PER ARDUA AD ARCTICUM The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic Edward P. Wood Edited and introduced by P. Whitney Lackenbauer Mulroney Institute of Government Arctic Operational Histories, no. 2 PER ARDUA AD ARCTICUM The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic © The author/editor 2017 Mulroney Institute St. Francis Xavier University 5005 Chapel Square Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada B2G 2W5 LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION Per Ardua ad Arcticum: The Royal Canadian Air Force in the A rctic and Sub- Arctic / Edward P. Wood, author / P. Whitney Lackenbauer, editor (Arctic Operational Histories, no. 2) Issued in electronic and print formats ISBN (digital): 978-1-7750774-8-0 ISBN (paper): 978-1-7750774-7-3 1. Canada. Canadian Armed Forces—History--20th century. 2. Aeronautics-- Canada, Northern--History. 3. Air pilots--Canada, Northern. 4. Royal Canadian Air Force--History. 5. Canada, Northern--Strategic aspects. 6. Arctic regions--Strategic aspects. 7. Canada, Northern—History—20th century. I. Edward P. Wood, author II. Lackenbauer, P. Whitney Lackenbauer, editor III. Mulroney Institute of Government, issuing body IV. Per Adua ad Arcticum: The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic. V. Series: Arctic Operational Histories; no.2 Page design and typesetting by Ryan Dean and P. Whitney Lackenbauer Cover design by P. Whitney Lackenbauer Please consider the environment before printing this e-book PER ARDUA AD ARCTICUM The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic Edward P. Wood Edited and Introduced by P. Whitney Lackenbauer Arctic Operational Histories, no.2 2017 The Arctic Operational Histories The Arctic Operational Histories seeks to provide context and background to Canada’s defence operations and responsibilities in the North by resuscitating important, but forgotten, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) reports, histories, and defence material from previous generations of Arctic operations. Since the CAF’s reengagement with the Arctic in the early 2000s, experience has demonstrated the continuity of many of the challenges and frictions which dominated operations in decades past. While the platforms and technologies used in previous eras of Arctic operations are very different, the underlying challenges – such as logistics, communications, movement, and sustainment – remain largely the same. Unfortunately, few of the lessons learned by previous generations are available to today’s operators. To preserve these lessons and strengthen the CAF’s ties to its northern history, this series is reproducing key reports and histories with direct relevance to CAF operations today. Adam Lajeunesse Series Editor Contents Introduction by P. Whitney Lackenbauer ............................................................ i Editor’s Note ........................................................................................ xxxiv List of Acronyms ................................................................................... xxxvi The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic by E.P. Wood Foreword..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. RCAF Background .............................................................. 3-16 Chapter 2. Early Sub-Arctic Operations ................................................... 17 Chapter 3. Early Arctic Operations ......................................................... 101 Chapter 4. Commercial Aviation in Northern Canada ............................ 172 Chapter 5. Arctic Operations in World War II ........................................ 178 Chapter 6. Post War Operations ............................................................. 206 Chapter 7. Future Trends ........................................................................ 300 Summary ................................................................................................ 311 Further Reading ...................................................................................... 