The soldiers of the 93rd met mosquitoes as well as muskeg in the Yukon spring of 1942. The spring thaw got started in May, just as soldiers moved into the field. It turned the muskeg into thick brown soup. And it brought mosquitoes out of the ground in endless swarms.
The nasty little creatures liked the soldiers’ food as much as they liked the soldiers, and they covered the contents of a mess kit in seconds. They speckled pancake batter like some strange seasoning. Rumor had mosquito netting on the way—but it wasn’t there in May.
Mosquitoes flew into your mouth when you spoke. No matter how tightly you zippered and tucked your sleeping bag, they found a way in–and bit and bit and bit. Repellants worked, if you had them, but had to be applied every half hour. Men broke out in hives and experienced “moments of mild hysteria”. They just wanted to lie down on their cots and cry.
Sgt. Albert E. France of company A remembered May in the North Country this way, “The mosquitoes droned like airplanes and the muskeg swallowed tractors”.
Once in the field, each company functioned as an independent unit. Officers and staff at Battalion and Regiment backed their efforts with coordinating command and control. Officers and men from the H&S Company provided essential services—medical, communications, motor pool… But the line companies built the road.
Every man in the company, from the commander to the lowest private soldier, occupied a slot—a carefully defined set of responsibilities and duties—and each slot required a specific rank. Sergeants functioned as managers. Higher Tech ranks functioned as specialists—bulldozer operators, mechanics, etc. Slots for the lower ranks featured less responsibility but more specifically identified duties. Not only did each man know his job, but he also knew every other man’s job and how it interacted with his own. When the company organization worked well, parts and supplies got ordered, equipment got maintained, food got prepared and eaten, uniforms and bodies remained clean…
Under the circumstances in Yukon in May, the companies of the 93rd worked reasonably well. Much better than those of some of the other regiments on the project.