Just to change the direction of the thread a little and lighten the content does anybody have any Goose Bay stories.
Melville Radar. I remember, hauling kegs of beer for the radar station at Melville so that we got to drink all of their duty free spirits in exchange. On one occaision we actually got permission from a rather bemused US Base Commander to drive through a forest fire to make the beer delivery. Somehow we convinced him that it was a matter of extreme importance worth the risk of life and limb. Actually, he probably just decided he could not ever fathom the limeys!
hangar Starts. It was so cold in winter that we manned the aircraft and ran the pre-flight checks in a hangar with the aircraft already attached to a tug. When we were ready to start the hangar doors were opened, we were towed outside and hit the start buttons before everything, including the ground crew, froze up solid.
Survival Execises. I did both summer and winter. For the winter exercise we made the usual parachute tent fastened to a tree. In the summer exercises we went to the same spot. There in a tree, about eight feet above ground level, were the parachute cords we had used during the winter exercise. That was the snow depth.
Ice Fishing.
"Tiny" Mathews. A really great individual. Wing Commander in charge of the RAF contingent. Never again have I had my wake-up call for a flight provided by a Wing Commander bringing me a nice early morning cup of tea. Christmas time at Goose was a great event.