RCAF Detachment Frobisher Bay was the responsibility of Goose Bay in the 1950s.
ATC personnel were initially posted to Goose Bay where a tour was one year for single personnel and two years for married personnel. ATC personnel at Goose Bay were selected on a rotational basis to serve (TD) at Frobisher Bay and you needed a good excuse not to go. We received no extra allowances, or TD rates, just the northern allowance we got from the Goose. The TD time that we spent at Frobisher Bay didn't allow you to have a posting preference, however, HQ would try to provide you with a choice when you left Goose Bay. Tours at Frobisher Bay were "three months" duration but somehow or other, I spent a total of five months at this location. Transportation to Frobisher Bay was provided by North East Air Command (NEAC) out of Goose Bay via C-54 (DC-4). Time spent at Frobisher Bay was considered as TD and this counted towards your overall tour at Goose Bay. There was no real incentive to go to Frobisher Bay, except for fishing in the summer. That's why I volunteered for an extension to my three month tour.
The Base was called RCAF Frobisher Bay although it was a detachment of Goose Bay. Goose was responsible for Pay & Admin. We were not paid while we were there. If we needed cash the Wing Commander would give us an advance (with a lecture) i.e. what did you do with the money I gave you last week? Sorry Sir, I spent it.
The RCAF staff at Frobisher Bay consisted of one Wing Commander (Liaison Officer), two ATC Officers, two junior ranks (ATC personnel) and one Comm Tech. The bulk of the base was run by the USAF except for Flying Control. We worked 12 hour shifts - 7 days a week - no days off, and this included the Officers. There was also a group of RCN Comm Research personnel assigned to Frobisher Bay. We had no special activities except for reading, card playing and music, we were too busy working, sleeping and eating. We did have cots in the tower so we got shut-eye between traffic. As far as meals go, if it was a quiet time the controller would send us to the mess for a hot meal, when we returned he would go. I left Frobisher Bay once on R&R to Goose Bay which resulted in an overnight stay. This meant that other airman had to cover my duties.
We lived in the same quarters as the American military personnel and we ate our meals in the USAF Mess. The food was not that great as many things were dehydrated such as potatoes and milk. The beer was OK but there was no hard liquor or wine available. The only white woman I saw when I was there was an old school teacher, except for when Canadian Pacific Airlines made a weekly flight via the polar route from Vancouver. Frobisher Bay refueled the aircraft and it carried on to Amsterdam, Holland.
The DEW Line was under construction at the time and most of our traffic was civilian cargo planes such as the C-46, Yorks and DC-3s. However, the US Navy plew P2Vs and the USAF had many C-124 Globemasters and C-54s coming and going. The airspace was un-controlled and most of the time we never heard from the aircraft until they were in radio range. NAV aids consisted on a beacon and I think they had a radio range TX As & Ns. If the weather was below VFR aircraft took off at their own risk. I flew on a C-46 one time to Hall Bay and when we landed on the ice we crashed into a snowbank. The pilot shut the engines down and a bulldozer towed us out. We off loaded the aircraft and then flew back to Frobisher. Another time, same type of aircraft, we departed and almost crashed. The aircraft was loaded with cases of canned goods and the load was to far aft. The pilot trimmed the aircraft full nose down and we still couldn't gain altitude. We had a pilot, co-pilot and myself on the plane at the time. The co-pilot grabed me and we both threw cases of food to the front of the aircraft in an attempt to get airborne. The rest of the flight was OK, but I had had enough - there would be no more flights for me.
The USAF loaned us a WW2 jeep for transportation to and from work and other ATC duties. One time it was minus 35 and our ATC Jeep had a flat tire, I drove it to the USAF motor pool, and asked to have it repaired, the MSGT just laughed at me and said do it yourself. The jeep had no spare wheel, so I drove into their compound where there was about 20 jeeps and I quietly removed a wheel from one of the jeeps placed it on ours and drove away. As far as snow removal goes the USAF provided snow removal, however I seem to recall that it really didn't snow that much. Air Traffic was steady as Canada and the United States were building the DEW Line at the time and Maritime Central Airways had the contract to fly supplies to the sites. They sub-contracted out to many (pardon the pun) "fly by night" outfits. One time a DC-4 departed on three engines and used every inch of runway.
There was no such a thing as private vehicles or ski-dos at Frobisher. The local eskimos were still using dog teams. The only civilian store in the area was a Hudson's Bay store and they stocked everything except booze. On one occasion the winds exceeded 100 MPH and the duty controller said the Tower should be evacuated. It's a good thing because the HF antennae running from the top of the tower to the end of the hangar snapped and wrapped around the glass smashing all the windows.
Updated: December 20, 2004