The following article is from RCAF Radar 1941-1945 (Royal Canadian Air Force Personnel on Radar in Canada During World War II) and is used with permission of the author, WW McLachlan
One of the two men left behind to look after the station after it closed, was Phil Pawluck. I, Mickey Stevens, located Phil in 1988. The Pawlucks, Phil and Margaret, live east of the hamlet of Boggy Creek and near the end of the road, just before it dwindles to a trail and dissappears into Duck Mountain Provincial Forest, a forest which includes and surrounds Duck Lake Provincial Park north of Roblin, Manitoba. I know, I went there that summer.
Phil told us that arrangements had been made with the Uloth family of Cole Harbour to provide one hot meal and a bag breakfast and lunch per day for them and to bill the RCAF Station in Sidney. The Uloths lived in what we knew as the former Captain Myers house just before the bridge on the road to the village. The two airmen were supposed to walk the two miles down the hill and along the shore road, one at a time for their evening meal. That lasted not one week before Mrs. Uloth decided that they would both eat at the same time. She was not prepared to be in the kitchen from 5 pm to 9 pm every day. That decison meant that the two men would have to leave the station unattended for an indefinite period every evening. It was that, or skip supper. Who was there to be anywhere near the station property anway?
It soon became apparent to our two men that as soon as they were out of sight, a UFO came down from outer space and little green men helped themselves to the station coal supply. Since there was no evidence of land based motor vehicles entering the premises, it was assumed that the coal was carried out to the spacecraft in small mangeable loads, perhaps in space wheelbarrows. Our two men were politically astute enough not to accuse anyone they knew of having any part in this. They reasoned that as long as they were only interested in coal, they would not likely be prowling about in search of anything else. Apparently they misjudged these aliens. It was not until Ed Elliott and Scottie Moir arrived from Sidney in the very late fall, to winterize the diesel engines that the theft of plumbing fixtures from the barracks was discovered. Ed and Scottie had been selected for this assignment since they had both been on strength at Cole Harbour the previous spring and knew both the station and the equipment. Phil and his partner had long since tired of patrolling the empty buildings so had not missed these items. Ed Elliot writes that he remembers calculating that by this time 125 tons of coal had dissappeared.
During all of this time neither of the men had received any pay. They really did not need any, so they did not worry about it and spoke of the fun they would have when they did get paid. In fact Ed and Scottie were the first contact they had with the RCAF in almost four months.
You may have noticed that I have not named the second man. That is because Phil can't remember his name. He was one of the men from Quebec. He spoke very little English and Phil did not speak French, so they probably waved their hands in signals more than they conversed. However, they did get along well and they survived.
When Ed and Scottie returned to Sidney they did not speak to the paymaster about these two men. He had been aware of them, but had decided to wait for a more convenient time before putting the sevice to the expense of sending men and a vehicle all the way to Cole Harbour just to pay two men. Then he forgot to change his instructions. His staff misinterpreted his memo and never did pay them. It all was straightened out a month later when they were finally relieved of thier duties and taken to Sidney.
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Updated: August 27, 2003