rcaf gander base - dec 1943

8/7/2019 RCAF Gander Base - Dec 1943

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Published through the kind permission of the Commanding Officer G/C. C.L. Annis, O.B.E. in the interest of statron personnel


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It is with great pride that we, the staff, present thisChristmas issue of your station magazine. We haveendeavoured to have every section represented at itsparticular job, however, this was not always possiblebecause of station security regulations.

DEC EMB ER, 1943THE STAFF

Editor-in-chief F/Lt. M. C. P. MacintoshEditor... LAC H. W. HuehnergardAssociate Editors LAC's J. L. Barrett, J. F. Patterson, Cpl. M. L. StormBusiness Manager. . . . . Cpl. A. C. van der VlietSports Cpl. J. SourkesEntertainment . . . . . . . . . . .. Eugene Hill, Y.M.C.AArtists. . . .. .. . . .... .. .. .. Cpl. B. Powers, PIO McLeanPhotographer Cpl. M. A. Jackson

The magazine layout was designed by PilotOfficer McLean (right). Photographs by theStation Photography Section without whoseco-operation this magazine would never havematerialized. The Staff (below) planning anissue of "The Gander".


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A PICTORIALOF THE R.C.A.F.IN PEACEFULSURROUNDINGS

FOR A PEACE-LOVING PEOPLE


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Commanding Officer GROUP CAPTAIN C . L . ANNIS, O. B. E.CHRISTIUAS SAUCE FOR THE GANDER

by "The Old Man"Although we are told that once having put our hand

to the plough we should not look backward. I believethat in this, the last month of 1943, we might find timefor a glance that way, a deep breath, then a look at 1944beyond the New Year's starting line.

The musing mind will see a vista of mixed memories,nearly all happy although touched here and there withpoignant pain, certainly all Interesting and assuredly ofa timbre and colour that only Gander could provide.

For some few the horizon will extend back even toChristmas 1941, for others to last Christmas, and for therest of us to whatever panorama lies between our arrivalat Gander and this moment.

You will remember the past year's highlights-thefire in Station Stores, the COining of the "Llbs", the ex-change of fighter squadrons, the chang" of Station com-mand, the 1. Gos parade, the exciting periods of battleswith U-boats, the arrival of our new friends from Bot-wood, and the little personal things-section picnics andand dances, games and regattas, walks with the boy orgirl friend in the evening. Sunday mornings in the Chapel,postings away of tried and true friends with the accom-

panying pangs and the arrival of new faces soon to be-come new friends, wedding bells, and fire alarms andrivetting hammers, blinding snow and driving rain anddrifting dust mixed in with lovely days-all these and somany more move past in quick succession. Then thereare those occasional bitter memories when tragedy hassuddenly stalked among us leaving gaps at home and inour Gander "family". To .al.l those relatives and friendswhose Christmas this year is so saddened by their goingI want to say that we of Gander share your sorrow andwish you comfort.

But it is in the present we live and for the futurewe store-so let us draw in our breath and see what maybe seen.

I know we shall not fail tu have the traditionallyhappy Gander Christmas. Food and drink we shall havein abundance, the Christmas trees have been cut, decor-ations purchased and ready for hanging, the Glee clubhas been practicing Christmas carols, gifts and packagesare rolling in with ever increasing volume, and so on.All else we need is the Christmas spirit, and so well doI know our happy Gander people that your "old man"can ten you now that next best to being home with yourfamilies will be spending it with your friends at Gander.I am sure that it wil l linger long as a happy memory.

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Flight Lieutenant M. C . P. MACI NTOSH, Senior Station Chaplain - PLet us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this

thing which is come to pass" are words which men willsay one to the other this Chirstmas season in Canadaand Britain, in India and Africa, in China and Japan, inEurope and Asia, in Artie regions where lie the eternalsnows, on tropical isles wher e verdant forests grow, andin Gunder where we make for a time our wartime home.It is an arresting; thought that here, where a town hasbeen hewn out of forest and rock to provide a base formen arid women trained in the arts of war, we shouldpause in the midst of war to pay homage to the Prince ofPeace.

