Volume 4, 1951 - The Arctic Circle - Home

AS a result of the successful complet ion of Ennadai
One the army Signal station at Ennadai Lake was completed
and commenced operations during the summer of 1949.
The Signal station having been established, the
next problem was the annual re-supply. This became one
of the responsibilities of the R.C.A.S.C. Maintenance
Detachment (tractor trains) during the winter of 1949-50,
together with the infantry ~xercise Sun Dog One.
Because of a much earlier freeze-up in 1949-50,
northern winter operations and exercises were able to
get started much earlier than in 1948-9. The re-supply
of Ennadai Lake station was carried out in two trips and
the operation was very similar to that of the previous
year. The first swing of tractors left Fort Churchill
on 28 December 1949 with a payload of 128 tons and the
operation was completed on 25 March 1950. A total of
187 tons was transported and the last return trip to Fort
Churchill was made in less than 7 days, an average of
nearly 70 miles per day.
~echanical difficulties with the tractors were
minor during the 1949-50 operations as aIl tractors were
new. ~lthough the earlier freeze-up had proved an advantage
in getting the operation off to an earlier start,
much of the time gained was lost because of the shell ice,
caused by the quick freeze-up, on the Caribou and other
rivers. ln many cases tractors dropped through the shell
ice and many hours were lost in numerous recovery jobs
and the many detours necessary. A Bombardier snowmobile
was used as a liaison vehicle between the main swing and
base. This vehicle proved invaluable on the established
trail particularly in one instance when an operator was
badly crushed between two wannegans during night operations,
necessitating an emergency evacuation to base, a distance
of over 100 miles. The Bombardier proved to be the ideal
vehicle for this purpose because of its high speed and
smooth riding and the evacuation was carried out in less
than 5 hours. Unfortunately, it was not possible to complete
the trials on this vehicle as it also became a victim
of the shell ice. lt dropped into a river, was damaged
beyond any possible trail repair, and had to be loaded on
a sleigh and returned to base.
Heavy snow also hampered and slowed the operation,
causing a high percentage of breakage to sleighs and equipment.
This was quite the reverse from the previous year's
operation when in spite of lack of snow and the late freezeup,
the final conditions were good.