Vanguard ship stuck in ice. The men of the ship

              1't Lt. Mike Galvin Jr.
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The Unofficial History of the 108th AC&W SquadronlLatcr Designated 642nd AC&W
Squadron Red Cliff, Newfoundland
Mike Galvin, Jr., lSI Lt. USAF, Author
ForwardlPrologue
Many thanks to a number of individuals who prompted me to record the "Unofficial
History of Red Cliff Radar Squadron," which was part of the Pinelree Line constructed across
Canada and the United States in the early 1950s. This unofficial history covers the period from
May 1953 to August 1954 - which coincides with my duty tour at Redcliff. The reader should
understand that this story is being recorded 53 years after the events occurred. The story is
supported by 400 slides and photos that I took during my tour at Red Cliff plus my letters to my
parents that my mother carefully saved. There were also discussions with members of the
Squadron over the past several years. Any corrections to the History will be welcome. Also, the
slory of Red Cliff is part of a much longer personal story and the events both before and after the
Red Cliff Tour have been edited somewhat for brevity's sake.
Ren L'Ecuyer--without whose enthusiasm and leadership there would not have been these
numerous radar station websites. Paul Winter and Lannis Huckabee - who have organized the
Red Cliff Reunion. Bob Wilder - who wrote a definitive history of the Squadron and Wayne
Setzer - whose web site is a far better history of the Squadron than mine.
In recent months, I have been privy to several websites that deal with the technical and
logistical background of the Pinetree Line. Of particular importance is Bob Wilder's History of
the 108 AC&W Group, later the 642Dd AC&W Squadron covering the period from 1948 to 1953.
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In 1953 the active duty tours of the original members of the 108 AC&W Squadron came to a
conclusion. The most comprehensive history of the development of the Air Defense Command
during the Cold War is "Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War
Defense Radar Program" published by Headquarters Air Combat Command, June 1997. The
complete report is available on-line.
Radar emerged from the experimental to the practical during the Battle of Britain in
1940. During the course of WWII, it was further refined. The United States Air Force formed
the Air Defense Command (ADC) in 1946. At the inception the ADC used radar equipment left
over from WWII and initiated a hasty program to start their operations appropriately dubbed
"Lash Up" sites. The Cold War, the launching of SPUTNIK in 1957, the emergence of the
development of the TU4 Bomber by Russia and the Russian development of the atomic and
hydrogen bomb collectively created the necessity of developing a modern method of detection
and interception of enemy aircraft and ultimately, enemy missiles. One of the earliest "Lash Up"
stations was at Neah Bay, Washington established in 1948 utilizing WWII equipment. This was
part of the protecti ve radar network for the Hanford Atomic Energy Works, the Boeing
Company, the Bremerton Navy Yard and similar sensitive targets in the Seattlerracoma area.
The outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950 accelerated all planning and construction of a
modern radar defense system. 1952 saw the development of a distant early warning system that
included the Pinetree Line that became operational in 1954 and straddled the U.S.lCanadian
border. The Pinetree Line consisted of approximately 44 radar stations across the United States
and Canada. North of the Pinetree Line was the Mid-Canada Line constructed by Canada
consisting of unmanned microwave defense system designed to detect fly overs. By the end of
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1957, 57 stations were completed in a very costly and challenging construction effort. While
constant upgrades were being made to equipment there were concerns over the effectiveness of
the range of the equipment which was initially effective to an altitude of only 55,000 feet.
Ultimately, the system was upgraded to reach an altitude of 100,000 feet. By 1962 the Sage
system was completed. There were 142 primary radar stations and 96 gap fillers radar stations,
including the Dew Line and the Pinetree Line operational in the United States and Canada
providing data to the Sage Centers. The Sage combat and direction centers commanded a vast
array of weapon systems. Forty-one fighter interceptors squadrons, numbering 800 aircraft, 7
Bomarc missile squadrons and scores of Army Nike Missile battalions stood ready. However by
now the Russians had intercontinental ballistic missiles with ranges of 6,000 miles. There was a
shift from defending against the threat of the Soviet bombers to that of establishing a defense for
intercontinental ballistic missiles. For that purpose the Pinetree Line was no longer the first line
of defense and was quickly disassembled in the early 1960s.
The author was commissioned through Uniform Military Training Act of 1948 (ROTC)
and received his Commission at the College of St. Thomas (now University) SI. Paul, Minnesota,
in June, 1952 and reported for active duty on August 13, 1952 to the 25th Air Division, McCord
Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washington. After processing and orientation he was assigned to
Aircraft Controller's School at Geiger Field, Spokane, Washington. There was no time to attend
one of the established Air Force Technical Schools or highly refined Controllers School. The Air
Defense Command and the 25th Air Division needed controllers right now! The Pine Tree line
sites were coming on line and needed intercept controllers as soon as possible, particularly
because a large number of Air Force Reservists who had been recalled in 1950 and 1951 because
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of the Korean War were being released or their active duty tours were expiring. The 25th Air
Division set up a "Home Grown" Controller School at Geiger Field. Spokane, Washington. In
10 weeks we were pushed out the door, complete with a Certificate of Completion of the course.
We were the only class to graduate from the Geiger Field School. Upon completion of our
training we received our orders for Pinetree sites and we disbursed immediately. Upon
completing training in November, 1952 I was assigned to the 758th AC&W Squadron, Neall
Bay, Washington (now called Makah, Washington) and started my Air Force career as an
intercept controller. Because of its location west of Seattle there was a high level of aircraft
activity and it was not unusual to run 2 or 3 practice intercepts per day with an occasional
"unknown" to be intercepted and identified. Neah Bay had been operated since 1948 and was
one of the oldest AC&W sites in the U.S. I served at Neah Bay for almost 6 months. On April
1, 1953 I received orders assigning me to the 64th Air Division, Fort Pepperell, Newfoundland,
for ultimately assignment to the 108th AC& W Squadron, Red Cliff, Newfoundland. (The
squadron designation was changed from 108th AC&W Squadron to the 642nd AC&W Squadron
by Special Order No. 64, NEAC dated July 8,1953.)
On April 6, 1953, I left Neall Bay after receiving 30 days leave together with 12 days
travel time and was to report to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, not later than May 18, 1953. As I left
Neah Bay, Washington, the Makah Indian Reservation and the 758th AC&W Squadron, I had no
definitive travel plans, other that to get on US Highway 12 as the most direct route to my home
in SI. Paul. At the end of a long day of driving, I was approaching Bozeman, Montana. I
suddenly recalled that one of my SI. Paul neighbors, Geno DeCosse had moved to Bozeman a
year or two earlier where his parents had opened up a furniture store in Bozeman. Luck would
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have it as I drove down Main Street, I spotted the DeCosse Furniture Store. I stopped and went
in. Mr. and Mrs. DeCosse were both pleased to see me and told me that Gena was a student at
Montan! State College in Bozeman. They suggested I could find him in the Grill, since he had
no class that afternoon. I drove up to the Student Center, parked and walked in. Sure enough,
there was Gena DeCosse. I had one piece of unfinished business with Geno - a year earlier, his
older brother, Cyril, who was a classmate of mine at the College of St., Thomas, had gotten
married. Over the years, Cy was a member of a loose organization known as the "Laugh Club"
and we spent a lot of time trying to outdo one another with practical jokes. In this case, four of
us raised a total of $25.00 and bought a 1939 PI ymouth Four Door from Midway Ford-this was
the junk price of a car in those days-and we presented Cy with the keys at the wedding
reception after having parked the car in front of the Basilica in Minneapolis where they were
married. It was hard not to notice the car because we had painted it in horizontal red, white and
blue stripes. Following the wedding reception, Geno DeCosse drove back to Bozeman in the car,
which of course was registered in my name. All I wanted to do was get title transferred to his
name. I walked up, slapped him on the back and said, "where the hell is my car." I was the last
person that Geno DeCosse thought he would see in Bozeman! Before he could respond,
however, the two fellows he was sitting with both stood up to shake my hands and say "welcome
to Bozeman." One was Jim Woodburn; the other was Glenn Lemon. I had accompanied them to
Moissan, France in 1947 to attend the World Scout Jamboree and while I had not seen them
since 1947, we had stayed in touch by letter and an occasional phone call. My plans to drive on
were immediately cancelled. That evening I was initiated into all of the favorite saloons
frequented by the Montana State students. It was late when we returned to the DeCosse home. I
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was up reasonably early, had breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. DeCosse while Geno slept in. I
thanked them for their hospitality and left for Minnesota. Unfortunately, I was never to see Geno
DeCosse again. Two or three years later, he and Glen Lemon were in a tragic automobile
accident and Geno was killed. Lemon recovered after a lengthy rehabilitation period and went
on to be an architect for the California University system. My adventures on my trip to SI. Paul
were not over, however.
Removal of the Body of Chief SiUlng Bull to Mobridge, South Dakota.
I left Bozeman, Montana mid-morning after visiting old friends from Boy Scout days and
SI. Paul who were attending college at Montana State. I decided to drive through the night as I
entered South Dakota. During the course of the evening I noticed that my generator was failing
and the lights began to fade on my car as I traveled Highway 12. As I pulled into Mobridge,
South Dakota, I decided to stay if I could find a place until it became light and I would take a
chance with my failing generator during daylight hours. I stopped at the Brown Palace Hotel in
Mobridge; went in and engaged the night clerk in a discussion. We agreed that so little of the
night was left that I could sit in the lobby and sleep without the necessity of renting a room.
It was clear that the desk clerk was bursting to share a conversation with me. He inquired
as to whether or not I was aware that the body of Chief Sitting Bull had just been moved from
North Dakota to South Dakota and had been interred in Mobridge in a new monument erected in
his honor. I allowed as how I had heard something on the radio and was curious to know more.
The desk clerk told me that he was a retired mortician and had been asked by Mobridge people to
go with them to North Dakota to supervise the opening of Sitting Bull's grave and move the
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body. He was very emphatic that they had exhumed the entire body and any bones left in place,
as reported by the press, were not Sitting Bull's. It was a gripping story and one that would play
out for several days on the local radio stations and in the Twin City newspaper before it faded
from the news.
The conversation wrapped up sometime around 3:00 in the morning and I filed the
information away for future reference. As the sun came up, I headed for SI. Paul in my 1950
Studebaker and a reunion with my family.
After several weeks leave at the Galvin Family Home in SI. Paul it was time to move on.
In route from SI. Paul to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey in my 1950 Studebaker; I entered the
Pennsylvania Turnpike at Pittsburg late in the evening. I spotted an Airman hitchhiking and
stopped and picked him up. The interior light momentarily illuminates his face and I recognized
him as a member of my team at the 758'11 AC&W Squadron, Neah Bay, Washington! He did not
recognize me. I interrogated him about his experience at Neah Bay. He expresses disbelief that
I know where he has been. I then identified myself. He was headed for his horne in Rhode
Island on leave. I dropped him off early in the morning as I headed to New Brunswick, New
Jersey and Camp Kilmer. After driving my 1950 Studebaker to Camp Kilmer, I placed it in
storage for shipment to Newfoundland. I was in "pipeline" at Camp Kilmer from May 18, 1953
until early June 1953. After several false starts, on June 11, 1953 we were bussed to Westover
Air Force Base in Springfield, Massachusetts. On anival at Westover I was designated a courier
officer for my MATS flight and was assigned my mail pouch for delivery to the 64u, Air
Division.
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We then traveled via Military Transport Service (MATS) on an Air Force C-54 to Torbay
Field, RCAP, St. John's, Newfoundland. A carry-all took us from Torbay to Ft. Pepperell where
we were assigned to the temporary bachelors officers quarters. We were processed at the 64th
Air Division and I was assigned to the 108th AC&W Squadron at Red Cliff, approximately a one
hour trip from Ft. Pepperell. I was transported by jeep to Red Cliff, where I was assigned to the
bachelors officers quarters and was processed by the Squadron. The Squadron Commander was
Maj. Elmer Tackage, a pilot, who had been recalled for the Korean Police Action. Operations
Officer was Cpt., later Maj., "Pappy" Lane, who had been recalled to active duty from his
position as a Deputy Sheriff in Los Angeles County, California. Cpt. C.C. "Lash" Larue was the
Chief Controller. He was a West Virginia football player who had been a pilot in World War n
and had been recalled to active duty. 1st Lt. Elmer "Brad" Bradbury was the Adjutant and had
been a member of the original 108th AC& W Squadron when it was called to active duty in 1951.
Following my arrival at the Squadron, I was checked in to Operations. At that time the
Squadron operated from the "L" site, which was also known as the "Lash Up" site (L-22). The
operations building was a Quonset with World War n radar equipment. The buildings and radar
antennas were about 300 yards south of the main Squadron area. The antenna was surrounded
by a windscreen to protect the antenna in the frequent high winds. Other controllers in addition
to Capt. Norman Lane, and Capt. Charlie LaRue, included Lt. Joe Wagner, Lt. Rod Mills, Lt.
Don Thorn, Lt. Felix Forte and myself. Lt. John Jefferies was one of the radar maintenance and
communications officer along with Capt. John Craig, Capt. Theon Laney, and Lt. George Hatch.
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I was assigned to D Team and the squadron operated continuously from the "Lash Up"
site L-22 through my departure from the Squadron in July, 1954. During that period the
permanent radar installation was under continuous construction with Canadian Marconi
Company completing the installation along with Philco and other American and Canadian
contractors. At the time of my return to the United States in late July, 1954, the Lash Up site
was still operational and the new facility had not yet come on line-notwithstanding official
reports to the contrary.
S.Sgt. John Sullivan was the NCO of the D-Team for a portion of my tour. Names of the
balance of D-Team are in the Appendix.
The Facility. Since Red Cliff was built on a solid rock cliff towering 500 feet or more
above the North Atlantic, a reliable water supply was critical. The engineers recommended and
constructed a dam in a small creek that paralleled the Torbay Road below the site. There was a
pumping station and a pipe that pumped water up to a water tower in the Squadron area where it
was distributed under gravity pressure. As long as the water supply was consistent, no one paid
any attention to the arrangement. In the summer of 1953 out of abject curiosity, several of us,
including Captain "Pappy" Lane, hiked down the water line from the Squadron area to the dam
site. As we approached the area, we heard young voices and splashing. To our amusement, we
interrupted four or five young Newfoundlanders swimming in our water supply sans suits.
Thereafter, we posted the area and passed the word in the neighborhood that we found it
objectionable to have them bathing in our water supply. There were no further incidents and the
water quality improved significantly.
