UNFURLING the AIR FORCE ENSIGN in the CANADIAN ARCTIC the 1922 Eastern Arctic and 1927-28 Hudson Strait Expeditions
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Documents on Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security UNFURLING THE AIR FORCE ENSIGN IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC The 1922 Eastern Arctic and 1927-28 Hudson Strait Expeditions P. Whitney Lackenbauer and K.C. Eyre Documents on Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security (DCASS) ISSN 2368-4569 Series Editors: P. Whitney Lackenbauer Adam Lajeunesse Managing Editor: Ryan Dean Unfurling the Air Force Ensign in the Canadian Arctic: The 1922 Eastern Arctic and 1927- 28 Hudson Strait Expeditions P. Whitney Lackenbauer and K.C. Eyre DCASS Number 3, 2015 Cover: landscape image by P. Whitney Lackenbauer; DND photo 13080 (top) Cover design: Daniel Heidt Centre for Military and Strategic Studies Centre on Foreign Policy and Federalism University of Calgary St. Jerome’s University 2500 University Dr. N.W. 290 Westmount Road N. Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Waterloo, ON N2L 3G3 Tel: 403.220.4030 Tel: 519.884.8110 ext. 28233 www.cmss.ucalgary.ca www.sju.ca/cfpf Copyright © the authors/editors, 2015 Permission policies are outlined on our website http://cmss.ucalgary.ca/research/arctic-document-series Unfurling the Air Force Ensign in the Canadian Arctic: The 1922 Eastern Arctic and 1927-28 Hudson Strait Expeditions P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Ph.D. and K.C. Eyre, Ph.D. Contents Introduction: The Air Force and the Opening of the Canadian Arctic in the Interwar Period ...................................................................................................................... iv The Logan Report (1922).................................................................................... xi 1927-28 Hudson Strait Expedition ................................................................. xviii 1. R.A. Logan, Report on Aviation in the Arctic Archipelago, 1922 .......................... 1 Aviation and Northern Canada ........................................................................... 1 The Northern Archipelago .................................................................................. 4 Aircraft Uses ...................................................................................................... 14 Ice Conditions................................................................................................... 17 Climatic Conditions .......................................................................................... 20 Aircraft and Accessories ..................................................................................... 22 Transportation .................................................................................................. 29 Personnel .......................................................................................................... 33 Navigation, Wireless and Photography .............................................................. 35 Fuel, Food and Clothing ................................................................................... 41 Eskimos............................................................................................................. 44 Craig Harbour................................................................................................... 47 Dundas Harbour ............................................................................................... 52 Pond’s Inlet ....................................................................................................... 53 Suggestions ....................................................................................................... 58 2. F/L T.A. Lawrence, Report on the Hudson Strait Expedition 1927-28. .............. 66 Part 1 Intention................................................................................................. 66 Part II – Methods of Execution ......................................................................... 67 Part III – Organization ...................................................................................... 67 Part IV - Locating and Establishment of Bases ................................................... 69 Part V – Operations .......................................................................................... 72 ii Part VI – Statistics ............................................................................................. 80 Part VII – Operational and General Flying Conditions ..................................... 81 Part VIII – Photographic Conditions and Photographic Equipment .................. 83 Part IX – Aircraft and Aircraft Engines .............................................................. 84 Part X – Aircraft Emergency Equipment ........................................................... 88 Part XI –Flying Clothing ................................................................................... 90 Part XII- General Equipment and Supplies ........................................................ 93 Part XIII – Buildings ......................................................................................... 96 Part XIV – Aircraft Instruments ........................................................................ 98 Part XV – Medical Equipment .......................................................................... 99 Part XVI – General Living Conditions ............................................................ 100 Part XVII – Recommendations. ...................................................................... 102 About the Editors ................................................................................................. 107 iii Introduction: The Air Force and the Opening of the Canadian Arctic in the Interwar Period The twentieth century advance into the Arctic owes more to the aeroplane than any other factor. -- Terence Armstrong, (1958)1 Canadian armed forces have been involved periodically in the North since the days of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. The intensity and degree of this involvement have reflected the changing perceptions of the North as they relate to defence, sovereignty, and national development. For its part, the Royal Canadian Air Force made its first forays into the North in the interwar years as an agent of national development. As this volume reveals, the early expeditions took place in what now would be called a “whole of government” context. The Department of the Interior approached the Air Board to send an aviation expert (Squadron Leader Robert A. Logan) on the 1922 Canadian Arctic Expedition to reconnoitre (without a plane) and discern the feasibility of operating aircraft in the Arctic. His comprehensive report painted a detailed picture of the conditions in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago, conceptualized what contributions aircraft could make to northern development, and recommended which airframes could withstand the severe environment. Five years later, the RCAF gained its first Arctic flying experience when it deployed six aircraft into Hudson Strait area to conduct an aerial survey in support of plans to open Churchill as an ocean shipping port. Squadron Leader Thomas A. Lawrence’s detailed report encapsulates the main results of the 1927-28 expedition, which marked the first concerted effort to use aircraft for ice and weather reconnaissance in the Canadian Arctic and produced significant insights into conditions along Hudson Strait. While often overshadowed by the exploits of bush pilots who opened the Canadian North, these landmark documents provide examples of how the Air Force has contributed to northern exploration and built “an enviable record of efficient arctic operations.”2 * * * 1 Terence Armstrong, The Russians in the Arctic: Aspects of Soviet Exploration and Exploitation of the Far North, 1937-57 (Fair Lawn, NJ: Essential Books, 1958), 62. 2 Moira Dunbar and Keith Greenaway, Arctic Canada from the Air (Ottawa: Defence Research Board, 1956), 480. iv At the end of the Great War, Canadian attention again turned to the unresolved issue of sovereignty over the islands of the Eastern Arctic. There had been no official Canadian presence in the area since Captain J.E. Bernier’s 1910 expedition (the third of his prewar patrols in the Coast Guard Ship Arctic), even though Dominion Astronomer Dr. W.F. King’s 1904 commissioned study of the problem of sovereignty in the Arctic had concluded that Canada’s claim was imperfect. Furthermore, strong rumours circulated in Ottawa that other nations were preparing to occupy sites in the “Canadian North.” The Danes, long established in Greenland, were reportedly planning an expedition to Ellesmere Island, an area they regarded as unclaimed. The Norwegians had an historic but undeveloped claim to the islands west of Ellesmere, thanks to the explorations and discoveries of Otto Sverdrup in 1903-1905. American sponsored explorations were apparently in the offing and it was reported that a recently published American atlas showed Ellesmere in the same colour as Alaska—an ominous sign to concerned Canadians.3 In response to these perceived threats, the Department of the Interior formed a small group of senior civil servants into the Advisory Technical Board in 1919. The Board’s mandate was twofold: to determine whether the Canadian title to the Arctic islands was worth developing; and, if so, to recommend what steps should be taken to establish such a title. The focus of the study was on the islands of the Eastern Arctic, but in some respects it touched on factors affecting the entire archipelago. Although the federal government and Canadians more generally perceived neither the potential value nor the importance of the islands, the Board found many compelling