Moldy Hay, the only bedding available proved better than nothing to the soldiers of the 341st Engineers. Actually, no one slept much, and their lives wouldn’t get easier anytime soon. They had slept on the train on their first night in Dawson Creek. The next day with the temperature below zero they constructed the camp …
Tag Archives: Alaska Highway in WWII
That’s My Grandpa
“That’s my grandpa” the comment on my post read. May Kaela Lavelais included a screenshot from google of the page in our book We Fought the Road that talked about Willie Lavelais. Link to another story “Men of the 93rd” When Captain sent Willie with Lt. Dudrow’s platoon on a quick side job, he …
Gateways to the Alcan
Gateways… The Alaska Highway that General Hoge and the Corps proposed to build in 1942 would traverse some of the most remote mountains and forests on earth. And if men traverse the North Country on primordial paths, they access those paths through equally primordial gateways. Of the seven regiments that Hoge launched into the North …
Heat Meant Fire
Heat, on the Alcan Project, came from fire. And God knows, the soldiers needed heat. But the soldiers lived in canvas tents. An escaped live coal smolders on canvas and then ignites it with obvious consequences. Link to another story “Bivouac in the Woods” From a company bivouac, soldiers ‘commuted’ daily to their work …
The Liquor Store
The liquor store, of all the buildings in Whitehorse, had the longest line out front. To former Lt. Bill Squires that made it the most esteemed building in town. April 1942 had brought the 18th Engineers to Whitehorse, but they camped on the high ground above the city; and, as soon as their heavy equipment …
Morley Bay Yukon
Morley Bay, today a beautiful body of water with quiet woods along its shore, teemed and bustled with soldiers and equipment in 1942. Ship dock, supply dump, motor pool—a sizeable military installation occupied the spot where two small, isolated houses now sit. Link to a story from Morley Bay “Dear …
River after River
River after river crisscrossed the path of the Alaska Highway. Smaller streams got quick timber bridges, larger ones brought out the barges and Ferries. Link to another story “Barge “Bridges” The black soldiers of the 93rd Engineers, tasked with building an access road for the white soldiers of the 340th from Carcross Yukon to the …
Winding in and Winding Out
Winding in and winding out… Retired Sergeant Troy Hise summed up his 1942 experience in northern Canada, “The Alaska Highway winding in and winding out, fills my mind with serious doubt, as to whether the lout that planned this route, was going to hell or coming out.” Sgt. Hise, referred to a potentially deal breaking …
Do You See It?
“Do you see it?” An exasperated black soldier dropped his pants. A few residents of Skagway, checking the credibility of some white officer, had asked if black soldiers had tails. White residents of Skagway didn’t know quite what to make of the Army’s segregationist policy. They reacted to the black soldiers with curiosity—cautious curiosity. Link …
Like Dirt in Front of a Dozer Blade
Like dirt in front of a dozer blade, the problems that plagued the Alaska Highway Project piled high in May and the hell-bent advance into the wilderness threatened to dissolve in chaos and confusion. Three entry points, Skagway, Valdez and Dawson Creek, swarmed with confused troops trying desperately to get organized. Getting equipment to the …