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The Air Installation's Officer assigned to the 108th AC&W Squadron was given a
significant challenge when the L-Site went on line: construct an outhouse at the L-Site. The
Squadron AID was equal to the task and constructed a monument to "pioneer" technology at the
L Site-an old-fashioned outhouse. Since there was no utilities at the L Site, drinking water
came from a Air Force water tank trailer parked just outside the security perimeter with a hose to
operations. Within the security perimeter was constructed a "two-holer" about 50 feet from the
Operations Building. The facility was unheated and did not have running water. A delicate
touch of home was added to the edifice with the conventional plaque hung on the outhouse wall
that was consistent with the construction and formal dedication of public buildings in the
northeast part of the United States in the 1930s and 40s. The plaque read "this outhouse was
constructed in March 1953 under the direction of Major Elmer Tackage, Commander, 108th
AC&W Squadron, United States Air Force, Captain "Pappy" Lane,. Operations Officer, Captain
Charles Lareu, Chief Controller. Thereafter, was a continuing list of names, including the Chief
of Air Installations, Chief Carpenter, Chief Laborer, and including even, Chief Hole Digger. It
is unlikely that the plaque still ellists. On my return visit to the site in 1997, time did not permit
an excursion to the L site, but it is unlikely that the building would have survived many years
after the L site was shutdown in late 1954 and the entire Squadron was shut down in 1961.
The Area. Early exploration of the area was on foot with visits to the village at Torbay,
Flat Rock, Outer Cove, Middle Cove, Logy Bay, Sugar Lake Pond, etc., all within easy walking
distance of the Squadron. Those visits were memorialized in hundreds of slides and pictures that
can be accessed at the website listed in the Appendix. During one of our hikes to the Middle
Cove area, we discovered a quaint commercial enterprise call Liddys Hotel. It had rooms for
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rent together with a vintage bar and an elderly customer or two. On our infrequent visits we
could always find at least one accordion player or harmonica player, a retired fisherman or two
and residents in attendance with Liddy, herself, behind the bar.
The Waterfront. St. 10hn's is the oldest city in North America. It has what is described
as the best deep water port in North America. Because of its history as a port open to the fishing
fleets, and the enormous number of cod on the Grand Banks, the City had a seagoing tradition
and history going back nearly 500 years. One result was the existence of a sort of "Civilian
Officer's Club" -. The Craw's Nest was located on the waterfront. I was invited to the Crow's
Nest by representatives of the Newfoundland Department of Fisheries who were engaged in the
study of Newfoundland fisheries. I had met them at the Fort Pepperall Officer's Club and found
them to be charming and delightful people. The Craw's Nest was equally as fascinating since the
patrons were from a dozen countries around · the world. The group that first evening was
predominantly Portuguese. The last of the great sailing fleets was the Portuguese fishing fleet or
the White Fleet that had been coming from Portugal each year for hundreds of years to fish the
Grand Banks. The Portuguese White Fleet with its great white sails is woven into the folk
history of Newfoundland for over 400 years. The Portuguese would fish from dories, launched
each morning from their ships, returning to their ship at sundown to spend hours splitting,
gutting and salting the day's catch. Their relationship to Newfoundland lasted for over 400 years
and ended when the last of the Portuguese White Fleet sailed out of the harbor of St. Johns in
July, 1974.
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The evening of my first visit to the Crow's Nest was highlighted by one of the Portuguese
captains inviting us aboard his ship for a glass of port and a snack. We marched down to the pier
in front of the Crow's Nest and the captain whistled. Around the comer of the pier came the
captain's gig with two oarsmen. We rowed out in the harbor, came alongside a large sailboat,
climbed the rope ladder and were escorted to the officer's wardroom The captain, who spoke no
English, produced several bottles of Portuguese Port and wrapped on the bulkhead with a
belaying pin until the ship's boy showed up. We then dined on olives and picked eels. We were
escorted back to the Crow's Nest an hour or two later because the ship was going to sail back to
the Grand Banks to finish their year's work. Today, the cod fishing season is closed and,
effectively, the Portuguese White Fleet has been dry-docked for over 30 years.
Trips to downtown St. John's were few and far between. An occasional movie or a trip to
the Chuckwagon Restaurant or the Colony Club or the Crow's Nest. The Colony Club was a
very fine restaurant complete with orchestra and dance floor. On one or two occasions,
including Don Brown's wedding, we enjoyed the ambiance of the Colony Club. On another
occasion, we stopped for a drink and met the Dwyer family. Inspector Dwyer was responsible
for police protection and investigations in the City of St. 10hn's. The Dwyers had a daughter,
June, who joined Fred Zint, Ralph Saxon, a Philco Tech Rep, and myself at least at one party at
the Fort Pepperill Officer's Club.
Another restaurant was the Chuckwagon Restaurant on Water Street or Duck Street. It
was hang-out for American airmen who were entertaining dates from St. John's. It was the next
thing to being at your neighborhood malt shop in the States.
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Sugarloaf Pond. Sugarloaf Pond was south of the Red Cliff site and was accessible over
land or by a road leading off the Loggy Bay Road. It was a spectacular pond surrounded by
Pinetrees and suitable for swimming. It had a primitive diving board and room to spread out for
a picnic lunch. On a number of occasions, we walked down from the squadron overland and
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spent an afternoon in the bright sunshine of Newfoundland and dipped our bodies into the icy
cold water. It was a popular area for a number of locals and certainly reminded a Minnesotan of
home.
Operations. A typical day in Operations would consist of reporting to the Operations
building, relieving the Duty Controller, being debriefed by him, reviewing air activity during the
previous shift, taking a weather report, taking an intelligence briefing, making sure a full crew
was aboard, that all communications were functioning and that the daily intelligence report was
reviewed and disseminate and that any unusual aspects of the operations were explained to the
crew, and that communications to Division Headquarters, operations at the RCAP facility at
Torbay and adjoining and overlapping facilities were operational. Most important was to review
the operational capacity of the 6Ist Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) located at Ernest Harmon
AFB.
The Operations Building. The lash-up site (L-22) was situated about one-third of a mile
south of the new facility. It was a brief walk from the mess hall to operations. Occasionally,
there was transportation by a 6x6. After entering through the security gate built in the perimeter
fence, you entered the operation'S building via a door on the south side of the building. To your
immediate left was a small office where the duty controller or crew chief could conduct
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administrative matters, read materials in full light, and conduct such other matters as were
necessary to the administration of the site.
Straight ahead was the entrance to the operations room, which was kept dark at all times
to enhance the ability to conduct radar surveillance on the PPI scopes. On the south side of the
room was a raised dias where the crew chief and the identification section held forth. There were
three or four radar scopes on the north side of the room where the plastic panels that carried the
plats of air traffic within the surveillance of the Red Cliff Squadron. The airmen at the radar
scopes (sometimes called "scope dopes") were monitoring all air traffic and were caJling the
information to plotters who were hooked up via headphones to the scope operators. Once a plat
went up on the board, it was up to the identification section to correlate that aircraft with a filed
flight plan.
Other airmen were caJling the plats as they appeared on the board to the 64th Air
Division at White Cliff, where they were displayed on a large board for the division commander
and his staff. The 64th Division Team was taking reports from a number of radar stations
throughout the area. All of this was the precursor to the Sage System which did not become
operational until the early 1960's.
There was also a height finder adjacent to the operations building that would assist in
detection and identification by pennitting the operator to determine the height at which the
aircraft was operating. On a normal day, there would be four to eight civilian aircraft being
tracked in the area at one time. Adjacent to the plotting board was a status board showing the
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status of aircraft at the 61 st fighter interceptor squadron at Ernest Harmon and the 59th fighter
interceptor squadron at Goose Bay.
Overhead was the Radar Antenna. The equipment was post World War IT but had been
boosted up to maximum efficiency. Because of high winds off the North Atlantic a protective
screen had been erected around the Antenna and was fastened to 8 to 10 telephone poles that had
been dug into the site. During a high wind we would be ordered to shut down and tie the radar
antenna down. While we had heard stores about the loss of an antenna in a high wind we had no
such experience.
Every eight hours there was a weather briefing conducted by Division Headquarters and
the duty controller and/or his designee at Red Cliff participated in the same. While all of this
was going on, the radar maintenance technicians were hovering over the set to insure that we
were on the air 2417 with the exception of scheduled maintenance which would take us off the air
at specific intervals while we performed routine maintenance.
During the day shift, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., there was generally a high level of activity in
operations. There would be visits from the radar maintenance officers, the chief controller, the
operations officer and anyone else who thought their presence was important. Activity would
fall off rapidly in the afternoon shift from 4:00 p.m. to midnight. Of course, from midnight to
8:00 a.m., there were very few visitors and it took considerable effort to keep people at
maximum efficiency and effectiveness. While we had heard stories of controllers who would
roll up in their parkas and take an extensive nap, no such activity was permitted when D team
was on duty. Occasionally, because of family emergencies, illness, road closure, ice conditions,
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or for other reasons, off-duty controllers and the chief controller and operations officer might be
unable to get to the squadron site. In those cases, the duty controller stayed on until he was
relieved. During a combination of illness, leaves and weather, a controller might spend as long
as 48 hours on duty, awaiting relief. A nap or two under those circumstances was
understandable.
When an aircraft detected and tracked by Red Cliff could not be identified and was
marked "unknown" by Division Headquarters, tensions began to build in the operations building.
The duty controller settled in at a scope and plugged his headset in. Call signs and codes were
implemented. The call sign for Red Cliff was Examiner Control and each of the controllers was
assigned a number in addition to the call sign Examiner. Operations would stay on alert until the
unidentified plane was intercepted andlor otherwise identified and the alert was brought to a
conclusion.
The Squadron had assigned to it a number of tech reps to maintain the existing equipment
at the L-22 site and to install the new equipment in the "P" site, which was part of the new
Pinetree Line, and was on a crash construction program. This included tech reps Jack Anderson,
Jack Lewis, Don Brown, Ralph Saxon and others from the Marconi Corporation. Complete in
their blue uniforms, they were constantly busy installing the new equipment and maintaining the
old equipment.
During the operation of radar from the lash-up site, there were numerous atmospheric
phenomena's caused by conditions that would bend the radar signal, which was normally "line of
sight" causing radar targets to appear at altitudes and locations far diverse from their actual
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location and to appear where they weren't. This phenomena was distinguished from "ground
clutter" where the radar beam was reflected from existing land features which were a permanent
part of the radar operation. These reflections were permanent echoes (PE) and could be varied
by switching the radar to a higher antenna beam and thus avoid the return from the surrounding
terrain. The radar maintenance crew identified the phenomena as "anomalous propagation" or
"AP". Notwithstanding its name, the phenomena would occasionally give us a retum off ships
including the Portuguese sailing fleet, merchant ships, as well as cloud banks and various distant
targets. AP was always a factor that we considered in determining what we were surveilling.
Cryptography operation. There was an additional facility at the "Lash-Up" site. It
contained the Crypto Center for the Squadron. Admission was by clearance for top secret and
"need to know." In my case, I was cleared for top secret but never had a "need to know" what
was going on in the Crypto Center. Operations seemed to center around the role of Sergeant
Richardson, who came and went at "odd hours." Notwithstanding my great curiosity, there was
no access to the Center except by authorized personnel.
The Hunter and The Hunted. The mission of the 642nd AC&W Squadron was to
engage in air surveillance, to detect aircraft, to identify aircraft and, if necessary, to intercept
aircraft for purposes of identification or destruction. The 642 AC&W Squadron closest support
fighter squadron was at Ernest Harman Air Force Base at Stevensville, Newfoundland,
approximately 400 air miles from Red Cliff. In 1953, the 61st fighter interceptor squadron was
stationed at Ernest Harman Air Base. They were equipped with the F89 Scorpion, known
affectionately by its crew as the "lead sled" or the "widow-maker" primarily because its ratio of
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glide, which was the equivalent of a falling rock. The F89 was manufactured by the Northrup
Corporation and required a crew of two, a pilot and a weapons officer or radar observer. It was
powered by two Allison 135 jets with after bumers. Its maximum speed was 636 miles per hour.
Its range was approximately 1,300 miles. Its service ceiling was 49,200 feet. It was equipped
with airbome radar and was designed as an all-weather arctic interceptor. It was armed initially
with 6 20 mm cannons; later with pods of "mighty mouse" rockets. Because of its limited range,
i.e., approximately two hours, there were limited operational opportunities for an intercept of an
unknown aircraft directed by Red Cliff. There was an additional squadron of F 89's assigned to
the 59'b FIS at Goose Bay, Labrador under the control of the local AC&W squadron. During my
tour we had no contact with the 59 Fighter Interceptor Squadron.
The hunted at that time was the Russian TU4, a four engine aircraft which was a replica
of the American B29. During WWII, a number oJ American B29s were dispatched from the Far
East against the Showa Steelworks in Manchuria. In July 1944, August 1944, and November
1944, American 829s that had been damaged in raids in Manchura were diverted to Vladivostok
in the Soviet Union. Since the Soviet Union was not at war with Japan at that time, under
international law the crews were interned. The Soviets took this opportunity to replicate the B29
as the TU4 bomber. The Soviet TU4 program went forward with all deliberate speed, even
though World War II had been terminated in 1945. The first Soviet made TU4 was ready by late
September, 1946. The TU4 was assigned the code name "Bull" in the NATO code naming
system. The revelation that the Russians had an aircraft that could reach the United States from
Russian bases triggered the decision on the part of the United States to develop an aircraft
interception capability involving ground radar installations, ground observer corps, radar picket
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ships. Nike surface missiles and fleets of jet interceptor fighters. The specifications of the TU4
were four 18 cylinder air-cooled supercharged radials. rated at 2.200 horsepower. Maximum
speed was 354 miles per hour at 32,000 feel. 310 miles per hour was a normal cruising speed.
Range was from 1.927 to 4,100 miles when using auxiliary Bomb Bay tanks at an average
cruising speed of 324 miles per hour.
There were other aircraft that came into play. The RCAF operated the CF 100 Avro, a
Canadian designed and built twin engine jet fighter. Maximum speed was 630 mph and its range
and performance capabilities were similar to the F89. The CF 100 was known as the Canuck -
but more familiarly by its crew as the "Clunk". On at least one occasion. a flight of F89s
attempted to intercept a CF 100 over Newfoundland while under control of the 640 AC&W
Squadron at Earnest Harmon AFB. We monitored the attempt to intercept. We were later told
that the CF 100 was able to ~ 'walk away" from the F89. It was nice to know they were on our
side.