Itis indeed no accident that Christmas comes at theend 01 the year, for Christmas is a time of memories anda time of retrospect. It is a time when we think of ourhomes and our families; a time too when we think of thefriends we have made throughout the year. Some arestill with us; some have returned 10 the homeland; othershave gone farther af'ield, while still others have gone10 the "Airport of missing men, from whose bourn nopilot returns", We pause at Bethlehem to do themhonour and ask that the Comforter whose birth wecommemorate will bring comfort and peace to theirfamilies.

But let us not dwell merely on the past. There is afuture quite unknown beckoning to us. What it holdsfor us we cannot say, but of this we can be confident, itwill hold for us only as much as we are willing to bringinto it. Itcan be as happy and as bright as we care tomake it, or it can be as miserable and as dark as we de-sire, We may not get all that we want, we may not beas successful as we dare to dream. but we can be faithful,and fidelity is all that is required of anyone whateverthe task may be.

lt is fitting and wise that we should pause at Beth-lehem at the close of the year to reflect, and at the open-ing of the year to get a bearing on the Star of Bethlehemso that our progress and our lives will be directed inpaths that arc right and true. The Star of Bethlehemhas not failed any navigator yet; it shines as a beaconbright and clear; and even though dark clouds may hidethe sun and though the moon may refuse to shine, theStar of Bethlehem still beckons us on to planes that arehigher and nobler than anything else the world has everknown.

Let us go then even unto Bethlehem this Christmastime, and if we do our Christmas will be a Merry Christ-mas, and our New Year will be a Happy New Year.


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AIR VIC E - M ARSHAL"God bless us one and all" is a phrase that always

epitomizes Christmas to me. Dicken's Tiny Tim certainlysaid a lot when he used it in "A Christmas Carol".

It is an all-embracing thought, and when I use it inrelation to the R.C.A.F. in the Island, I go much furtherabroad than that. My wish goes back to your own dearones, wherever they may be, as well as to yourselves.

Life begins with the family. We are, in fact a greatiarnily in Gander and in Newfoundland, but, as such,merely an extension of the Family Canadian, with itsroots so firmly established in our beloved homeland.Mcntally at least, and physically, if possible, I hope,

(to use the privilege of a father with a grown family),that the girls and boys of Gander will hang up the stock-ing before the shrine of their home fireside, knowingthat, in spirit at least, some loving hand shall fill it withdear thoughts of Christmas.

In the end, it is the kindly thought, the deep desireof', and consideration for others, that will shake this oldworld back into a state of normalcy, that it may be atlast, the habitude of brotherhood, and where the Christ-mas spirit of good will towards men shall not be merelyan annual recurrence, but the daily outlook of men.

F. V. HEAKES, A. O. C.The great hope of the world is that we shall come

back (or move forward) towards this simple formula asthe great governing guide between man and man, nationand nation. In the meantime, we still have a grim dutyto fulfill. It is not so grim, however, that we cannot doit cheerfully and in good part. A fighting man who canstill retain a sense of humour and balance, in the face ofthe severest tasks, has a tremendous advantage over theinelastic, foreboding type of fellow such as the Hun, whonow fights with no hope of victory, and who finds thestructure of Nazism and its rotten ideals but a crumbingshell to fall back upon.

He has viola ted both the Christmas and the Chris-tian precepts of living, and for too long a time has gottenaway with it. But now, to quote Prime Minister Churc-hill, in turn quoting from out the past: "He who sowedthe wind, is reaping the whirlwind". We will go evenfurther and say that "He who started the fire is reapingthe holocaust". Berlin and a host of cities lie in ruins;the Russians are extracting the payment in millions ofdead Germans.

Let us in Newfoundland, rejoice that we have con-tributed towards this changed condition in no small

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The chapel where all religious services are held.CHAPELC HOI R The station choir (below) has won the admiration of allwho have heard them. This is a voluntary organization.


