape!
This prompted Captain Nichols to radio base headquarters as to what was happening, and he requested urgent instruction as to whether the submarine should be fired upon or not.
Immediately the ranking RCAF General named John La Bow replied over the walkie-talkie, "You are ordered to hold your fire and allow the submarine #84 to escape! We have just received word from the Prime Minister in Ottawa that he and President Truman have conferred and feel that firing on the sub might be used by the Soviet Union as an excuse to turn the Cold War into a hot war, so we shall let them go. Our governments also feel that the two Russian military persons now in our custody can be used to good political advantage, and we may be able to use them to get the Russians to push the North Koreans in the armistice negotiations at P’anmunjom. Over and out!"
Captain Nichols passed the word to his men, and they were visibly disappointed to let the submarine escape unscathed, but orders were orders. He also ordered the men to gather up their weapons and gear, and to prepare to return to the air base in the snow cats.
Upon returning to the base, Luke went immediately to his aid station. There he found that Constable Bulloch and two air policemen had brought in the Russian airman with the fractured leg, and the attractive medic, Tatyana Nikolosky, who came to attention and saluted when Luke entered.
He found that she had indeed used an unloaded carbine as a splint, and had dressed the wound very professionally. He removed the dressing, and found a bad fracture of the right tibia protruded through the skin, and there were several small fragments of broken bone in between. Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped, and the wound was not contaminated with dirt. The patient still experienced severe pain whenever the leg was moved the slightest bit.
Luke ordered his medic, Sgt. Redd, to give the patient a quarter grain of morphine by subcutaneous injection. He also ordered an intramuscular injection of tetanus toxoid, after Sgt. Nikolosky determined that he had received the basic tetanus immunization from the Russian military. Luke also ordered an intramuscular injection of penicillin after determining that his patient was not allergic to it. He then had Sgt. Nikolosky put more sulfa powder on the wound, and she expertly dressed it again. Finally he had the medics apply the Army’s standard straight leg splint to immobilize the fracture as much as possible.
Luke realized that this was a bad compound, comminuted fracture of the tibia in an area where the blood supply to the bone was not good, so that healing might be delayed at best, and might result in nonunion at the worst.
He was also well aware that the patient needed to have rapid evacuation to a military medical center, where he could receive expert orthopedic surgical treatment for his fracture, with subsequent long-term care and rehabilitation.
Luke went to headquarters and requested emergency air transfer of his patient. Captain Nichols immediately radioed St. Johns with the request. The reply soon came back that the Canadians were dispatching an RCAF hospital plane to pick up the important passenger, along with his attending medic, Sgt. Nikilosky.
Luke returned to the aid station, and sat down for a talk with Tatyana Nikolosky. She was of course concerned what would happen to them. She had noted the presence of an air policeman at the aid station.
Luke ordered food for her and the patient, and explained that they were under technical arrest for trespassing on Canadian soil, and in the case of the injured Russian airman, espionage charges might be filed, but this would be up to the higher authorities.
On her part she explained that she was twenty-two years old, single, and had been a medic in the Russian military for three years.
About four hours later, an RCAF Dakota ambulance plane landed, with two Canadian air policemen, and three medics aboard. Also aboard was former Captain Kane of the RCAF, who had been promoted to major, and had been sent back from Ottawa to resume command of the Frobisher Bay air base.
Luke met the plane along with the other officers from the base headquarters, to which they returned with Major Kane for a brief staff meeting.
The major said, "The shit sure hit the fan in Ottawa and Washington when they got word of this Russian submarine beached here in our front yard! I am carrying orders from headquarters in Ottawa for General LaBow as to how he should proceed."
The General opened the orders and read, "You are hereby ordered to return to Ottawa on this ambulance aircraft with the two Russian prisoners under arrest. The injured airman will be admitted to our best military hospital for orthopedic surgery and postoperative care. The Russian medic, Sgt. Tatyana Nikolosky, will be held in our military prison near Ottawa, pending negotiation between our government and the Kremlin."
General LaBow concluded by ordering immediate preparations by his staff to take the prisoners back to Ottawa on the Dakota ambulance plane.
With an hour arrangements had been made, and Luke had the Russian patient moved to the airstrip by a covered Army truck, which was pressed into service as an ambulance. Tatyana was allowed to accompany her comrade patient, but they were guarded by two air policemen.
Luke supervised the loading of the patient on the aircraft. The General and his staff boarded, along with the RCAF medics. Luke told them to keep the patient warm, and to give morphine at appropriate intervals for pain. He gave them a medical record to deliver to the hospital in Ottawa.
As he turned to leave, Tatyana was ordered to board the plane with the air police. She saluted Luke, and said, "Thank you for your care and professional courtesy, doctor. I know it has been a difficult situation for you and your military people here."
Luke returned her salute with a twinge of regret. Although she was a Cold War enemy, she was an attractive woman, and a very efficient medic!
The plane took off in the sub-arctic darkness. It had extra fuel tanks aboard but would still have to make stops at Goose Bay and Quebec on its way to Ottawa.
Updated: August 2, 2002