From the time I arrived at Red Cliff in June 1953 until I left in late July of 1954, there
were only two or three instances of unknown aircraft that penetrated our air space and were not
later identified. There is only one instance that I can recall that Red Cliff actually had control of
an F89 for intercept purposes.
Radar stations such as the 642nd AC&W Squadron were notoriously under armed and
under weaponed. In addition to carbines kept by the Provost Marshal in the gun locker in the
orderly room, there were a number of M16 machine guns issued to officers, also kept in the
orderly room. In addition, several officers had side arms consisting of .45 pistols that appeared
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to be in private ownership. There was an "official" .45 issued to the Officer of the Day. During
this period I picked up a 1916 US Anny .45 caliber revolver which I still have. The main
defense weapons were several 50-caliber air-cooled, tripod mounted, belt fed Browning machine
guns. On several occasions following an alert we had "fire - to familiarize" - this consisted of
setting the tripod and Browning up northwest of the new and as yet unoccupied operations
building. We then fired out over the open ocean taking reasonable care to insure that there were
no fishennen in the vicinity. The rounds were alternating tracer, high explosive, and incendiary.
It was impressive to see your pattern arch out over the ocean and disappear into the north
Atlantic. In later years I'm sure there were severe restrictions on the use of these weapons in
areas near Logy Bay and Sugar Loaf Pond.
During June 1953, we had a number of shakedowns while "D" Team got organized.
During July 1953, we had a number of alerts, including efforts by "enemy forces" to infiltrate the
area. Lt. Brad Bradbury led the "enemy forces" in several spectacular efforts to capture the site.
"Dog Team" always acquitted itself well in those exercises. We also qualified on the 50 caliber
and 30 caliber machine guns by firing out over the ocean into the Logy Bay area during these
exercises.
Squadron Entertainment. Movies were shown in the recreation room which was a
Quonset hut half-way between the Orderly room and the new Raydome which was under
construction. A few first run movies would show up from time to time, but unlike other military
installations Red Cliff did not get the bonanza of first run movies that other units received. We
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were also off the beaten path for USO Troops or shows. During my tour at Red Cliff we had no
visiting entertainers or USO shows - we had to ent\!rtain ourselves!
In anticipation of the July 4th celebration in 1953, the Squadron had a beer bash at Logy
Bay on July 3rd. I had been in the Squadron less than three weeks at that time. When I arrived
at Logy Bay I was impressed with the arrangements that had been made by Mess Sergeant Earl
Glidden and his helpers. I noted with approval a series of 55 gallon oil drums, iced down with a
variety of beer. Then I noticed several of the troops seemed to have had a headstart on the rest of
us. In mid afternoon one of the airman, Airman First Class Bill Brannon, headed for a rock
formation overlooking Logy Bay. His presence on the rocks drew our attention. I had my
camera at the ready and took a picture of him standing on the rocks. A moment or two later we
realized that Brannon was going to dive into the North Atlantic. It was at least a 25 foot dive
with underwater conditions uncertain. Having spent a number of summers as a lifeguard and
swimming instructor, I realized this escapade could have an unhappy ending and I started to
move towards the rocky point he was on. Brannon put on a dive that would be worthy of
Acapulco. To my relief he came up and swam back to shore where he was immediately turned
over to the air police. He was later reduced in rank to Airman basic by Major Elmer Tackage as
a result of his performance.
In July, 1953, Lieutenant Fred Zint, Assistant Club Manager for Fort Pepperell Officer's
Club, invited a number of us to a picnic at Portugal Cove. Special guests were the nursing corps
from the Fort ,Pepperell Hospital and Newfoundland Memorial Hospital. The resources of the
Officers Club were utilized to their fullest and the picnic was a magnificent success. Several of
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us has brought bathing suits and during the cocktail hour there was a challenge to see who could
swim to Belle Island. Belle Island was an island in the middle of Conception Bay. Bill Bjomay,
a civilian air force employee (also believed to be a member of the CIA and a native of Hungary)
and I struck out for Belle Island. After a 50 or 100 yards Bjornay announced that the effort was
over and we headed back to shore. Bjomay who claimed to have been a member of the 1948
Hungarian water polo team estimated the water temperature to be about 55° and our life
expectancy was at risk.
The 64th Air Division, Air Defense Command was headquartered at White Hills, Fort
Pepperell, Sl. John's Newfoundland. A large and comfortable Officers' Club, with an adjacent
off sale liquor store, served the needs of the officers of the 64th Air Division. Lt. Fred Zint who
became a good friend was the Assistant Club Officer and a graduate of the Michigan Stnte Hotel
School. The Club was open seven days a week but closed at 8 p.m. on Sunday evenings. The
price of food and drink was incredibly low. A martini was 50¢ and a highball was 25¢. An
imported beer was 25¢. A steak dinner would be in the range of $1.50 to $2.50. Because so
many of the officers did not have dependents accompanying them to Newfoundland, the
Officers' Club got a big play. In addition, Tech Reps from various contractors were given the
privileges of the Club.
Predictably, a number of characters emerged in the Division: one was Willy Boffman.
From 8 to 5 he was a genius as a Tech Rep. At 5 p.m. he headed for the Officers Club and
generally closed it down. His exploits were a legend: but like many legends, you. had to be there
to believe it! On one occasion Willie was reprimnnded by the Base Commander because he was
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"out of unifonn" - in this case he did not have a tie on and the rules were clear - a tie after 5:00
p.m. in the Officer's Club. The next evening Willie showed up with a tie - it was 5 feet long and
touched the floor! Colonel Kyle walked over to Willie and congratulated him on being "in
unifonn" then proceeded to stuff the tie into his shirt between the 2nd and 3'd buttons as required
by the Regulations!
There were numerous characters in addition to members of the Squadron and the tech
reps assigned to the Squadron. These included individuals like Captain Eugene P. Anthony, the
64th Air Division Electric Counter Measures Officer. Anthony had been in the Marine Corp
during the tail end of World War II. He then went to College of the Pacific where he was a
lineman on a nationally recognized football team. He was commissioned in the ROTC and went
on active duty in the Air Force. When I met him he was assigned as to 64th Air Division as the
Electronic Counter Measures Officer. He staged a variety of drills where various aircraft
dropped chaff or aluminum "garbage" from a variety of airplanes. This was designed to interfere
with our radar surveillance and the Radar Retune would reflect the "CHAFF" that had been
dropped. He also managed to test the ability of the Squadron to avoid being jammed by
electronic impulses generated aboard aircraft, in this instance, a friendly airplane. He was one of
the ring leaders in a variety of activities, including having an inexhaustible supply of explosive
devises similar to the old fashion cherry bomb. It would not be unusual for Anthony to be in the
White Hills BOQ where he would plant a cherry bomb in the hallway, slip a burning cigarette
over the wick, nnd retire. Ten or fifteen minutes Inter the cigarette would have ignited the cherry
bomb with a resulting explosion that would send 15 or 20 officers into the BOQ hallway in
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various stages of undress, waiving hand guns trying to determine what had happened or had
hostilities with the Russians started?
Other characters included: Warrant Officer Elsworth Shearing. We were uncertain as to
his job. However, every time Capt. Anthony showed up Chief Shearing was in tow. Over the
months we learned two important things about the Chief - none of which could be verified: (1)
He was on the 1936 United States Olympic Track and Field Team that participated in the Berlin
Olympics. He claimed to have been in the Long Jumping events; and (2) He was in the U.S.
Army at Schofield Barracks at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. An evening with the Chief
was a treat to hear his stories!
The Club also had specials from time to time. It was not uncommon to have a bowl of
martinis located on the bar, each Club member could dip a punch glass into the martinis; the
bowl was constantly being refilled and there was no shortage of martinis. There was also
impromptu entertainment and song fests. In June 1953 while I was visiting the Club a familiar
face was at the piano. I went over and introduced myself to Lt. Dick Faricy. Dick was a U.S.
Army Engineer assigned to the air force and his job was road building - a badly needed skill on
the Avalon Peninsula.
Dick Faricy was a native of St. Paul and a graduate of the University of Minnesota
School of Engineering. When I met him at the Officer's Club at Fort Pepperel, Newfoundland,
he was a member of the 347th Engineer/Aviation Battalion (SCAW AF - which meant "special
category Army with Air Force"). The Battalion had four companies in Newfoundland. Three
were at Stevensville/Ernest Harmon Air Force Base and one was at Argentia, Newfoundland
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which was one of the largest American naval bases in the world. Their principal activity at
Argentia was constructing a road from St. 10hn's Newfoundland the location of Fort Pepperel the
headquarters of the 64th Air Division Argentia was also the site of Fort McAndrews an Army
base and subsequently housed a early warning radar station which was shut down after the 642nd
AC&W Squadron went online at Red Clift. Later, I met Lt. Dick Vasatka, who was from South
St. Paul, and a graduate of the University of Minnesota and also assigned to the 347th
Engineer/Aviation Battalion. From time to time, Faricy would make an appearance at Fort
Pepperel, complete with red neckerchief tucked in his open collared shirt, complete with knee
high leather boots - he looked like a real soldier!
The 64th Air Division issued an order permitting each of the Pinetree Line radar stations
to establish their own officers club. There was no formality other than the issuance of a
letter/order authorizing the establishment of the Club. I was appointed the Club Officer for the
642nd AC&W Squadron and we immediately turned a portion of the BOQ into a Club. Air
Installations constructed a bar; we scrounged an ice box and we installed sufficient plumbing to
have running water in the sink at the bar. We then went on a buying expedition at the off-sale
liquor store at the Officers Club at Fort Pepperell and loaded up on the necessities for a
successful Officers' Club. The Club operated on an honor system. We had a cigar box and a pad
and pencil. Each time you poured a drink, you were to record it and put the slip in the box. At
the end of the month, the Club Officer would add up the totals and present you with your bill.
Since we operated around the clock, it would not be unusual to come off the midnight to eight
shift and have a cold beer before you headed to the mess hall and breakfast. We had several
going away parties for officers who were rotating, particularly in August and September 1953
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after the completion of the extension of their duty tour in the 108th AC&W Squadron. Those
were memorable events catered by volunteers from the mess hall and fueled by Newfoundland
"Screech" and Moosehead Beer.
The NCO Club at Red Cliff was busy and popular. Booze on the Pinetree line was very
cheap. Among the popular drinks were Bourbon Supreme (which came with a fancy yellow
tassel on the bottle), Seagrams va (which came with fancy blue and gold ribbon on the bottle)
and Crown Royale (which came in a fancy blue bag with a gold draw string). The Bourbon
Supreme. tassel and the va ribbon were eagerly sought by collectors of such souvenirs. They
were then worn on the individual's uniform. It was finally necessary to issue an order that the
Bourbon Supreme tassel and the va ribbon were not part of the uniform and should no longer be
worn as a shoulder epaulet or service ribbon.
Regatta at Lake Quidi Vidi. In June 1953, we were advised that there was a historic
regatta held annually on Lake Quidi Vidi, which was directly in front of Fort Pepperel. We were
told it was one of the oldest regattas in the world, and certainly in North America. In early days
the competition was in Dorys, however now the competitors were all in racing shells. Several of
the teams were comprised of American servicemen, one or two of whom may have had prior
rowing experience. New Foundlanders are born on the water, and at this point in history, the
fishermen would still row their boats by hand to sea each day to fish. The odds favored the
locals! The regatta attracted a huge crowd, and, as a newcomer, I was impressed by the
hospitality and the friendliness of the residents of St. John's. The race results were predictable, a
clear sweep for the locals.
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Death of 2nd Lt. Leonard Simons. Lenny Simons was born in Minneapolis,
Minnesota; graduated from St. Thomas Academy in Saint Paul in 1948 and the University of
Notre Dame in 1952. He was a member of the Air Force ROTC at Notre Dame and was
commissioned upon graduation from Notre Dame in 1952. I had met Lenny in high school and
saw a great deal of him during college. In the summer of 1951 Lenny Simons and I attended
summer school at the College of Sl. Thomas, Sl. Paul, Minnesota to ensure we'd have enough
credits for graduation the next year. Because of our class schedule Lenny and I had lunch at my
family home a few blocks away from the College of St. Thomas almost every day.
We were called to active duty in the USAF in the summer of 1952. Lenny Simons was
given the MOS of Adjutent and became an administrator of a squadron stateside. In April 1953
Len Simons and I were both in the Twin Cities on leave prior to going overseas. We agreed to
meet at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey our debarkation port. I was headed to Newfoundland and Len
was headed to Greenland. A day or two after we met at Camp Kilmer, Len and I ran into his
roommate from Notre Dame, Lt. Tom Fannon (otherwise known as TJ or the "horse"). Shortly
after linking up at Camp Kilmer Len Simons was sent to SonderstromFjord, Greenland where he
became the Adjutent for the base squadron. Tom Fannon was assigned to headquarters 64th Air
Division and I continued to see him during my entire tour at Red Cliff.
Over the 4th of July holiday in 1953 I was on duty having the responsibilities for "D
Team" in Operations. Several days after the 4th of July the field phone rang; it was Tom Fannon
calling from the 6401 Air Division headquarters. He had just been advised that Len Simons had
been killed at SonderstromFjord on July 4th. As far as could be determined, he had left the
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squadron area for a hike along the cliff line. Somehow he fell and was killed. Because he had
not advised anyone of his plans and had not signed out, he was not immediately missed. It was
only after he failed to report for duty on July 5th that a search was conducted. Len was found at
the foot of the cliff. Escort duty to accompany Len home was performed by Captain Wagner
who had been one of his ROTC instructors at Notre Dame who was also assigned to
SonderstromFjord.
Special Order No.3 from the 642nd AC&W Squadron on August 4, 1953 appointed 2nd
Lt. Mike Galvin, Assistant Adjutant to act in place of 1st Lt. Elmer W. Bradberry; who was in
the process of returning to the States. The order was signed by Lt. Galvin as Assistant Adjutant
(first in a series of power grabs!). However, Lt. S. Dale Beavers arrived shortly to become the
Squadron Adjutant and my administrative career was over!
Iceberg Patrol. The RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the U.S. Air Force, and
International Organizations conducted iceberg patrols by air and sea on a regular basis. The
objective was to identify the location of all icebergs coming south through the Labrador Strait.
The Air Defense command and the 642nd AC&W Squadron had no responsibility other than to
monitor the aircraft involved in the Ice Berg Patrols.
