Doug Bell

Doug Bell worked the length of the Alaska Highway from its earliest days. When I first met him, I thought him one of the most fascinating and funniest men I’d ever met. Doug’s memories made life on the early Highway come alive. His eloquent stories made it real.

Doug passed away on April 18.

His obituary comes from a large and loving family who, of course, knew him much better than I did. I’m including a link to that obituary.

Doug’s Obituary in the Yukon-News

But over the past few years, Doug has contributed to our research. I’ve posted stories about him… As my personal tribute to a man I remember vividly and liked very, very much, I’ve pulled those together into one post for tonight.

Canada, already in the war in 1940, reacted to the Japanese threat to America through the Aleutians before the United States did. The war, raging over much of the world, had taken Canada’s young men and much of her treasure. A land route would wait until the United States came to the table after Pearl Harbor. But Canada could and did construct a string of airfields, the Northwest Staging Route, from Fort St John to Whitehorse. And they kept working on them and improving them throughout the war period

In Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan young Doug Bell planned to enlist in the Army, wanting to get into a railroad transportation unit and learn the trade.  Before he held up his hand to take the oath, though, the recruiter informed him that the Army had disbanded its railroad units!  Disgusted, Doug kept his hand at his side and followed his patriotism and his thirst for adventure west to where the Department of Transport recruited him to help maintain radio communication between the airfields of the Northwest Staging Route.

Driving the Alaska Highway in 1943 offered adventure.  A heavy truck on the old highway stirred an unbelievably thick cloud of dust.  No way a driver behind could see around to know when he could pass.  Truckers equipped the back of their trucks with lights; turned them on when the way ahead cleared.  Seeing the lights, a brave driver accelerated ahead into the opaque cloud.

Link to another story “Rough Draft of a Highway”

Before he left Moose Jaw Doug met and married the love of his life, Pearl Gray. He missed her terribly; decided, a bit nervously, to build a “shack about big enough to swing a cat” near Fort Nelson then go back to civilization and get her. A friend who was a welder took two standard metal military bunk beds and welded them together to make a double bed. Doug placed the four corners of the bed on chopping blocks.

Pearl’s trip to meet Doug at Fort St. John went pretty smoothly, but heading west from there in Doug’s old truck introduced her to the Alaska Highway. A few miles out the truck suddenly kicked out of gear. Looking under the truck to check, Doug found his transmission on fire—a few inches away from the gas tank!

He smothered the fire with a blanket then the couple sat in the truck to wait for someone to come by who could offer help. Not that many people traveled the Alaska Highway in those days. They waited for five hours.

And, then, Fort Nelson. He delivered her to her new home and the welded together bed with his heart in his mouth.

Her reaction?

She’d always wanted a four poster bed.

“Now there,” Doug remembers thinking, “is a keeper”.

I don’t have pictures of those early days other than the ones his wonderful stories created in my mind. But Daphne Spackman Hayes, shared photos her father took along the NWSR at that time. The photos here are from the Spackman Hayes Collection.

Thank you, Doug Bell, for meaning so much to so many.  The world will miss you.