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BED ROOMLIVING ROOMDINING ROOM

Our bedroom and home away from home,the barracks. A typical barrack block onthis station. The living room, the canteenwhere we may sit and sip a coke or pur-chase other extras. Large quantities ofcigarettes, chocolate bars, canned goods,apples and oranges arc sold here. Thedining room, the mess, where meals areserved almost every hour of the day andnight.


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Some of the mess staff working near the huge food con-tainers. Below: "~.D.'s serving at one of the steam tables.


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A section of the large group of airmen whothree times daily partake of meals in theAirmen's Mess.

Returning to base after a long patrol air-crew gather in the Ait-er ew Mess for ahearty, meal.


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! l A f J u ,\\'0, BearriS,ection, w~~ .N.~.O. I/C 1:-Gander". assisted tl hotographithis Issue~n compiling ~~s;aff of "Tll~o oeranhs for

'l1his band fmen and 0 air-ar; busy e ~ l : ; v o r n e nrain or shi y df_ty,velojnn lln~. de-repairing, prtnetng ,vicing cg and ser-operati ,ameras foronal ditties.


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STATIONWORK SHOPS

These sections handle all the repairs to buildings, furni-ture, plumbing, heating aircraft maintenance, etc. Belowat left is F(Sgt. Smith, checking work orders for the day.At right is a group of armourers belting ammunition. Thelower section shows men of the parachute section at theirtrade.


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This group of electricians keep the electri-cal installations humming with life.

This happy gang are the plumbers. Theyare kept active repairing and servicing thehuge sewerage system on this station.

Carpenters and woodworkers mend damageto buildings and equipment.

Other trades in the Airforce include the wel-ders and machinists. These chaps help makeposstble the patrols which keep our sea lanesfree.


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ADMINISTRATIONAND

STORES

Flight Officer .Jernholm, Senior Women's Division Officer.


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AND OTHER STATION

SERVICES

Important to any communication system of a. largecentre is the switchboard. Shown here are a few ofour W. D. opera.tors on the job. Airmen interested inremustering to a.irer-ew are able to take a pre-a.ircrewcourse on the station under the supervision of theEducational Officer. Top left, is one of these groups.Law and discipline must be malntained. the stationmust be patrolled against sabotage. This is the duty ofthe Service Police. Another feature of our station isthe ultra modern laundry. \V,D's here play an im-portant part in its operation. Vital to the safety ofthe station is this group of Fire Fighters.


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Countless records pass through the hospitalorderly room daily. Three \\~.D.'srecuperating Inone of the convalescing wards. One of the com-petent Medical Officers ma.kinga daily round ina hospital ward.


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Meals in the hospital are a pleasure. They are served by W. D. hospital assistants.

At a slack hour durtng an active day Officers, Doctors and Nursing Sisters gather in the


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Yet another trade in the Airforce is Laboratory Assistant.These Lab Assistants are vitally necessary for the effic-ient operation of the hospital.

Skilled and highly efficient clerks prepare the perscrip-tions.


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AND FORCIVILIANS

This hospital not only treats service person-nel but since its beginning' has treatedemergency cases among nearby civilians. Thishas developed into a $10,000 a year business.

DENTAL CLINICAnother important department for the pre-servation of good health is the Denial Clinic.W. D. assistants are used here: too.


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RE LAXA TIO NFOR OFFICERS

In pleasant surroundings Offi-cers spend leisure time in thebilliard room or lounge.


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AND N.C.O. 'S

After a busy dav Senior N ,C.O's relax at billiards or a gameof chess.


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THE

SQUADRON

THEY MAKE THE SEAS SAFE

This Iamous anti-sub squadron has dune much inmaking the sea lanes safe furdemocracy. V-Boats stand little chance against the deadly load carried by theirplanes. A happy station life contrfbutes largely to ' the results attained by thisgroup.