However, there were a number of officers assigned to the 642nd who were pilots and
were required to qualify to continue to receive flight pay. Each pilot was required to log 4 hours
of flight time per month. The difficulty of course was obtaining a plane and flight time in a
location like Red Cliff. On an infrequent basis a C47 would be stationed at the RCAF Base in
Torbay St. John's, Newfoundland and the pilots from the 642nd as well as the 64lli Air Division
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would be assigned flight time. It was not unusual to have an instructor pilot, senior pilot, pilot
and co-pilot logging time at the same time. Occasionally, none pilots such as myself, called
"slick-shirts" (meaning that we were not rated and didn't wear wings) went along as passengers.
On several occasions I accompanied the 642nd pilots and had a number of opportunities to fly
the C47, i.e. steer the aircraft from the co-pilot's seat. The views on iceberg patrol were
spectacular particularly in the spring of the year as the icepack moved in on the shore of
Newfoundland from the "Northern Front".
Bubble Check. Every AC&W squadron could be identified because of its prominent
dome. The dome provided weather protection including wind, from interfering with the rotation
of the radar antenna. It was customary for fighter pilots when completing an intercept, mission
or training exercise, to give the AC&W squadrons a "bubble check." By this they meant they
would descend to within 100 feet of the squadron area and tum their afterburners on and "check
the bubble." In the early days this didn't happen to the Red Cliff squadron for several reasons.
One, the bubble was not installed on the Dome until July or August 1954. Second, there was no
dome over the antenna at the L22 site but a wind screen constructed out of telephone poles and
canvas, and third, we simply had no fighters under our control at Red Cliff. The closet thing to a
bubble check would be a fly-by by a C47 operated by the pilots stationed at Red Cliff, maximum
speed about 90 mph!
In late summer 1953 we had been alerted that, the cable ship, The Monarch had entered
Middle Cove to replace one of the first transatlantic cables from Europe to North America that
had been installed in the late 1800's. The Monarch pulled in as close to shore as possible and
1701340v1 29
then passed a light line to Dory followed by a heavier line followed by a Hawser followed by the
cable which was floated on a series of barrels to shore. The Dory pulling the light line was
rowed by four men who finally reached shore and a small farm tractor was hooked up to the line.
The struggle then began for the next hour or two to bring the cable to shore at Middle Cove. For
every two feet that the tractor pulled the cable in, it would be dragged back another foot until
they eventually reached a hard surface highway where they had sufficient traction to complete
bringing the cable to shore.
Mess Officer. On October 14, 1953 I was appointed Mess Officer for the 642Dd
Squadron. I had previously been the Mess Officer in the 758 AC&W Squadron at Neah Bay,
Washington. I was also enrolled in the Air Force Mess Management School (via
correspondence). But more important, I had had hands on experience in a large restaurant that
my father operated in partnership with a real chef. T/Sgt. Earl Glidden an original member of
the 10801 AC&W Squadron was our Mess Sergeant and a good one. One of the primary duties
was to keep the troops happy and supply them with the best possible food. Early on we
negotiated for a donut machine which was installed in the mess hall kitchen and was the source
of a never-ending supply of donuts. Since we operated the Radar facilities 24 hours a day, the
mess hall was open 24 hours and we served meals from 7:00 am to 9:00 am; 11:00 pm to 1:00
am and 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The mess hall was also open for coffee and snacks at other times.
During this period we began to get reports that the donuts tasted like fish. I instructed the mess
sergeant to conduct an investigation. The next day he reported that he had discovered the cause
of the "tainted donuts":
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We pennitted the troops to fish off the rocks below the radar site. Every cast was good
for a codfish. We had no prohibition against cooking the codfish in the mess hall, it was done
and generally required frying pans, etc. However with the advent of the donut machine (by
which we cooked donuts in hot grease) we discovered the troops were filleting the codfish,
cutting the filets donut size and dropping them into the donut machine. The Donut cycle was just
right for codfish fillets! The practice stopped immediately.
Local Purchase/Cold StoragelMess Hall. One of the unique features of radar stations
on the Pinetree Line was the fact they were isolated and the concept that they would be supplied
every six months, weather permitting, and were furnished with a very large cold storage
warehouse for perishables. The Code name for this operation was "Mona Lisa", but we operated
on a slightly different basis. While Red Cliff was within an hour of SI. 10hn's and had fair roads,
supplies were distributed on the same basis as other more isolated radio stations. In addition, we
were entitled to local purchase items. This was done several times a year when Mess Sergeant
Earl Glidden would exercise his imagination and would purchase lobsters and serve them in the
mess hall. While lobsters are considered a delicacy world-wide, it was sometimes difficult to
convince an ainnan from Mississippi or Arkansas who had never seen one that lobsters were
"good for you." In addition, a creative mess sergeant could utilize cold storage warehouses as a
base of operations for a vigorous bartering program. There was a moose and caribou hunting
season on the Avalon Peninsula and we had the facilities to store frozen meat. We also moved
an electric band saw into the warehouse for purposes of sawing up moose haunches and moose
racks. Sergeant Glidden was able to trade moose for mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese,
which gave us some of the best Italian meals in the Division.
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In the grand scheme of things, each Pinetree site was to be supplied twice a year because
of their isolated locations hence the Code name "Mona Lisa". There were various ships and
other forms of transportation utilized. During one of our trips to the Crow's Nest on the St.
John's water front, we met Lieutenant Dusty Miller, a British naval officer, who was on active
duty with the Canadian Navy during the Korean crisis. He was the commander of a coastal
steamer, The H. M. S. Lunan. We had at least one visit and tour of the Lunan, which was tied
up, from time to time, in the St. John's harbor. There was, of course, no port that could serve
Red Cliff thus Red Cliff supplies came by truck. Prior to his active duty tour, Miller, who was
from Aberdeen, Scotland, had been employed by the Pacific and Orient Steamship Line, and had
numerous trips to Australia and New Zealand to his credit.
Flipper Dinner. Each spring the ice pack would move into Newfoundland from
Labrador and Greenland. At about the same time the sealing fleet would move out of Brigus and'
St. John's and land hunters on the icepack for purposes of taking seals for their pelts. While seals
were not unknown to Newfoundland, they would be found in the vicinity of the Squadron after
the icepack had moved by. One evening as we were leaving the mess hall after shutting down
the 11:00 pm to 1:00 am operational shift I heard a strange yelping sound in the mess hall.
Investigations led to a seal pup that had been smuggled into the squadron area by a couple of
enterprising airmen. I reminded them that it would be difficult if not impossible to raise a seal as
a pet and do the right thing. They later slipped it into the ocean when another group of seals
were in the neighborhood and I'm sure it lived to a ripe old age or until the next sealing hunt.
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During August of 1953 my Studebaker was delivered and my popularity increased
significantly. The car was fully used by the officers in the Squadron since there was no other
transportation other than military transportation.
In September, new controllers arri ved. They were all graduates of the controller school at
Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. I had attended a special controllers school at Geiger Field,
25th Air Division, Spokane, Washington, along with Wylie Brisco and 10hn Schaak, who were
assigned to the Pinetree Radar Line and were at the 640 AC&W Squadron, at the Ernest Harmon
Air Force Base at Stevensville, Newfoundland, approximately 400 miles away. Because we had
access to a land line we were able to visit with Brisco and Schaak when they were on duty.
In October, we had a formal opening of the Officers' Club at Red Cliff, which was
located in the BOQ. We staged a welcome party for Capt. Charlie C. Larue's wife, who arrived
from West Virginia. They had secured housing in St. 10hn's, Newfoundland. We had a formal
presentation for Captain Larue consisting of an old copy of Monet's painting of "Olympia." It
was a real hit!
In October, 1953, I received a letter from my father advising me that his picture was
appearing in the November 1953 Pageant Magazine, along with Senator Hubert Humphrey of
Minnesota. The picture illustrated an article in Pageant Magazine dealing with the railroads that
employed my father. Sometime after the publication hit the newsstand, our CO, Major Elmer
Tackage called me into his office in the orderly room and inquired as to what kind of relationship
my father had with Senator Humphrey. I explained my father's background as a member of the
Legislature in Minnesota and his long-time friendship with Senator Humphrey and Senator
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what Major Tackage had in mind - perhaps a transfer or a promotion. I still have a copy of the
picture that Major Tackage gave me from his copy of Pagea/lt
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At the same time, Lieutenant Felix Forte announced that he was leaving the Air Force
and had received an "early out" to enroll in graduate school. That left us short-handed
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controllers until we could get a replacement for Forte.
Lieutenant Felix Forte was more fastidious than the other residents of the BOQ. An
example was the annual invasion of the BOQ by field mice. As the Newfoundland climate c
cooled down with the approaching winter, the field mice headed for the BOQ, which was warm
and comfortable. While the building was built on a cement slab, the metal walls occasionally left c
a gap that could be navigated by a curious mouse and during the frequent winter storms, you
could count on a small plume of snow ending up near those joints. It would not be unusual to
spot one of our fury friends dashing down the hallway or residing in the head, which was in the c
central part of the BOQ. One evening Forte announced that he had had it, and with that, retired
to his room and began to stuff all the cracks and spaces around the windows and under the doors
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with rolled up newspapers and other available materials. This industrious activity went on for
the most part of the evening until Felix announced that it was "done". A few minutes later, there
was a series of oaths worthy of a teamster and the door burst open. Forte stomped out
announcing that the plan had worked - except that he had sealed up at least one mouse with him
that had the run of his room until he opened the door to escape! Forte left the squadron a short
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time later to start graduate school, and returned to Massachusetts. Whether this incident
contributed to his early exit is unknown!
In November, we presented a Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Squadron Mess Hall.
Holiday meals at an Air Force Base were memorable. One objective was to provide the airmen
with all of the elements of a holiday at home and there was no better way to do that then by a
Thanksgiving meal or a Christmas dinner. We also made a special effort to invite dependants to
the Squadron Holiday celebration as an additional benefit.
Fire Marshall. On September 10, 1953, Lieutenant Galvin was appointed fire marshal
for the squadron, releasing Captain Roger Paquette. Paquette was an original member of the
108th AC&W Squadron and was being released from active duty to return to New York. The
fire marshal occasionally inspected each building for fire hazards and checked the fire
extinguishers. Since we were a remote radar station, we had no fire fighting equipment other
than a fire hose in each of the Quonsets and the nearest fire truck would be at Torbay Field or at
White Cliff at Division Headquarters. Life as a fire marshal at the Red Cliff Squadron was
uneventful until a February evening in 1954. The phone rang in the operations shack where I
was the duty controller.
An excited voice said "Lieutenant Galvin, are you the fire marshal?"
I responded, "I am."
The vojce said "This is Airman Leak. I am the telephone operator in Building 3715 and
it is on fire ."
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I said "How bad is it?"
He says, "Lieutenant, I'm going out the window now."
I was not scheduled to be relieved until midnight and there was no qualified controller in
the squadron area. Upon being relieved I walked up to the squadron area. The road and area
was still coated with ice after an ice storm. Building 3715 truly had been burned out. The roof
was gone and the walls were sagging and there was still a crowd of airmen standing around.
There were at least 30 or 40 fire extinguishers lying on the ground empty. No emergency
vehicles were able to respond to our calls for help because of icy road conditions. The trucks
had gotten as far at the bottom of the hill but they could go no further. The next day we brought
in a survey team to "survey out" what had burned. Some of the more imaginative airmen
outfitted themselves nicely by creative lists of personal property lost including clothing that had
been burned. A number of supply officers who were short sheets or blankets called politely to
inquire if I would issue a receipt for 50 sheets, more or less, and then survey them out in the fire.
There are, however, bounds of decency and I declined the opportunity. We had sufficient
barrack space so we re-allocated quarters, and when I left the squadron in July 1954, the building
was still empty.
Power Plants. All AC&W Squadrons had standby generators and they were
programmed to go on line if the Squadron lost its commercial power. Somebody decided it
would be appropriate to have all of the controllers checked out on the generator systems so they
could step in in an emergency and start the generator and phase the power into the squadron
system. We controllers nonchalantly went through the training program and immediately put it
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out of our mind. I had a slight advantage since I had been employed in college by a heavy
equipment manufacturing company and had on a number of occasions operated the equivalent of
D-8 caterpillar diesel that operated on similar starting principles. When we lost power one night
and went off the air, we decided we had to fire up the generators. There is a big difference
between training during daylight with competent instructors and approaching those generators in
darkness with the assistance of a hand-held flashlight. Fortunately the power came back on as
we were debating the method by which to proceed. We marked it down to a close cal1- no one
was electrocuted.
In December J 953, there was limited air traffic because of weather. For approximately
one month, there was no incoming or outgoing mail. When the mail finally arrived, there were
two full mail bags of St. Paul papers that had been sent to me by my father to the disappointment
of the men in the crew who were looking for "real mail." During this period of time, the Red
Cross called me urging me to write to my mother! I had to explain to them that I wrote to my
mother once a week but there was no mail delivery! The weather also had a significant effect on
the air traffic within the area that was under surveillance by the Squadron. We had a Holiday
dinner between Christmas and New Years at the Snellgrove residence on Water Street in SI.
John's, where I was a guest of the Snellgrove family. The Dinner was part of the Newfoundland
outreach program for American servicemen.
During Christmas J 953 the Squadron sponsored a gift program for the local
Newfoundland children who lived on Logy Bay Road between Ft. Pepperell and Red Cliff. In
this case, one of the Mess Sergeants, John Higgs, dressed up as Santa Claus and rode in the back
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of a 6x6 and handed out gifts as we went along. Unfortunately, "Santa Claus" had gotten into the
cooking sherry and we had to remove him from the truck before he embarrassed the United
States Air Force by throwing up in his beard! Not withstanding that, the program was a great hit
locally.
As was the custom, bachelor officers took all operational shifts during such important
holidays as Christmas and Easter, etc. On Christmas Eve 1953 I was the duty controller. I
recalled from my previous Christmas, December 1952, at the 75Sth AC&W Squadron at Neah
Bay, Washington, we had arranged with the 25th Air Division to intercept a sleigh driven by
eight reindeer and operated by a fat jolly elf-to wit-Santa Claus. I conferred with my
counterpart at the 64th Division Headquarters and he agreed that they would track Santa, if we
reported Santa. We arranged to intercept Santa coming from the North Pole some place north of
Gander. We then platted Santa, traveling at the speed of Super Constellation (the C-121). We
tracked Santa for about an hour and handed him off to the 640th AC&W Squadron at Ernest
Harmon Air Force Base. We assumed that Santa got his job done and presents distributed
without undue difficulty with the Air Defense Command. In 1952 the story made the
newspapers in the United States. In 1953 it probably made the newspapers, but the only
reference we saw was in Time magazine.
