In the early to mid 1940s the US Signal Corps constructed a number of Army Long Line Installations, known as "Repeater Stations". The main radio transmitter (unmanned) to the United States and Canada was installed on Table Mountain at St. Andrew's. Of all the installations which were constructed, the most difficult was Table Mountain, near St. Andrew's. Here the terrain was such that the remote station had to be constructed on a high plateau. Great difficulty was experienced in trying to get the poles, cable, and building supplies up very steep mountainous slopes. It took the 21st Signal Corps Company three weeks to complete the installation on Table Mluntain. Before it was done, one of the crew was injured with a broken leg, and one member froze to death in a blinding snowstorm. Table Mountain was only 2,000 feet high, but to reach the summit the men had to follow a trail that wound six miles around the mountain's side, up dangerous slopes and over fifteen to twenty foot snowdrifts. The trail threaded through passes that sometimes were almost completely free of snow. Light thaws one day followed by sub-zero weather at night covered the snow with glassy ice. At one point on the mountain, the men were only 30 yards from the top, measured straight up, but they still had almost two miles to travel. Each man carried fifty pounds on his back, making two trips a day up the mountain.
When the light supplies were hauled up, the men tackled the heavier stuff. Hitching themselves to tow ropes, they hauled an improvised sled up the mountainside. But when the time came to haul up some 800 pound crates that could not be broken down, the men were stymied. The more they heaved and strained at the ropes, the deeper they sank into the snow drift. The only way the heavy crates could be taken to the top was to use dogs or horses. Because of the deep snow, horses were ruled out. They requested assistance from the US Army at Stephenville and fourteen Siberian Huskies assigned to the US Army Search and Rescue unit at Harmon were assigned to the job. In three and a half hours the Huskies, assisted by men, hauled the crates to the top of the mountain.
The 21st Signal Corps personnel camped in four railway cars shunted into a siding about eleven miles from the base of the mountain at St. Andrew's. Three of the cars were used for sleeping and the fourth was their Mess Hall. The men would travel to the mountain base each morning, using gasoline operated rail speeder cars. At times the snow drifted over the tracks three or four feet deep for several hundred yards. The crew had to shovel out the track area in these snow-piled sections. On one particular day, the snow was so deep and the wind so severe, the crews had to turn back to their camp. Unfortunately, they did not hear the approaching freight train with a snow plow, because of the roar of the wind, until it was almost upon them. The speeders were stopped and the men jumped clear, one of them breaking his leg. The freight train hit the first speeder and completely destroyed it.
Courtesy of "A Friendly Invasion", by John N Cardoulis - pages 104 - 107:
Web Site Comment: - If we are to accept the preceding detail as authentic - then "yes" the Americans were on Table Mountain first - with the construction of a communications facility in 1942.
What we do not know at the present time is what occured on Table Mountain between the winter of 1942 and the summer of 1944. There are many references on the Internet to the effect that the Americans had a radar station and an air strip on Table Mountain, these claims are not true. There was, indeed, a radar station on Table Mountain, but this was manned and operated by the RCAF. We have spoken to Canadian military personnel who served at this facility in 1944-1945. We also have official documentation made available from the National Archives of Canada. So yes - there was a radar station on Table Mountain in World War II - but it was Canadian, not American. As an aside, there were no other buildings in existence on Table Mountain other than those used by the RCAF. So - if the American communications complex was still operational in 1944-1945, then it would have had to be an unmanned site as there were no American military living on Table Mountain at the time. We must remember that the Armerican Army had constructed a "Repeater Station" in 1942. Repeater Stations were usually unmanned.
Did the Americans have an air strip on Table Mountain? We have been advised that there was no air strip of any kind on Table Mountain. Rather than say "no way", I will simply say "I'll believe this when I am provided with tangible evidence".
About This Page
This page is located at
http://www.pinetreeline.org/rds/detail/rds77-5.html
Updated: October 7, 2004