FlO Gordon Craddock, D.F.C. whowon his award in raids over Ger-many, continues to' wage a relentlesswar against the V-Boats on this sideor the Atlantic.


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One of the teams of the squadron. Crews like this havetaken a heavy toll on subs and have thus helped instamping out the U-Boat menace.

Ground crew members, too, have had an active part inthe war against the undersea prowlers by keeping theaircraft serviceable and in good repair at all time.


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A.E.M.'s, A.F.aL's, Arm-ourers, W.M.'s, Machinistsand other ground crewtrades line UP at a mo-bile canteen during abreak-off period.

Ground Crew members ofanother famous anti-subsquadron pose for a grouppicture.

Repairing delicate instruments and in-tricate mechanism is the specialty ofthis group. They are members of a Re-pair Depot.


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Alert, soberwh . and eagose watchful ev er are the men fve the stat" .' or this1011 IS secure. squadron, under

From small tanswered owns and la(raining hthe appeal for rg~ cities thesefinest pil :s .resnlted in alr~rew. The' me,? haveo s III the worldmakmg them rr Atrrorce. some of the

On call at amron lounge in oment's notice .a readiness an-crew ot' thiroom. IS squad-


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Checking and cleaning guns, the armourers are kept active. Two of the N.C.O's are shown in the Flight Office.

Radio equipment must be in the best of con dition; here is some of it being given a check.


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AFTER HOURSOne form of entertainment which Is thoroughly enjoyed bythe personnel are the dances. Our station band alsohas in itsmidst a dance orchestra and their efforts are sincerely ap-preciated by the station. Other forms of entertainment arebridge tournaments, the library, stage plays by station per-sonnel and the movie houses.


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SPORTSKeeping fit. is one of the reasons why the Drill Hall is a hiveof activity. There, too, is real enjoyment. Here and on thefollowing- pag-es are shown a few of the sports in which manyof the personnel participate: Badminton, tennis, bowling,basketball, borden ball, swtmmtng, vcllevball, and floor hockey,Outduor sports include softball, hardball, skiing, and hockey.In addition to this classes arc held in boxing, wrestling andhand balancing. Every hour of tlte day and far into the ntghtthe Drill Ball echoes with the sound of airmen and alrwomen,officers and civilians, participating in their favourite sports.


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EARL Y DA YS A T GANDERSquadron Leader H. A. L. Pattison

It is difficult to give the exact date when Ganderwas hatched. It emerged from its shell shyly and veryslowly. At that time-in 1936-there was little interestin the world in intercontinental flying. Regular servicesacross the Atlantic by commercial aircraft were consider-ed to be something for the far off future, and a develop-ment such as an Atlantic airport which involved a largecapital expenditure-on a 1936 standard-was not onewhich could be rushed to completion regardless of costin those days of meagre national budgets.

The decision to build an airport in Newfoundlandwas made at an air conference in Ottawa in 1935, whenagreement was reached by the governments concernedto permit one British and one American company toundertake experimental flights across the North Atlantic,with a view to the early establishment of regular ser-vices. It was hoped that these experimental flights couldcommence in 1936, using flying boasts which were alreadyin operation by the companies and were considered tobe suitable to undertake the flights under experimentalconditions. Itwas realised that land planes would cer-tainly be brought into operation on the North Atlanticwith the normal progress of technical development inaircraft, but at this time no land plane had been de-veloped suitable for the experimental flight. Also the timetaken to develop the necessary airports would be suchthat it was essential to conduct the early experimentswith flying boats, as a flying boat base could be develop-ed at very short notice. Consequently, late in 1935, offic-ials of the British Air Ministry visited Newfoundlandand selected Botwood as the location of the flying boatbase and this present location of Gander for the de-velopment of the land plane base.

Early in 1936 work commenced in England, Canadaand the U. S. to establish the necessary ground serviceson each side of the Atlantic and in Newfoundland. Atthe same time the Eire Government came into the pic-ture and commenced the establishment of a flying boatbase, with the necessary wireless and meteorologicalfacilities, at Foynes on the River Shannon.