On New Year's Eve, I attended a party at the FI. Pepperell Officers' Club. I was able to
secure a ride back via jeep. Because of deep snow, however, they could not go up the hill to the
Squadron area. As a result, I walked up the hill and had a good 4 inches of snow accumulate on
my garrison hat and overcoat by the time I arrived at the Squadron area. The "security force"
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was quietly sleeping when I announced my presence at the gate. Air Policeman Smith was still
talking to himself as I mushed on to the BOQ.
Radio at Red Cliff. One of the features of the radio facilities at Red Cliff was the ability
to tune into non-military broadcasts. A civilian program that was unique to Newfoundland was
the "Barrel Man". In the absence of local telephone systems and roads between the outports it
was a necessary Service. At 6:00 p.m. each evening the "Barrel Man" would come on the radio
and read announcements that were originated in St. John's and were directed to residents of the
outports or vice versa. Many of these were deeply personal and reminded you of the isolation of
many of the outports and its residents. It would not be unusual to have the Barrel Man announce
that John Noseworthy, from Joe Batts' arm had arrived at the hospital in St. John's and his
operation was a success. There were, of course, painful messages to an outport from the Barrel
Man announcing the death of a member of the family or other personal tragedy.
Another radio opportunity was to tune into BBC during the midnight shift to listen to the
BBC Third Movement. It was generally classical music which played in the background and did
not interfere with our maintaining air surveillance or the recording of plats on the platting board.
On at least one occasion, we were privileged to hear Winston Churchill broadcast his now
famous speech at the Guild Hall following his loss of the election as Prime Minister. It was a
moving moment to hear a world figure speak and the reaction of the public to his remarks on that
occasion.
During January 1954, we had a number of Air Rescue Squadron incidents in which RAF
and RCAP planes would miss their designated checkpoints because of weather and would be
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identified as "unknown aircraft," thus setting off yellow alerts throughout the Division. While
we knew the crews well, we could not compromise air space security and could not assist them
in navigation. However, we disregarded the rule when it became a question of life and safety
and we had no reluctance to assisting in navigation under those circumstances.
During this period of time, there was great competition between the Air Defense
Command and the Strategic Air Command. Strategic Air Command launched a number of
exercises against the Air Defense Command. with efforts to penetrate the air defense net with
B-36s, B-29s, and ultimately the B-52s that came on line in 1952. On occasions we would have
visits from the Strategic Air Command observers, who would monitor activities from the
Division Operations Facilities at White Cliff.
While we had infrequent contact with the 640th AC&W Squadron at Ernest Harmon Air
Force Base at Stevensville. Newfoundland, we had contacts under rather unnerving
circumstances. In the Winter of 1954, we had detected an unknown aircraft penetrating the air
space north of Red Cliff. Division Headquarters made a determination to scramble F89's from
Ernest Harmon Air Force Base and attempt to an intercept. Our calculations put the unknown
aircraft over Newfoundland within the next 15 - 30 minutes. No detennination had been made
as to whether the 642nd or the 640th Squadron would conduct the intercept. Following the
decision to scramble, we waited patiently for the F89's to appear on our screens. After a few
minutes we inquired. Division Headquarters reported that neither the 642nd nor the 640th
AC&W Squadron was tracking the F89. The sky was empty. A few minutes later we were
advised that there had been a serious aircraft malfunction and a search was underway for the
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missing aircraft. We were told later that day that the aircraft had gone down in St. Georgia's Bay
with the loss of the full crew.
Inspection lit the L22 Site. Sundays were generally a very quiet day in operations. In
the early spring of 1954, we changed crews as scheduled on a Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m.
Shortly after relieving the other crew, I received a telephone call from Airman Willie Smith, an
air policeman, who was providing security at the gate to the lash-up site. He advised me that
there were two full colonels requesting permission to come into the site and conduct an
inspection. I took that opportunity to make sure that everyone was at their post and performing
their duties in operations. I then issued the only weapon in the operations building to
Tech/Sergeant Casmir Polkowski, in whom I had utmost confidence and asked him to go up to
the roof of the operations building as additional security. I then went to the security gate to meet
our visitors. I examined their credentials and inquired as to the purpose of tlie visit. I then called
division headquarters and conferred with the duty controller who confirmed their identity and
confirmed their authority. I then brought them into the operations building and they observed
activity for 15 or 20 minutes. They then asked to discuss matters with me and did so. One
question they asked was "Lieutenant, assuming that you've conducted an intercept and you have
identified the unknown aircraft as a Russian TU4 bomber, and it has not demonstrated any
hostile action, but continues its heading toward the United States, what would you do?
I replied immediately, "Colonel, I would order the aircraft shot down."
The Colonel reminded me that that was contrary to all applicable regulations and
procedures and asked:
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"Why would you do that?"
I replied, "Colonel, it will be far easier to explain why you shot down a Russian bomber
headed for New York City and Washington, rather than explain to a congressional inquiry what
happened to New York and Washington."
They departed the site and I heard nothing further.
The Random Island Disaster (Burgoynes Cove 8-36 Accident). A part of the folklore
of the Squadron dealt with events that occurred before my arrival at the Squadron in June 1953.
The following is the reconstruction of an incident as related to me by the controllers and
operational teams on duty in March, 1953. This incident illustrates the intensity of operations
during the Cold War.
On March 18, 1953, Air Surveillance detected unknown aircraft attempting to penetrate
the North American Air Defense Command Air Space. Because of the distance of fighter
support from the Squadron no intercepts could be launched or made. Unknown to the Air
Defense Command, SAC had launched a series of efforts to penetrate the Air Defense Command
perimeter. These flights had originated in the Azores Islands. They sent a number of B-36s at
low altitude, around 300 feet above sea level to penetrate the air space between Gander and Red
Cliff. The Squadron picked the aircraft up out of the sea clutter and tracked them for a few
sweeps before they disappeared into the land clutter. They were immediately identified as
unknown. Headquarters started calling for additional plots. None were to be had. The Duty
Controller dead reckoned the aircraft, but they did not reappear. The controller handed them off
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to Ernest Harmon, but they had completely disappeared from sight. All hell broke loose. The
Eastern Air Defense Command was demanding information. Division was demanding
information and Red Cliff reported the last location as the results of its dead reckoning. Several
hours later a different set of inquiries came through. Where was our last sighting? What was the
area like? Did we hear any radio transmissions? Did we hear any maydays? At dawn we were
asked to assist in directing the RCAF Air Rescue Squadron stationed at Torbay to the site. A
snow storm was raging. The initials results of their search showed nothing - visibility was "0".
Later in the day there were civilian reports of low flying aircraft in the vicinity of Random,
Island. Random Island was about 150 miles north of Red Cliff on a direct line with the area in
which we had last detected the unknown aircraft. Later that day the wreckage of a B-36 was
found on Random Island where the high point was 350 feet, which was fatal to aircraft flying at
300 feet. The B-36 was part of a massive SAC exercise that originated in the Azores and was
designed to penetrate the Air Defense Command Defense. The aircraft in question was flown by
General Ellsworth of SAC. The enter crew of 23 were killed. The plane is still in the field as a
monument to the crew and to Coldwar. The monument is maintained by the RCAF. See the
Report of Frank Tibio in the appendix. The official report of this accident covers 750 pages!
Small World. In February 1954, late one evening we were returning from Ft. Pepperell
when we noted a set of lights ahead of us on the road to Red Cliff. We concluded that there was
a vehicle off the road. When we arrived, it was the base courier, who had slipped off the road
and rolled his jeep over in the ditch. A number of us got out of the truck and put a chain on the
jeep and were pulling out of the ditch when I turned to the driver, who I could see in the
moonlight and said, "Are you from St. Paul, Minnesota?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Did you go to
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Cretin High School?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you Boots Healy, Class of '48?" He said,
"Yep." He had graduated with me from Cretin High School in SI. Paul, Minnesota 4 or 5 years
earlier. In later years I ran into him on the streets of St. Paul, but he had no recollection of the
incident.
On February 24, 1954 I was advised that I had been promoted to I" Lieutenant by order
of the 64th Air Division. The additional pay was welcome - the responsibilities remained the
same!
April 15, 1954, Special Order No. 63 Headquarters 64, 3rd Division directing 1st Lt.
Galvin to the 61st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Eamest Harmon Air Force Base, TOY for five
days for purpose of aircraft controller and radar observation cross training effective April 18,
1954. Training was to be completed on or about April 28, 1954, just in time to start a 3D-day
leave and a trip to Europe starting on May 3, 1954.
I was assigned TOY to the 61st Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Stephensville,
Newfoundland (Ernest Harmon Air Force Base). The purpose was to cross train as a radar
observer. I secured a flight on an air force C54 (Mats flight) from Torbay Field and arrived late
in the afternoon at Ernest Hannon Air Force Base. I was billeted in the Degink HotelNisiting
BOQ. I was advised that the entire 61st Fighter Interceptor Squadron would be gathering at the
Officers' Club for their monthly "Scorpion Party" that evening. This was aptly named since the
nickname of the F89 was the "Scorpion". I arrived at the Officers' Club shortly after the Martinis
started to flow and just before target practice with hard dinner rolls started. The highlight of the
cocktail hour was a series of challenges to the squadron commander in Indian Leg Wrestling.
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This sport had been raised to a new high by the 61st Fighter Interceptor Squadron. I found the
operations officer and he suggested I report to the flight line at 8 am The next morning. The
Scorpion Party wound down sometime after 10 pm., when jet fuel was substituted for martinis.
The next morning I was introduced to Captain Jack Kelly, a Westpoint graduate and
veteran F89 pilot. I went through a brief familiarization program and we filed a flight plan for a
local flight. I noted that Kelly was not wearing a survival suit. I inquired. He advised me that
life expectancy in the North Atlantic, if we took a bath, was approximately 2 minutes and the
survival suit would add only 15 or 20 minutes to your life expectancy. We flew in street shoes
and class A uniforms. They were spectacular flights and I came away from the cross training
program with a much better understanding of the operational abilities of the F89 and the
limitations on intercepting unknown aircraft.
In March, we attended Easter Sunday Mass at the Seafarer's Chapel on the Outer Cove
Road. This necessitated a walk from the Squadron area by approximately 15 or 20 of us to
attend Mass since no military transportation was available. During this period of time, the
chaplain would come once a month to the Squadron area to celebrate Mass. I often acted as the
reader and got to know our chaplain very well. To my amazement, in the fall of 1954 when I
enrolled at the University of Minnesota Law School, I identified my classmate John Cochran as
our former chaplain at the 64th Air Division. John had elected to leave the religious life and
decided to be a lawyer. John graduated from law school with me and moved to Phoenix to
practice law. We stayed in contact until his death in the early 2000's.
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There was a famous St. Patrick's Day party on March 17,1954 at the Royal Canadian Air
Force Base at Torbay, which was memorialized in song thereafter. The Royal Canadian Air
Force maintained operations at Torbay Field including an officer's club. Among other operations
at Torbay they had an airlsea rescue squadron consisting of two converted Lancaster bombers.
Each Lancaster had a large rescue boat or dory strapped underneath the fuselage. They were
equipped to go to the site of a disaster, circle and then jettison the boat, which would parachute
down to the water and, hopefully, anyone involved in the emergency could somehow make
contact with the dory and be rescued. Some of us had doubts. The commander of the squadron
was Flying Officer Percival Gilles. He was a "type A personality". He was the equivalent of a
Captain in the United States Air Force. He and his crew would often-times show up at Fort
Pepperel Officers Club for a drink. They would regularly invite us to join them at the RCAF
Club. On SI. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1954, several of us from the 64111 Air Division gravitated
to the Torbay RCAF Club. We had borrowed an ambulance for the trip from the motor pool at
Fort PeppereJ. During the course of the festivities, a day with significant snow melt, it became
cold. When we went back to the ambulance for our return trip, the brakes had frozen . The
standard procedure to loosen up the frozen brakes was simply a task of pulling on the brake
cables and loosening up the parking brake, which was the offender. While I was busily engaged
in the task of loosening the brakes - which required you to crawl under the ambulance, Flying
Officer Gilles, decided to move the ambulance - with me under it! Fortunately ambulances of
that vintage have a wide wheel base and high clearance and no harm was done.
"Ships Storc". From time to time, we had heard that there were excellent bargains at the
PX at Argentia Navy Air Station. While Argentia was only 50 or 60 miles from SI. John's,
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navigating the local road was hazardous. Lieutenant Fred Zint and I headed for Argentia one
morning in his English Mayflower compact car. The road was being re-graded and while
changing lanes we managed to pass over a large rock and damaged the transmission levers.
While we were pondering our fate, a Navy carryall came by, threw a chain on the Mayflower and
towed us in to Argentia where they found a friendly mechanic in the motor pool, who agreed to
fix the Mayflower and assure us it would not be a problem. We caught another ride to the Navy
PX and headed immediately to the photography counter. I had been told they had a great sale on
Leica Cameras. One hour later I had parted with $350.00 and acquired a Leica 3F camera with a
1.5 Summarit lens - the finest optic available. After wandering around the PX and making a
couple of minor investments, we called base transportation as visiting officers, and a carryall
took us back to the motor pool, where the Mayflower had been miraculously repaired.
Unfortunately, because of scheduling, there were no more trips to Argentia. I still have the
Leica, and it still takes great pictures.
The Grand Tour of Newfoundland. The raw beauty of Newfoundland was readily
apparent from our numerous trips to and from division headquarters and our hikes in the areas
adjacent to Red Cliff. In the spring of 1954 Lt. Tom Fannen, Headquarters Squadron 64th Air
Division secured the use of an ambulance. He and I loaded our camping gear, foodstuff, and
several cases of Tuborg beer into the back of the ambulance. We took a three-day pass and left
on a tour of Conception Bay and Trinity Bay. Our first stop was Brigus, a historic village that
was the hereditary home for the sealing fleet. It was also the home of Captain Robert Bartlett a
famous artie explorer. We then went to Carbonear and Harbor Grace, two communities with
different religious backgrounds that were three or four miles apart. We then toured all of the out
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ports including Hearts Delight, Hearts Content, Hearts Desire, Old Perlican and New Perlican
and others too numerous to mention. Wherever we went we were well received by the locals.
On one memorable occasion we had run out of ice for the beer. We came across an authentic
icehouse complete with local ice buried in sawdust but no responsible person around. We
borrowed sufficient ice to cool the beer and moved on to complete our tour.