312 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for its financial support (Insight Grant 435-2015-1140); Professor Peter Kikkert for suggesting this project and copying the original manuscript in Ottawa; to co-op student Armand Naik for transcription assistance (partially subsidized by the University of Waterloo and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada); and to University of Calgary doctoral candidate Ryan Dean for copy editing as well as preparation of the list of acronyms. A special thanks as well to Dr. Adam Lajeunesse, the Irving Shipbuilding Chair in Canadian Arctic Marine Security Policy with the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. Francis Xavier University, for inviting me to publish this work through the Arctic Operational History Series, and to the Department of National Defence - Targeted Engagement Program for funding to facilitate the printing of hard copies. I also wish to recognize that this volume was completed thanks to a sabbatical leave from St. Jerome’s University which allowed me to spend the fall 2017 term as Killam Visiting Scholar at the University of Calgary hosted by the Department of History, the Centre for Military, Security, and Strategic Studies (CMSS), and the Calgary Institute of the Humanities. P. Whitney Lackenbauer Bragg Creek, Alberta December 2017 Introduction – P. Whitney Lackenbauer INTRODUCTION P. Whitney Lackenbauer Will Canada remember that the Royal Canadian Air Force first removed the veil of secrecy from our treasure-laden Northland to mark the opening of an epoch-making period of development? Or that immeasurable wealth was conserved by aerial forest protection and that invaluable photographic and survey work was accomplished with greater dispatch than was hitherto dreamed possible?1 With this quote from a March 1934 editorial in Canadian Aviation, Flight Lieutenant Edward P. Wood introduced the “Northern Skytrails” series in the new RCAF service publication The Roundel in November 1948. Wood’s goal was to ensure “that the R.C.A.F.’s northern saga will be remembered” – a task that he had assumed when the Chief of the Air Staff instructed the Directorate of Intelligence (Air)2 to conduct a survey of the air force’s northern operations. The resulting manuscript titled “The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic 1 F/L E.P. Wood, “Northern Skytrails: The Story of the Work of the R.C.A.F. in Canada’s Arctic and Sub-arctic Part 1,” The Roundel, vol. 1, no.1 (November 1948): 28-32. Reproduced as doc. 1 in Richard Goette and P. Whitney Lackenbauer, eds., Northern Skytrails: Perspectives on the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic from the Pages of The Roundel, 1949-65, Documents on Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security (DCASS) No. 10 (Calgary and Waterloo: Centre for Military, Strategic and Security Studies/Centre on Foreign Policy and Federalism/Arctic Institute of North America, 2017). 2 In 1948, the Directorate of intelligence (Air) operated under the Department of Air in Ottawa. The Directorate of Intelligence started to operate in 1941, but in the reorganization of 13 December 13th 1946, all 3 services (Army, Navy and Air Force) were combined and operated together. The RCAF, however, retained the Directorate of Intelligence (Air), which changed name back and forth between Directorate of Intelligence (Air) and Directorate of Air Intelligence—the only one of the three services,to have kept its own directorate of Intelligence. The two other services used the Directorate of Military Intelligence. Department of National Defence, Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH), Fonds 2004/13 - Directorate of Intelligence (Air) fonds, https://www.archeion.ca/directorate-of-intelligence-air- fonds. i Per Ardua ad Arcticum and Sub-Arctic”3 represents a pioneering overview of the RCAF’s significant but often overlooked role in the opening of the Canadian North. “Several months of research were necessary to dig out and correlate all the available data, but the time and effort expended have been well rewarded,” Wood explained. “The resultant volume contains about 500 typewritten sheets, some 200 of which read like the adventure stories of our childhood.” Partly a compendium of early reports and recollections by “pioneer pilots and crews,” and partly a synthesis of Second World War and early postwar operations in the Arctic and Subarctic, Wood’s manuscript serves as an important foundation for subsequent scholars interested in analyzing the formative periods that he covers. Defining the parameters of the Arctic and Canada’s North has become a national pastime for academics and government officials.4 Whether adopting the Arctic Circle (anything above 66°30’N Latitude), permafrost, indexes of “nordicity,” the traditional territories of northern Indigenous peoples, the boundaries of Canada’s Northern territories (“North of 60”), or another measure, the analyst will pick a definition that allows them to incorporate those areas that meet their political or methodological aims. The historian, however, is more likely to conceptualize “the North” as an evolving concept which has shifted as Canadians have sought to inscribe their evolving sense of “Canadian- ness” on a shifting “frontier.”5 Today, the Canadian Armed Forces defines the North as the area encompassing the Sub-Arctic Region and the Arctic Region to include the Arctic Circle and High Arctic. The Arctic Region comprises the land and sea