The Newfoundland Government assumed the re-sponsibility for the development of Botwood and the Air-port with the assistance, both financial and technical,of the Air Ministry. In June, 1936, a band of 40 workmenarrived at the site selected. To them the site was thesame as any other uninhabited location on the railway-just thick forest and bush on either side. They madetheir tents on the railway edge and commenced to clearan area of one mile square. They were preparing theground for an airport, but what an airport was they hadnot the least idea.

The location had no name, and in those days if onehad reason to visit the area it was necessary to explainto the railway engineer exactly where you wanted the

train to stop. Travellers on the train were deeply inter-ested in the large clearing which was being made andthe area became known 8S thp. Airport, although no onevisualised the ultimate development and considered it adream that aircraft would ever be seen in this location.

The name Gander is now so familiar that one cannotrealise why there were early difficulties in arriving ata name. The official title "Newfoundland Airport" wasadopted in the early stages of development, but when theAirport came into operational use it was realised thatsuch a broad title was unsuitable and a name given thelocation was adopted.In August, 1936, a technical representative of the Air

Ministry arrived in Newfoundland with the primary ob-[ect of developing Botwood as a flying boat base and toinstall radio facilities for the forthcoming experimentalflights. In the meantime the Canadian Government, whohad assumed responsibili ty for' the meteorological ser-vices, had gathered the nucleus of a forecasting staff andcommenced training in the specialised work for the At-lantic. This staff eventually arrived at Botwood in June,1937, ready for the first experimental flight. The Bot-wood Radio Station was ready for operation in January,1937, with facilities for direct communication across theAtlantic and for aircraft, together with the necessarynavigational assistance in the form of medium and highfrequency direction finding installation wa s one of thefirst installations of this type put into operation on theservice basic. The first members of the radio stall' fromthe Air Ministry arrived at Botwood and commencementwas made in recruiting a radio staff of Newfoundlandoperators. In January, 1937, communication was estab-lished wth Foynes, which communication has been main-tained to. this day although the station was eventuallytransferred to Gander.

Little work was carried out at Gander during thewinter of 1936-'37, chiefly due to the fact that winterwork was uneconomical. However, by the end of theSUITIIUerseason of 1936 considerable progress had beenmade. The working strength had risen to 500 and theacquisition of a large quantity of grading equipment hadeffected a surprising change in the forest and there weredefinite signs of the formation of the runways.In the spring of 1937 there was considerable activityat both Gander and Botwood. The working force at Gan-der was increased to 900 and Botwood was ready tooperate the experimental flights. The first commercialAtlantic flight was completed 5 July, 1937, when on asimultaneous crossing the Pan American Clipper leftBotwood and the Imperial Airways' Caladonia leftF'oynes, The success of these flights and those whichfollowed in 1937 was a happy augury for the future.

By 1938 there were signs that there might be land(Continued on next page)


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planes ready for the experimental service. To this endwork was rushed at Gander in order to have at leastthe full length of the runways available together with ahangar. However, technical developments of the landplanes on both sides of the Atlantic did not fulfil ex-pectations and the runways still remained unused. Dur-ing 1938 it was realised that the main traffic across theAtlantic would be carried out by land planes, and withthe need for the permanent establishment of the RadioStation to bc completed, it was decided to erpet the per-manent A tlantic wir-eless organisation at Gander. Thuson the completion of the flying boat season at Botwoodin 1938, control, radio and meteorological organisations,which by this time had reached a strength of about 50,moved over to Gander. Itcan be taken that this date. 30November, 1938, marks the actual bringing of Ganderinto the world as an operational station. The move it-self is quite a story of its own, as the date chosen coin-cided with a particularly heavy blizzard. However com-munication with the outside world showed no break, andwhen the key was lifted at Botwood for the last timeGander was ready to take over.