Don Brown Wedding. In the spring of 1954, Don Brown, a Philco Tech rep fell
hopelessly in love with a lovely resident of St. John's. A wedding was planned with a reception
at the Colony Club. Galvin volunteered the services of the mess hall and its talented staff. Don
Brown requested a traditional white tiered wedding cake, since the custom in Newfoundland was
to have a flat, dark wedding cake. Mess Sergeant Earl Glidden mustered the best and the
brightest and produced a tiered wedding cake. It was a masterpiece that required careful
handling. We finally got it into Galvin's 1950 Studebaker and, with two airrne.n riding shotgun,
we got it to the Colony Club well ahead of the start of the reception. The cake was a master
piece and the hit of the evening.
During April we were assigned a new controller and I was dispatched to Ft. Pepperell to
pick him up. On the way back, in an open jeep, we went through Logy Bay. We stopped for a
view of the area. He said, "Boy, the only thing that would improve this is a cold beer." I was
able to oblige him because we had several cases of beer stashed in creek at Logy Bay, just for
such "emergencies." Our favorite beverage was Tuborg Beer, a Danish import readily available
at the PX and Officers Club. Upon producing a Tuborg Beer under these circumstances resulted
in Captain Charlie LaRue dubbing me the "Tuborg Kid".
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In the period 1952 to 1954 the RAF and the RCAF took delivery of a number of
DeHavilland Comet Aircraft (the DH106). At the same time the Comet was being delivered to
the military it was also delivered to BOAC as the newest plane for airline service. It was an
uncommonly good airplane - with one exception.
In the Spring of 1954 a Senior RAF Air Marshall was scheduled to land and inspect the
Torbay RCAF Base at St. John's Newfoundland. Because of the short runway he directed that he
would land the plane himself because it was necessary to utilize the full runway. Unfortunately,
the Air Marshall landed 50 yards short of the paved runway and sent up a shower of rocks and
pebbles that punctured the fuselage in a number of places. It was approximately three weeks
before they could have the aircraft flight-worthy. In the meantime the Comet demonstrated a
propensity for disintegrating while in the air including a crash in Rome and one in Karachi, India
with the loss of all Passengers. They were soon taken out of service and none are operational
today.
In May 1954, I took 30 days leave. In order for Lt. Fred Zint, the Assistant Club Officer,
and I to catch a MATS Flight (military air transport service) flight to Europe, we had to present
ourselves at the Operations Building at the Argentia Navy Air Station in Newfoundland. We
took a regularly scheduled carryall from Fort Pepperell to Argentia and arrived at operations in
the morning for a flight that would come through Argentia on its way to London at mid­afternoon.
Since we had time on our hands, I used the opportunity to contact Petty Officer Jim
Sampair, a good friend from St. Paul, Minnesota, who was stationed at Argentia. After two or
three calls, I was able to reach Jim by telephone. I discovered he was two hangers away and he
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invited us over for coffee. Because of the inclement weather, we were wearing our Air Force
blue raincoats - but no evidence of rank. We strolled into Sampair's hanger and he introduced us
to his crew who were maintaining P2V Patrol Bombers operating out of Argentia. He invited us
to take off our coats and stay for a cup of coffee. When I took off my raincoat, he looked at me
and said "My God, you're an officer." After a few uncomplimentary comments about officers,
we settled down for a visit until flight time.
Our MATS flight took us to London. After touring London, we took the boat train to
Paris. After Paris, we went on to the French Rivera. We had been waiting for a long time to hit
the sandy beaches of the Mediterranean! Following our adventures in Nice and the Rivera, we
took the train to Cannes, then to Monte Carlo. Then on to Geneva, and Switzerland, where we
spent several days. We then took the train to Milan, then Pisa and Florence. Later we took the
train to Rome and Naples. In Naples we then took a MATS C-121 to London. This flight was
scheduled to stop at Argentia Navy Base in Newfoundland and, if everything worked we would
be "Home." Unfortunately, we were bumped in London by priority passengers. Lt. Fred Zint
then took civilian flights to Newfoundland via Montreal to check in at the 64'" Air Division
before he was AWOL. I took the train to Prestwick, Scotland, took an Air Force C-S4 as a
courier to Westover Air Force Base. At Westover I was designated a courier officer and took a
C-S4 to Argentia. then took a carry-all to Torbay and Ft. Pepperell. From Ft. Pepperrell, I took
the daily truck ride to Red Cliff, signed in, then went to the civilian side of the Torbay airport
and met Lt. Zint, who was flying in from Montreal at a considerable cost for his ticket!
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In June, one of the ainnen was married and we had an outdoor reception for the lovely
couple and the entire Squadron at Logy Bay. The event was well done under the supervision of
the Mess Sergeant Glidden and will long be remembered.
While I was counting down on the remaining days of my tour, certain responsibilities
continued. I was still the Mess Officer and any and all crisis's would be placed on my doorstep.
In the middle of June I received a telephone call from one of the sergeants in the Mess Hall -
"Lt., the potatoes have arrived". I said "inventory them and put them away" - the response was a
panic stricken report that the Squadron was getting a years supply of potatoes - 8 tons! Rapid
calculations told me that this meant we had 160 100 pound bags of potatoes! It took 3 days to
find enough dry cool storage space, but we had our potatoes!
At this time we started the transition from the "L" site to the "P" site. The official records
show that June 1st was the activation date of the new site. However, we continued to operate out
of the "L" site, since there were serious mechanical problems with the new site. (See Wilder's
Report). It went well into August before the "P" site was operational and was up and running.
During the interim, "D Team" continued to man the old site. By this time I was the Squadron's
senior controller - call sign Examiner 7. (During my brief time with the 61st Fighter Interceptor
Squadron my call sign was Shako Red Leader 2.)
June 3, 1954 Personnel Action Memorandum No. 52, 642nd AC&W Squadron dated
June 3, 1954 changed the designation of Lt. Galvin and other named officers from aircraft
controller to interceptor controller. This was part of the transition from the L22 site to the N22
or pennanent site.
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On July I, 1954, we conducted another practice alert. Flight D which was also Operations
Team D was assigned to perimeter defense from the security gate around the fuel tank area and
along the squadron perimeter adjacent to the new operations building. Several pictures of D
team during the alert and immediately following the alert have been posted at the Red Cliff Web
Site.
In July 1954 I received a call from Lt. Tom Fannon at Division Headquarters. He advise
me that we could return to the States by troop ship. I agreed. I had previous experience on troop
ships when I traveled to and from the 1947 Boy Scout Jamboree in France by troop ship and
thought I would enjoy the cruise. We departed on the troop ship M. Johnson on or about July 30,
1954. Our departure from the harbor at St. John's was compete with band and an official
delegation, including Lt. Shirley Dale Beavers, our Adjutant, Lt. John Jefferies, our Radar
Maintenance Officer, Capt. "Pappy" Lane, Capt. Charlie LaRue and several Tech Reps and
miscellaneous other personnel. Since Lt. Tom Fannon and I were the only officers on the ship
we were given certain responsibilities - since I was the senior officer by 2 or 3 days, I was the
Troop Commander and Fannon was the Assistant Troop Commander. Our duties were not
rigorous!
Our voyage took us to Reykjavik, Iceland, Happy Valley, Labrador, then Stevensville,
Newfoundland, and then Newport, Rhode Island, for the "degaussing course." We then ended up
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, took a bus to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, where we'd been processed
for overseas 14 months earlier.
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Upon receiving my discharge, on August 8, 1954. I went to Washington, DC, to visit
Tom and Susan Fannon as well as old college friends in Washington. D.C. I then took the
Northwest Airlines Stratacruiser to Minneapolis-St. Paul and took a cab to 104 South Fairview
the family home in Saint Paul. As I was getting out of the cab, I met Minnesota Governor C.
Elmer Anderson (who lived next door) who was standing on the sidewalk in front of our house.
I said, "Governor. doesn't it take a lot of time out of your busy schedule to greet each of us
returning heroes individually." He said, "Nope. I take a walk about this time every night."
I immediately stepped into wedding preparations for Lt. Patrick J. Scanlon, USN, who
was to be married August 28, 1954, and Bob Donlan, who was to be married on September 11,
1954. I was a groomsman at both weddings. I then worked for several weeks for the Badger
Machine Company in Winona, Minnesota, where I had been employed before my Air Force tour,
prior to starting law school. In the interim my footlockers arrived and I was able to distribute
mementos to the family, including 3 cases of Scotch, which I installed in the basement in M.J.
Galvin, Sr.'s liquor locker. In late September I sponsored a very large cod.:tail party at the
family home to welcome myself back and went on to prepare for the start of law school in late
September.
Return to Red ClifCin 1997.
In September 1997, my wife Frances and I returned to Newfoundland along with my
partner Dave and Claire Forsberg. We arrived in St. Johns on TransCanada Airlines from
Halifax. The landing was one of the roughest in memory. We took a tour of the city, including
Cabbot Tower, a trip to Quidy Vidia, trip to Bay Bulls, and then a trip to Ft. Pepperell. We
1701340vl 53
found the old Officers' Club but it was closed at that time. During our 1997 visit to
Newfoundland, SI. 10hn's and Red Cliff, we discovered that the United Nations was holding the
"Summit of the Seas," a conference devoted to world issues surrounding the use of oceans and
fishing and focusing on the depletion of those natural resources. Newfoundland was a poster
child since the cod fishing operations had been shut down by government order a few years
earlier. Since my partner, Dave Forsberg, and I had an open afternoon and declined the
invitation of our spouses to go shopping, we headed to the Summit of the Seas. We offered to
register as observers, but no such category existed. We moved into the Hall and sat down and
listened to the proceedings. Since this was the second or third day of the conference, positions
had been taken and staked out. Today was the day for rebuttal and the conference stage was
filled with experts who had been pontificating on the State of World Fisheries for several days.
The panel was now prepared to hear from the public. Microphones were placed in each of the
three aisles leading to the conference stage. The first speaker introduced himself as a fisherman
from Twillingate on Trinity Bay. After a few preliminaries, including profanities, he pointed out
that there were no fishermen on the panel, but there were all self-styled experts. Secondly, there
was enough codfish in Trinity Bay that would permit him to walk against the bay on the backs of
the cod. By then, dozens of speakers were lining up in front of each of the microphones. It was
clear it was going to be a long day for the panel so we moved quietly on, recognizing the deep
difference of opinion between the United Nations' experts and the Newfoundlanders who had
been making their living on the sea for over 500 years. We then made a trip to Red Cliff. We
parked and walked up the hill. There is now a very large transmission facility operated by the
Canadian Broadcasting System. The facilities were in ruins with a few walls still standing.
1701340vl 54
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Time did not permit a trip to the old operations site which was approximately half a mile from
the permanent site. Dave Forsberg looked tlie area over and suggested that it reminded him of
the movie of Patton in which George C. Scott was pictured at the end of the movie in front of the
ruins of Carthage looking out to sea, saying, "May there be another war and may it start soon."
1701340vl 55
1701340v1
APPENDIX TO UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF
RED CLIFF NEWFOUNDLAND
1. Website for "Searching the Skys" www.airspacemag.com (Look for specified
articles)
2. September 1, 1953 roster of officers and men of 642nd AC&W Squadron.
3. D-TearnlFlight roster - July 1, 1954.
4. Website for photographs that have been posted. (To be determined)
5. Article by Frank Tiboo regarding B-36 crash at Random Island.
6. Log of military flights by Lieutenant M.J. Galvin, Jr.
7. Bob Wilder's history for the lOS'h AC&W Squadron.
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1701340vl
APPENDIX 1
Web site for "Searching the Skip"
www.airspacemag.com
(Look for Specified Article)
Appendix 1
C
APPENDIX 2
September 1, 1953 roster of officers
and men of 642nd AC&W Squadron
llE.IJlQUARTERS
642ltl AL~_CF FT COMlROL kllD • !ARIIING SQuADRon
APO 862 c/o B!, N. Y., N. Y ..
Personnel Roster as of lJ, September 1953
I'AJClS SElUA L NUMBER ~ C
TACKriGE, EU-!ER E AC1795509
CAPTAIIIS
CRUG, JOHN R {.0930346 3011
IA IlEY, THEON 1.0857746 3044
U,Pl1l~, CHi:RIES C :.C6!l4749 1635
IA YI1E, 1ICl'J-1A1l R A 0'.24119 1631 C
FIrST LlEUTEllAllTS
8lAD:;l'\!Y, ELMEr. U AOIlJ,1066 '~l -
rIA 1"ell, . GEQ!lGE L JR t.C1768oSS 3034
mLLS, RODNEY C A C17 487/,1 1635
THooll, DO~.AID W AOS24603 1631
\'L\GNZR, JOSEPH II 1.0942637 C WlIH.ElI, HILLIAlf E A0697C178 6421
A02245492 7021
FORTE, R A02247417 1631
GALVIII, HICIIAEL J A02250621 1631
JEFFRIES, JC!!N E A02248362 3031
H ·STEP. SERGE.I!lTS
EOSS, CU,WE E .'F3S01S237 90270
f.nS010973 60370
, EARL 0 P.F21210667 62270 GOrd.fMI, RAYHIlID A AF31172520 99970 C
HILL, STAliLEY J AF37412225 27370
HIFFS, Jool P. 'AF34091864 62270
KEEL, HALTER II AF20504268 90270
PIERCE, GECRGE 11 AF21939859 30470
POLKCI:5KI, CASilillt AF16191719 30372
STA LJ., SIDNEY J AF28027384 27350
C
AF15629635 96170
11OO~IAN P AF13223097 27350
EVERT ~I A1'17262606 70250
1llJR!iESS, om T AFff:J47545 62350
DAGGETT, DOl:t..LD G AF21939774 73250
FIERCE, IIRTIIlHl H AF16353967 81370 C HOGAn, EUGElIE J 1..1'219(.0967 90250
JellllSON, IICFTotl E AF38~!iO' 36350
1101340vl Appendix 2 - 1
1701340v1
liD. 642nd AC&W Sq Personnel Roster
S'l'JtFF SERGEANTS CONT 'P
KSLLY, JO$ffi F
Kroll:::?, GEatGE L
LisIl!S, AlAN G
LIGSTCtI, PAUL J
NatGAN, JAHES H
o 'REAR, CARL H
Rtl' PAtI, ~:ILT.r.r,N H
I'l\ ~PAS, JCllN P
PIERS!, LL, DOli" LD F
RIC~J.!'DSCN, H.~POID P.
