Segregation meant that soldiers, at least the black enlisted soldiers, in Skagway in 1942 lived separate, not just from their officers, but from everyone else as well. Six year old Carl Mulvihill spotted black soldiers quartered across the alley from his house. Excited, he waved and called. They ignored him. Only later did he learn …
Category Archives: Construction of the Alaska Highway
Defending Skagway
Defending Skagway, Alaska from the marauding Japanese posed more problems than you might think. Luckily, to one young Lieutenant’s eternal relief, it turned out that Skagway didn’t need defending. In June 1942 Lt. Darrel M. Schumacher of the 340th Engineering Regiment cooled his heels in Skagway. He and his men would walk to the Teslin …
The Couple Lives Through an Explosion in Dawson Creek
The couple, Lucky Donald Hall and his new wife, Zellma, moved into an apartment in Dawson Creek—a one bedroom, furnished with a bed and a footlocker. The lovebirds lived there very happily until spring. That, of course, means the spring of 1943, so the couple got to endure the great Dawson Creek explosion and …
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KV Nelson Froze to Death
KV Nelson served with the 97th Engineering Regiment on the Alaska Highway in Alaska—until February 5, 1943. On that day he died. He and a fellow soldier named Smith, driving a truck on the icy highway back to camp from the little settlement at Station Creek, slid off the road into a ditch. The truck …
An Exploded Repair
The tank exploded, and that shouldn’t have surprised the man repairing it. Donald L. Hall drove trucks out of Dawson Creek in 1942. He also fixed trucks. Driving, he brought up the rear of his convoy, piloting a truck full of spare parts and tools. When trucks broke, he fixed them. For more on mechanics …
Swarming Road Builders Need Food and Supplies
Swarming over the mountains and through the woods carving out the Alaska Highway in 1942, thousands of soldiers consumed mountains of rations. They needed underwear, boots, coats, sleeping bags, and toilet paper. Headquarters’ used tables, chairs, filing cabinets, pens, pencils and typewriters. Kitchen’s needed stoves and gas, cookware, seasonings. Medics needed bandages and drugs, dental …
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The Rude Bear
We can excuse a rude bear. They don’t, after all, attend finishing school. Roy Lee of the 140th Quartermaster Truck company would beg to disagree. More on Quartermaster Trucks Roy had passed a very long July day driving a deuce-and-a-half in convoy from Dawson Creek up to Summit Lake. The rough road and the long …
Alaska Highway Churns Up Stories.
The main artery of the North, the great Alaska Highway churns up endless stories. Blogging Far North History Ron Brooks commented on a post that his father had worked on the highway. I messaged him, and we exchanged emails. Like so many of you, Tom has a treasure trove of information about his dad’s service …
Tanana Crossing
Crossing the Tanana remained vivid in Lt. Walter Mason’s memory of his time on the Alaska Highway in 1942. Mason’s regiment had built road through the Alaskan wilderness since spring. But they hadn’t been building the Alaska Highway, they had been building a road to get themselves to the Alaska Highway. Once across the Tanana, …
Canada’s Reaction
Canada attracts people up from the United States and we carry attitudes and assumptions north across the border. A famously friendly lot, Canadians don’t always challenge our mistaken assumptions. And they don’t take us to task for our attitudes. The things we get up to down here don’t always leave Canada, our oldest and very …