With the advent of spring, 1939, the end of the pro-ject was well in hand. There remained the paving of thefull width of the runways and completion of the drain-age. The Airport could be considered fully ready foroperation but still there was the lack of suitable aircraftfor Atlantic flights. During the summer season flyingoperations did commence with the arrival of two refuell-ing aircraft which were used throughout the summerof 1939 to refuel in the air all Imperial Airways' flyingboats leaving Botwood on the eastbound crossing.

By the outbreak of war in September, 1939, Ganderwas complete and ready for civil operation. The cost,which had given so much trouble in peace time, wasforgotten. The value of a fully complete airport in sucha strategic position could not be assessed, particularlywhen one realises that at that time Gander was the onlyoperative airport in Newfoundland or in the Maritimes.

It appeared that commercial operation on the At-lantic would be suspended, but the civil staff waited notknowing what the military development would be. How-ever, as a civil operation, during the winter of 1939 ex-periments were carried out to test the possibility of oper-acting on wheels under winter conditions. These exped-ments had most valuable results, as in the following win-ter delivery of military aircraft to Great Britain wascommenced using the original civil 'organization. Theseoperations continued until the time of the formation ofthe R. C. A. F. Ferry Command.

During this winter of 1939-40 when experimentswere being carried out on the runways, sufficient con-fidence was obtained to give agreement to a visit ofR.C.A.F. planes on a survey flight. Thus the first R. C.A. F. aircraft and personnel to arrive at Gander was theoccasion of a short visit of two Hudson aircraft on 10February, 1940. The first detachment to be posted forduty arrived some months later. At that time the Airportwas still under the control of the civil organisation, and

the detachment of Officers and men were accommodatedwith the civilian resident staff in the only buildingsavailable at that time-the old Administration Buildingand the construction engineers' Mess which has sincebeen removed. The experiences of this detachment isquite another story, which could probably best be toldby some of these early R.C.A.F. pioneers. In spite of thelack of accommodation and the amenities as they nowexist at Gander, members of this detachment still lookback and talk about the "good old days". With the ex-pansion of R.C.A.F. operational requirements Gander wasformally taken over by the R.C.A.F. from the civil author-ities for the "Duration of the War" in April, 1941.

SAUCE FOR THE GANDER(Continued)

So too for the New Years. It will be kept with all itstradition. And as we face the days beyond let there be nofaint hearts or irresolute hands. Let us all remember thatnothing really worthwhile ever comes easily. We have ajob to do and with past successes to bolster let us faceonly forward and get it done. Then mayhap next Christ-mas we can all spend it at home with our loved oneswhere Christmas really belongs.

May God bless you all, everyone, and give youhealth and happiness in the year to come.

AIR VICE-MARSHAL HEAKES(Continued)

measure, in that, without question, insofar as this half ofthe Atlantic is concerned, we, in conjunction with theNavy, have ensured that the essential flow of ships,materials, and supplies to Britain and the other theatreshas never ceased. Ours has been a hard and unspectacularpart, but nevertheless a most important part, for, withoutsupply, Britain could not have continued to exist.

Also, let us remember that we have been the advancebastion of defence to Canada, and, in fact, the NorthAmerican continent. For, had the fortunes of war goneagainst us in Europe, then Newfoundland would havebeen the gateway of attack, and this country would havebecome the battle-ground of the initial approach to Can-ada and the United States. Thus, in addition to render-ing inestimable value in the battle of the Atlantic, theCanadian forces (and we do not forget our friends theAmericans), have fulfilled that basic statement of ourCanadian National Anthem: "0 Canada, we stand onguard for thee".

I send you this mixed bag of thoughts as my Christ-mas greeting: first, the ideal of Christmas and the fam-ily; secondly, a reminder of .our grim part in a still grimstruggle being waged and to be waged. But I must returnto the personal, and from the bottom of my heart, wishyou one and all a Happy Christmas.The picture on the front cover was posed by LAWNightingale, one of our 1\1.T. drivers.


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rcaf gander base - dec 1943

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