SAIl1lRIDGE, GllY H
THClIAS, ROOERT E
VANDY::E, R/,:frlam V
i·:TIl:EP.D, \IILLIf.H E
\IILDJ::il., ROLERT H
t,/lIHEIl·lS, LJiROY H
AIRW.N FIRST CU.SS
!~ LLISOll, RICIL'."D S
DORG, I,CNE
onssot!, RICH" P.D F'
DHIDY, C!Jo?.El-.'CE G JR
CARNEY, \!ILIJJ.I·\ G
CURRY, w.nVnI L
D,~ VIS, GLEN!! i:
DICKENS, SiJ·ruF:L
DIr..s, VICTa;. F
FLCMR, \/ESIEY I.
FRCST, llo.lf.PJJ N
GRUE~S, ROf']l''.T r­GUGINO,
A!lTIIONY C
HM1SEN, DIJ.E V
Hf.NSEN, J:.N 0
HILDEDRt.!ID, ffiIT..LIP 0
HOLLl.NDSWCRTH, CLIIITON
!!.lrrER!, F.OBERT J
JONF,s, t.LL'ERT H
KOUNTZE, C:.RL C J1\
IA THP.OP, RO!lfP.T C
LEf.THERNAN, EILLIE H
LOVERN, THOMI.S G JR
!-!!\Cl<AY, ANDRE\! K
HALL01, ERNEST L
HARTIll, HAROLD i~
HORRIS, JOSEffi U JR
MURffiY, JOHN W
NELSOl!, ERNEST W
NELSON, ROlm'.T 11
mUl, :rnEDERICK J
SERIAL NUMBER
AF1l203542
AF13391650
AF19359891
IIF154284B3
AF44107421
AFJ4223733
AF384640Q9
AF16272953
:.Fl2269752
AFlB293691
!,F33539514
AF21695727
I, F140413 54
I,F13340767
l.F21939759
i:F162!!4264
.'lF1730291S
AF123434B1
AF1l20176S
/>1'11187943
AFIB269084
IIF14277505
H36846332
I.Fl6350552
/~12325957
t.Fl2360593
/.Fl3368934
/.F16349922
I:F12359852
IlF1940B464
!lP16376575
AF17304998
[,F13372086
!.F13393946
/,Fl4440047
I,F143652B4
AF1l217553
t.F14409755
AFl4395306
I,F1l203661
AF143S1306
;'.F1442Q646
I.Fl2330103
I.F14386303
AF21949148
/,F23010175
1.Fl3389177
Appendix 2 -2
DAFSC
27350
62150
30.370
27350
64151
56630
36170
64151
62250
201,70
36250
77251
64150
29150
29351
29270
62330
96150
36350
27330
27350
60350
62250
96130
29351
30352
30352
96150
62350
29150
29351
29250
30352
30352
62150
96150
30450
29351
30450
96150
62250
62250
47155
27350
30352
30351
c
Hq 642nd AC&W Sq Personnel Roster
!.tRW.N FIRST CUSS CONT ID SEfn ':L NUMlJER DAFSC C
B'ill.~~LLt\, C.'.RMEN A t·F2l953203 62250
}'ENROll, RICHAfll W t.FI5/.34230 62250
SCHULTE, TlICMhS H AFI542608') 96150
STEFHEtlS, IIILLIAM 11 AF18367365 73150
SULLIVI.N, JalN E AFl2344848 27350
SWE!.T, DARYL L /,Fl 7297930 62350 (
TUIlNER, H/,L L 1.F14390773 36351
\L~GNER, ~~LEON L AFl9366207 W350
~lHEELER, ROOER M AF1l210396 62250
~r.iIDE1U1t.N, W.r.DLD E I,F16235400 96010
'.flU.I,.HS, ROBERT J.f JR J.F14390890 29150
ZII1!ER!If!,N, \rrLLL"~l AF12047455 47155 C
llIm'lAli SECOND CLlLSS
/,CKIES, FREDERICI( A P.F163S5908 29250
:.LFU'.D, HARVEY J 1.F18378566 64131
jolmEllsoIl, NEI.L B t.F19280293 47135
r.JtJUl!!)S, HITLIE J I.F15437930 96150
mOOAN, ncx:ry J P.F13433'752 99350 0
C;,RRIKER, SIIEllIW, L I,F19342855 620.10
ClmER, \IILLIIol~ A .m I.F43022885 27~50
COO PER, HAROLD E 1.F21939821 6:1 10
Dt.VILIJ" Root,ID F AF281463~1 29351
DI LIJJUl , ClI/IRLES D f,F1434097 4 47134
FIIlLEY, MURLEY R AF14399854 36230 0 GALLINGER, WILLL'.N R AF21939872 29351
GALU~GHER, THOHAS AFl2405820 62230
GREITZ, ROllERT S AFl2420244 29150
GR;\UDSi GUNARS JIF19441227 29351
III,LE, JI,HES R /,Fl3319317 30352
Ht.LLEll, DEAlI AF26987834 29230
Ho,IARD, RO!lEHT AFl5461783 29150 G
JENSON, JOSEFH E AFl9441540 29351
JrImSOlI, RALffi T ' AFl5464940 30352
.TONES, ROBERT E 1,F1?319053 29351
JOSLIH, ROBERT I. AFl4465742 29230
IrnOl,UNGA, VIRGIL D AF19440066 29230
LAFEVER, DILLY G AF14399946 30352
U,GO, HllHRY W AF21949157 4'1154
IEt.K, DEUJI,MIH T 1.F14461120 29130
1<!.\DlGA II, JAMES J !.F12425113 27350
J.K)CAIN, GENE E I,F13388523 60330
MCGIHNIS, CHfillLES R AFl3384092 30352
HCRRIS, ROIlERT C AF1549!l967 30352
MOYLE, HILLII.N AFl4428234 73230 C
miCE, DONl.LD R J.F1937S333 27330
Rt.Y, ROLERT H AF14460398 29351
S;,NDSTEDT, HELVIII /, AF17340511 30450
Sf,VIIS, Sl.H AFl64164BO 30352
.'
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1701340,1 Appendix 2 -3 (
1701340v1
Hq 642trl AC&W Sq Personnel noster
Br,MAN SECOND CU,SS CONT ID
SW.TTON, LYNN C
STUP, nOIl.IID R
Sl].ml1SKILL, GERALD D
TICYJ,L, RICJt\!lD J
TREt.I~'IE, mcw.fin A
~1!nTE, ilOOERT G
~IILSON, ANDREW J JR
~IILKEr,SON, GlEan'l E
,1000, I:EllJ,UoITH P
!Jry.~H TRIllD CIMS
ADAMS, THECDmE R
I.IIDREr., RICIl,' RD H
I'LUHE, HILLIAM 0
tRA'rCHEn, ;IILLIIJl1
rREI;J:i!.N, ~IILLII.M G
BRIMM, ALTON J
ERYAN, W,LU,CE F
CEJKA, \/ILLL'J·l D
C['l. ~lFmD, HI.ROID r
l1\VIS, CHARLlE I. JR
DONil OE, CHAT LES R
DOUGHERTY, DON/.LD H
DURI'm, ROLEnT T
GAIW.RD, J.:HES L
GRMlIlIG, "U. H H
GF.EGffiY, WILLI!.H Il
HI.RTZ, nOrmT E
IlEI'ERT, notERT F
HOLLO,Il.Y, CHf.RLES .m
HOU-lES, STl\NLEY G
HOPFEll, DILL C
ILG, KENt~ETII n
INGLESE, VINCEtolT G
JACKSON, CU,UDE J
KINES, PAUL L
UlnA, PEDRO R
LEAKE, JOSEFH T JR
WIIS, JClJN A JR
HtDERE, BOYCE P
,.r.DISON, !,LVIII ~I
'·U.tlIKAS, JOHN PJR
HANN, RODERT J
WiRTIN, mLLIlJ-! C
J.lASSENGALE, HUGH A
Ht.Sur, P/.THICK H
W.YNAnD, EDHmlD L
HCDON/,LD, HELvnt J
~t;DOHI,ID, RONl.LD J
SERIAL l'Jm<flER
J.F12400597
/,F13425353
AF1735S040
AF17353322
AF1l257059
kF14410927
t.F14457S06
LF1B325530
AF21948305
AFl2426767
AFl2423329
1.F19440199
AF14149701
;'.F13458392
!.Fll242368
ilFle430645
!.F12350254
j,Fl21,27594
;,F18389649
!.F154!l37CY7
i.F19467754
t.F15497322
1.F14406283
AF14490246
J.F24763513
,\F19464i.06
AF21275751
J,F17375770
1,Fl94627S9
:.F17363234
AFl24230/..l
AF124239S0
AFl6425543
AFl4460417
AF16247791
AF155015S4
AF12420S02
!.Fl64321S6
AFl2433660
AF12426770
AFll24B503
LFl6420256
s-.:nS43 0675
AFl7371794
AF16430165
AF1945234B
AF1l21048B
Appendix 2 -4
D/,FSO
30450
30450
29130
30450
29150
27330
29351
29331
29351
27330
27330
27330
62130
27330
27330
60330
29331
27330
60310
27330
27330
27330
27330
27330
27330
27330
62230
27330
27330
27330
27330
55131
27330
27330
94131
27330
27330
36251
27330
27330
62130
64131
(;0330
27330
27330
27330
56530
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Mq 64200 AC&tl Sq Personnel Roster
:.I:ll4l.N THU'.D CU.SS COlI!' ID SEr.L·,L NIlMCm Mr§Q
ME:llKE, HEIl!Hf.nD !.F1242J427 27J30
11ElI:'I;LL, DILLY AF25412051 27330
MILLm, RI11NOND H :'FlS40565J 62010 NAUGHTON, RICHf.nD T AF1242J 644 29130 C
NEWSCl1E, LEn OY JR I.F12424558 29130
OLSON, ElIIIEST E AF121,22041 27330
P/.RSIEY, MlTHUR J H18281509 47134
B\ U;~\, JOilII E AF13465604 55131
PEl!RY, THEOD am D II Fl44!l8658 27330
PITZl!R, RICH!,PJ) L IIF17377137 27330 C nlCP!.RDSOH, FLOYD R 1,Fl41,75759 70230
r.fJ.!!.REZ, EFP-·.N JR 1,Fl.6443356 27330
HILEY, roorY H IIF14417141 73230
aOCp.ll, now.to II C AF12428116 27330
RoroIGUEZ, /'S!:EL" AF12392646 56430
St.WYEl\, LEON C f.Fl4;?9:C766 29130
SCI.HU.N, JOIH 0 I.F16325174 70230 C
SI'IPFEn, GEmGE J AF154<fr149 27330
SMITH, ROfERT H AFl549B(,29 27330
STOllE, H.~1iI'.Y G IlF13369282 96130
SUAREZ, JflUN JR AF18429445 29130
SW.uISOIl, GECIlGE tl "Fl6402110 36130
SWE"RE, DUANE A f.Fl6420675 27330
THOHPSOM, CU!iRY II AFl41,83969 27330 C
WILK, CHESTEr. K 1.F1549iSt09 29130
~IIIJ1ETH, HOOltIS II 1.F18436997 27330
~IILSON, f.LDERT F AF18424398 62010
tIRIGHT, ERWIII D 1.],'19489988 29010
\'/yllKOOP, CHARLES L AFl2421754 27330
C
AmW.l1 r::.SIC
Figueroa, Roberto D t.F30452009 62010
I1JCOLll-I, DEUIER 1Fl6418517 29130
VElI:.DLE, GLEN E I.F25418078 29010
(
THE EIlD
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1701340vl
Appendix 2 -5 (
APPENDIX 3
SUBJECT: Practice Alert
TO: All Personnel Flight "D"
Assembly Points: Airman's Entrance to Orderly Room
S/Sgt John Sullivan
NIC Billie Leathennan
1'1 Squad
N 1 C Robert Ianieri
N2C Donald Price
N3C Robert Durbin
N2C White Robert
N3C Joseph Leake
N3C Ruben Casteneda
N3C Arthur Proctor
N20 Charles Donohoe
2nd Squad
NIC Clinton Hollandsworth
N2C Robert Howard
N3C Edmund Maynard
N3C Richard Fitzer
N3C John O'Leary
N2C Reinhard Menke
N3C Robert Hoffman
3rd Squad
NIC Roy Powell
N2C Gunars Grauds
N3C Chester Walk
N2C Morrie Wilmeth
N3C Harold Adams
N2C Lynn Stratton
N2C Wayne Parish
N2C Theodore Baver
1980342vl
(Fit Sgt)
(Asst Fit S gt)
(Sq Ldr)
(Asst Sq Ldr)
(Runner)
(Sq. Ldr)
(Asst Sq Ldr)
(Runner)
(Sq Ldr)
(Asst Sq Ldr)
(Runner)
Appendix 3 - 1
1 July 1954
1980342vl
APPENDIX 4
Website for Photographs that
have been posted
(to be determined)
Appendix 4 - 1
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Galvin. Mlchaol Jr.
To: FRANK TIS80
Subject: RE: libbo
APPENDIX 5
Article by Frank Tiboo regarding
B-36 crash at Random Island
Page 1 of5
Frank,thank you for the arlete and the Jetter,When I arrived al Red Clirt the Sqadron was almost entirely Air Guard Resorvists from
the 108 Aircraft Control Group from up state New York who had been called to active duty In 1951 .They manned the site with
WW2 equipment and the sire was opralional in March 1953 When I arrived In May 1953 I had slgnlncanUy more -hands on
"experte0C8 than any of the other controllers.During this period the 8-36 crash at Random Island was part of the folkJor8 of the
Squadron.Laler to the year SAC fan another exercise and for 8 few hours we thoght we had lost addi~1 alrcran.The final
explanation was the fact we lost the Intruders In the ground clutter.1t was a Ionr night as I tried to explain 10 some ADe General
why we had 1051 conlact,etc.Allhe end or the eKerclse It wes Gen LeMay 1 64th AIr DivisIon O-but who keops scorel
From: FRANK TIseo [m.llto:rrank.tlbbo~nl.rogers.ccml
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 1:49 PM
To: Galvin, t-11chael Jr.
Subject: Ubbo
AVIATION COLUMN by Frallk Tibbo - March 23. 1994 (110. 74)
THE BURGOYNES COVE B-36
Burgoynes Cove, Trinity Bay, is a most unlikely place for all aircraft memorial. Thanks to the Flight
Ellgineer Sectioll at 103 Resclle Ullit, at Canadian Forces Base Gallder, there is Ii splendid memorial
erected in memory of23 Americall airmell who died on March 18, 1953.
