Cartwright, Labrador

The year was 1951 – and I was living in Paradise River, a small community some 21 miles from Cartwright in Labrador. Prior to this, I had worked as a fisherman and an animal fur trapper.

I first heard about the construction project in Cartwright when the ships arrived bringing in some of the materials for the project. Fraser Brace Terminal (with head office at Moncton, New Brunswick) was successful in obtaining the contract to construct the radar station at Cartwright. At the peak of construction, I would estimate that there were about 425 employees were on site in Cartwright. While one could have expected the wages to be somewhat higher than in other areas (due to the remoteness of the location), the wages paid were pretty much the same as anywhere else in Canada. I proceeded from Paradise River to Cartwright by boat on 1 November 1951 and settled in as a timekeeper. I also acted as the official "elections officer" in the area.

There were no recreational facilities available at the work site? I recall working ten hours a day, seven days a week – along with every other employee on site. We would simply put in our ten hour shift, and then call it a day. We were paid bi-weekly, by cheque, on site I did manage to spend some time away from Cartwright during my two year term of employment – on two occasions – when I visited my family at Paradise River.

Initially, I walked to work on a daily basis – until a road was built, and then I was transported by truck. I lived in an "Army tent" (hence the phrase "Tent City"). This area was located close to the beach – some 600 feet below the site and approximately two miles east of the community of Cartwright.

There were approximately 300 people living in the village of Cartwright at that time. I recall two stores – one was operated by the Hudson’s Bay Company and the other was the SB Fequet store.

The weather was very cold in the winter months with lots of snow. The summers were warm with a fair amount of rain. For the most part – temperatures ranged from 40 to 80 degrees F.

Fraser Brace Terminal was the only contractor involved during the construction phase of the Pinetree Line radar station at Cartwright. The contractor supplied the meals which were considered to be very good. Fresh fruit and vegetables were brought in on the same plane that delivered the mail. Meals were usually spread out over a period of two hours and we had bakers on site to cook bread and assorted pastries. Alcohol was not available in Cartwright. I do not recall any rules banning alcohol on the camp site and it is safe to assume that a small amount could have been brought in from Goose Bay. We were shown a movie on Saturday nights. Mail was delivered once a week by airplanes on floats or skis. The camp manager had the power to discipline workers on the site but if the situation was beyond his area of authority there was a detachment of RCMP located in Cartwright.

I eventually left Cartwright in September 1953. For all intent and purposes, the work on the base construction was completed at that time – and there were already 25 to 30 American military personnel on site. I returned to my home town of Paradise River where I lived until 1967 when I moved back to Cartwright and worked for the Newfoundland Government until 1975 when I moved to Goose Bay and went to work for the Federal Government until I retired in 1995.