On March 14, 1953, 18 BR-36H reconnaissance aircraft left. what was ,hen, Rapid City Air Force Base
on a training mission,o 'he Azores. The lead aircraft, registration 51-/3721, wasjlown by the mission
commander, Brigadier General Richard E. Ellsworth who was the commander of the 28th
Reconnaissance Wing at Rapid City Air Force Bast!. The mission was to test the North American defense
system. They were to approach the United States from the Atlantic Ocean and attempt to proceed to
designated simulated United States targets without being detected. No one except General Ellsworlh
knew when the mission would leave the Canary Islands (near the north west coast of Africa) for the 23
hour mission which would take them to the Maine coast and then over several cities in Ihe U.S.
The weather, as is quite often the case, played a sigllificant and Iragic role ill this story. The intended
rOllte for the aircraft. which deparled on the Ilight of March 17 at 15 minllte illtervals, was a direct
course to the Maine coast. The altitude of only five hundred feet was 10 avoid radar delection. At the
Maine coast the aircraft wOlild climb to 40,000 feel and proceed with their secret mission.
Navigation would be celestial· gelting a shot of the stars by IIsing a sextant- and dead reckoning.
Celestial navigation only ll.'orks wizen you call see the stars alld dead reckoning means tlrat you have all
your mOlley on the weather forecast. The stars were nol visible and the weather forecast was wrong! Thai
combined witll the fact that the radar on the lead aircraft was not functioning properly was indeed a
recipe/or disaster.
The aircraft was surrollnded by clolld all the way across the Atlantic. The only way to get a calclilation of
1211912006
1980342vl Appendix 5 - 1
Page2of5
their positioll by usillg the stars was to climb above the clouds. The commander ordered that the altitude
of 500 feet be mailltained.
A low pressure area was ill the middle of the Atlalltic. It was forecasted to move 1I0rth. It did 1I0t move at
the time it was forecasted to move. The lIavigator ill Ellsworth's aircraft ordered a right (llorlh)
correction of a few degrees to allow for the southerly drift caused by Ihe low pressure area. The low
pressure area was, ill fact, south of Ihe aircraft's path which was causillg it 10 drift 1I0rih illstead of south.
Thatllleallt, of course, Ihatlhe aircraft should have beell correcting its course to Ihe south, but, instead,
was driftillg farlher 1I0rth. The norlhern drift com billed with the illtelltiollal steerillg lIorth to correcl a
supposedly south drift look the aircraft approxilllately 400 lIIi/es 1I0rih of course. It was supposed to cOllie
ill over the Maille coast,yel it callie ill over Trillity Bay, Newfoundlalld. The second aircraft came ill over
Cape Pille Ileal' Cape Freels ill Trepassey Bay, alld lIarrowly missed disaster. As a mailer of fact it
brushed a spM/ce tree jllsl prior 10 doillg all emergellcy climb.
Gelleral Ellsworth's aircraftflew illto a ridge Ileal' BurgoYlles Cove kil/jllg all 23 airmell on board.
Presidellt Dwight Eisellhower dedicaled the base 01 Rapid City 10 the hOllour of General Ellsworlh alld
the lIame of the base was challged to Ellsworth Air Force Base.
All of the remaillillg 17 aircraft returned safely to base. The lVeather had gradually improved alld Ihe
(arther behilld all aircraft was, the bellerlhe lVeather.
Thallks to MCpl Mark Marchalll for help with tltis column. MCpl Marchanlwrote all excellellt article
cOllcemillg the B-36 disasler illihe Seplember, 1993 isslle of tire CFB GANDER GAZETTE.
Trivia: MiG is all acrollym for Itiikoyan alld Gllrevich, the two Soviets who were maillly respollsible for
the many falllous MiG aircraft whiclr they desiglled .
...... NOTE • •••••• I talked 10 Clelll Elms ill JUIle/95 ,·e.
the Ogi/vy column and durillg that callversatloll, he
Sllggested that certaill information illtlris article is 1101
correct. He lVas all duty when the B-36 was reported missillg.
He said thai the B-36 was checkillg olltlhe Pille Tree Radar
Lille. He also said Ihere was all alerl all him & if they had all
alert tire Flight Plan //Iusl have beell larowlI, therefore, the
"secret" bit is questiollable. Alld if Gander had all alert it
meant that the aircraft was expected in Gander's area.
Talked to Clem Elms agaill on Jan. 7/98 as a result ofCBC illlerviewillg me about tire craslr
site. {Nut Cove] He said Ihatlre and AI Gill were on duty & Ihey had all alert ollirim - alld
mllst have Irad a flighl plall to Irave an alerl. He said he was NOT off-course.
Tire followillg leller was received whiclr relates 10 the slory:
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Page 3 DrS
Clallde Moore Erving
30760 Bartels Road
Bulverde, Texas, 78163-1916
16 Dec" 1997
Dear Mr. Tibbo:
Thank YOIl again Jor picking lIIe lip at the ai/port and taking lIIe to the Albatross Hotel. Gander has
changed so much I jllst cOllld not believe it.
The Aviation Rellnioll was very enjoyable Jar lIIe.1 saw lIIany people that I hadn't seen since I left Gander
ill Novelllber, 1953
Dllring I 951tl/l'l/ 1953 I was the USAF Liaison Officer to the Cal/adian D.O. T al/d stations at Gander.
My lIIain respollsibility was to coordillate Air Space Blocs Jor ollr I/l/lllerOIlS Military flights across the
Atlalllie.
Other dllties illclllded lIIail/tenal/ce oj the LOl/gline Gas Filled Cable telephol/e System along Ihe railway
right-a/-way ill the eastem half oJNewJollndland. Which reqllired a smal/ eOl/tingent oJUSAF
Techl/icians who lived iI/ a small /acility I/extto the Old NewJy BlIlIet Depot.
David {Hanrahan] mel/tial/ed YOllr book "The Best oj Aviation" which he said il/clllded a story oJthe E-
36 accident which occlln-ed in March 1953. I was able to pllrchase a copy and have read your story. YOII
did an excel/enl and aCCllrate job with that tragedy.
I was called thai night by the Gander Control Tower alld went ol'er there immediately to leam oJlhe
reported crash.
1VIzile t!Jere we received confirmation of the crash alld all approximate locatioll . J called my
Headquarters down at Pepperall Air Force Base in St. 1011ll's and told them that due to the raging Sl/OW
starm which illcluded the elllire illalld oJNew/ollndlalld. that they wOllld not be able to launch allY rescue
effort Jrolll St. 10hn's or Harlllon at Stephellville. I advised that I was ready alld able 10 leave illllllediately
alld get as close on Olle oj ollr speeders on the railroad alld gel as close as I cOllld and walk to the scene.
Typical oj the Military they stalled IIl1til late the next aftemoon when they realized no aircraft cOllld fly in
tire existing weather, so, I was authorizcd 10 proceed as best J could.
I got a cOllple oJIllY NCO's, SOllie sllpplies, and we headed alit on a speeder. We went to the nearest town
to the scel/e, enlisted the "elp oj a local yOl/ng mall with all alltomobile and drove to t"e shore II'here he
procllred a boat and took lIS acrOSs to a shoreline as c/ose to Ihe scene as we believed possible. We then
hiked ;n/o the hills and aboul two ill lite morning arrived at the sccne.
It was a traumatic experience/or me especially, because tlte navigalor was a/riend a/mine/rom World
IVl912006
1980342v1 Appendix 5 - 3
Page 4 of5
War 1I.
We gathered up all oJthe classified docllments, assembled the 23 bodies alld waited until the weather
cleared so the first helicopter arrived lVith the rescue persall/lei,
Wlrat a terrible and ul/llecessary loss, If they had beell tellJeet higher they 1V01lid have cleared the hilltop.
They shall //Iount lip \Vith lVillgs as eagles; they shall nlll, alld 1I0t be lVeary; they shalllValk and lIotJailll.
Isaiah 40:31
ERECTED BY /03 RU FLT ENG 3 AUG. 93
Plaqlle:
"GUARDIANS OF THE NORTH"
IN MEMORY OF
THE CREW ABOARD A USAF RB-36
TAIL NUMBER 5/-/372/ WHO LOST
THEIR LIVES AT THIS SlTE
18 MARCH /953
BRIG. GEN, R.E. ELLSWORTH
MAJ. J.F. MURRAY M/SGT J.S. WINEGARDNER
MAJ. F,C. WRIGHTT/SGT J.H. MALTSBERGER
CAPT. O.F, CLARK T/SGT W.A. PLONSKI
CAPT. S.G, FAUHL S/SGT I. V. BEARD
CAPT. W.P, MAHER S/SGT R.E. ULLOM
CAPT. J.H. PRUETT AI C T.J. KUZIK
1211912006
1980342vl Appendix 5 - 4
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CAPT. H.G. SMITH AIC B.J. VAUGHN
LT. C./V. BRANDSOR A2C K.E. HOPPENS
LT. E.J. MEADER A2C P. MANCOS
LT. 1.E. PACE A2C R.H. NALL
LT. l .A. POWELL A2C M.M. ROGERS
28th RECONNAISSANCE WING RAPID CITY. SOUTH DAKOTA
PositiO/l by GPS 48 I I 01 N 53 3948 W, 758ft.
2/1d POSitiOIl /lear by 48 II 00 N 53 39 47 W, 628ft.
z 30 =
Fra"k Tibbo
This em.i 1 h .. been scanned for all viruses by Ihe MessageL.bs SkyScan
service. (hUp:llwww.mess.gclabs.com)
1211912006
1980342vl Appendix 5 - 5
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APPENDIX 6
Log of military flights (
by Lieutenant M.J. Galvin, Jr.
There were limited opportunities for military flights in the United States Air Force when
you were serving in the Air Defense Command at one of the remote radar stations. There were, c
of course, familiarization flights to insure that you understood what it was like to be in the "Real"
Air Force. A brief summary of my military flights included:
• August 1952, C47 flight at McCord Air Force Base at Tacoma, Washington for c
familiarization purposes. We were all issued and required to wear parachutes for the flight. For
most, it was our first military flight. o
• May 1953, Air Force C54 from Westover Air Force Base to Argentia,
Newfoundland as part of the initial assignment to the 642nd AC&W Squadron and 64th Air
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Division.
• December 1953, January 1954, several Air Force C47 local flights from Torbay
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Field with members of the Squadron and Division who were qualifying for their flight pay with
their four hours of flight time per month.
• April 1954, Air Force C54 from Torbay Field to Ernest Harmon Air Force Base,
Stevensville, Newfoundland as part of a temporary duty assignment to the 61st Fighter Squadron
for purposes of cross training in the F89. c
• April 1954, flew F89's from Ernest Harmon Air Force Base as part of the Air
Force cross training program for intercept controllers, so they had a better understanding of the
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duties and responsibilities of the weapons officer/radar controller in the F89.
1980342vl Appendix 6 - 1
• April 1954, Air Force B25 from Ernest Harmon Air Force Base to Torbay at the
completion of the cross training program with the 61st F1S.
• May 1954, Navy RC7 - the Navy version of the C-121 - from Argentia,
Newfoundland to London on leave.
• May 1954, Navy RC7, a/kJa the "Super Constellation" (C-121) from Naples to
London.
• May 1954, Air Force C54 from Prestwick, Scotland to Westover Air Force Base
in Massachusetts.
• May 1954, Air Force C54 from Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts to Argentia,
Newfoundland.
1980342vl Appendix 6 - 2
APPENDIX 7
Bob Wilder's History for the
10Stll AC&W Squadron
Red CIiIT, NF - 1951 - 108th AC&W Squadron - Robert Wilder
Red Cliff, NF
1951- 1081h AC&W Squadron - Robert Wilder
1081h AC&W Squadron
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In mid 194alhe loath Aircraft Conlrol and Warning Squadron (Forward) was formed at Hancock Field,
Syracuse, New York as part of the 152nd AC&W Group of Ihe New York Air National Guard.
The squadron went on its first summer camp to Fort Drum outside of Watertown, New York in July 1949,
and trained with mobile radar equipment which I believe was a navy unit known as the SP-1M radar.
The second summer camp was conducled at the radar slalion at Twin Lights New Jersey In July 1950 where
the 10a1h personnel trained along side the active duty Air Force personnel assigned to the station. It Is
Interesling 10 note thai they trained on one of the firsl AN/CPS-6A radars which was installed. The loath was
housed in old WW2 barracks on the Sandy Hook military reservation.
Following Ihe summer camp and relum to Hancock Field, Ihe lOath became Involved in Ihe installation of an
AN/CPS-5 radar which was presenled to the Air Guard by General Electric Company and their Heavy .
Military division also located In Ihe Syracuse area. This particular CPS-5 was a Research and Developmenl
(R&D) unil and in many cases conlained one-of a kind protolype devices. As the entire Radar Maintenance
section of Ihe loath was made up of employees from General Eleclric there was no problems with
malnlalnlng Ihis equipment.
Preliminary work on what would prove to be called NEAC's (Northeasl Air Command) permanenl radar
syslem began In 15 August 1950. ConAC sent a survey party to look at sites In Newfoundland, Labrador and
Baffin Island. The USAF authorized the Army Engineers to proceed on 27 March 1951 with design and
construction of sites in the approved areas.
On June 1 st 1951, 13 officers and 83 enlisted members of the loath were called up to form an advance
party for subsequent activation of the loath AC&W Squadron for 24 months of active duty In the USAF.
During the monlhs of June and July 1951 personnel established communications, set up a complete
admlnlstralive section under Major Murray Block the Squadron Commander and Caplain Bob Gau9han the
Squadron Adjutant. The major task of this advanced party (still actually Air National Guard personnel) was to
prepare the necessary documentation for the activation of the enttre unit.
On August 1 st 1951, the remaining members of the loath AC&W Squadron were called to active duly and
the members on the advance party were changed from National Guard slatus 10 Air Force status. Actually
the enlire unil was classified as ANGUS which In Ihallime frame indicated Ihallhe unit was Air National
Guard on extended aclive duly. In Ihis case Ihe aclive duty was for a period of not more Ihan twenty-four
months unless relieved earlier.
In Seplember 1951 Ihe enlire unit was moved 10 Grenier AFB, Manchesler, New Hampshire where it was 10
undergo Iralnlng In preparation for active service as part of the USAF radar chain In Ihe NEAC area. Upon
hUp:llwww.pinctrcelinc.orglother/other37/other37Jhtml 2/1912007
1980342vt Appendix 7 - 1
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Red ClifT, NY - 1951 - 108th AC&W Squadron - Robert Wilder Page2of4
arrival al Grenier, the lOath was met by the 152nd AC&W Group and the 106th AC&W Squadron, both from
White Plains, New York.
One of the problems confronling the 152nd Group was that, in Ihe area where they were going,
communications facllilles were IImlled to only short haul types end therefore II became necessary to train a
f