DAILY DIARY
19 RADIO DETACHMENT - GANDER, NEWFOUNDLAND.
March 16, 1943 to September 4, 1943
16 March 43
Personnel not on duty were bowling in the 19 Detachment's league from 1300 to 1700 hrs NST.
17 March 43
Weather was clear and equipment was running very well. Our longest track to date was recorded, being 60 miles. Operators on the tubes are now beginning to see that there is more to this RDF operating than sitting back and waiting for "blips" to spring out at them. F/O Peter, after working for about ten evenings in a row, finally retired about 2359 hrs only to soon be disturbed.
18 March 43
At about 0110 hrs the OC was awakened by a fire alarm and, scrambling into a few clothes, rushed out to witness Main Stores of RCAF Station, Gander, being gutted by fire. Several nearby houses were saved but the Stores building itself appeared a total loss. Meanwhile it was snowing heavily and the long-expected front seems to be upon us.
From 0800 hrs to 1200 hrs there was little or no activity concerning aircraft but around noon the weather appeared to break up and some local flying was plotted. A blackboard has been set up to record longest ranges to date and the shifts are working like mad to outdo each other for the honour of longest plot.
19 March 43
The day was clear and bright with a high wind blowing. The operators were kept pretty busy with local plots. An American Fortress with IFF was plotted right off the Height Range trace (over 90 miles). This had the boys keyed up and as the plots were coming in thick and fast the Maintenance Period, 1100 hrs NST, came all too fast. During the maintenance Period a fault was detected by the Detachment OC in that the focusing coil on the PPI tube was not properly connected. This was corrected by the mechanics on shift and the focussing of the PPI was greatly improved. At 2040 hrs NST our longest plot to date was recorded. (73 miles). This was nothing outstanding but for a GCI station which had only been running for four days operationally this gave us considerable encouragement. Needless to say this pepped up the shift on duty. At the time they were, AC1s Lindsay, Kelly, Bisson and Grass. The proud mechanic was LAC Morin, M.
20 March 43
Weather was clear and excellent for flying, consequently this was one of our busiest days. A total of sixty-seven tracks were counted and a maximum range of 70 miles was recorded. The equipment had been working pretty well, considering it had only been runing steadily for a week.
24 March 43
We set about repairing the damage to the tower. It seem that when the installation party were here and finished setting up the turntable and put the lid on above the Faraday screen, they placed a locking clamp below instead of above the lid plate. This loosened and slid down shearing the feeders just above the Faraday screen. We managed to fix the damage and tested things out with the aid of a portable phone set which was procured to help P/O Robinson with his work.
Unaccountably a fire of small proportions broke out in the mod unit. The trouble was traced to the Monitor Unit. There was a short which over-heated some resistors and the insulation caught fire.
25 March 43
Back on the air today and it appears that P/O Robinson's Receiver is not as good as our own. It must have been shaken up somewhat on the way here as the IF's were not peaked up. We decided that he should take it back and send another one.
The operators are improving in speed and we think this is partly due to verbal practice plotting. They were able to do six to eight plots per track and also increased the number of visuals. F/O Peters and P/O Leighton built a rack on the wall near the thyratron unit and mounted a Variac on it to vary the voltage on the Rx. These were painted blue-grey to match the other appliances. A much better job could have been done had we had the proper tools.
26 March 43
Weather conditions are again poor but despite this fact our operators are dooing a fair job and have managed to bring their average plots per track up to 10.3. P/O Robinson is still playing around so we were only on the air intermittently. We managed to plot one aircraft for 63 miles. We have shaken up our operator crews to find a more efficient combination. It is our opinion that some of the lads wait for a blip to hit them rather than search in the grass for them at ranges greater than 40 miles. However, time is a great teacher and as they gain experience so our range will increase.
27 March 43
Most of the day was spent in clearing up the buildings and setting up after P/O Robinson's modifications, etc. Very few tracks were recorded and much time was spent in practice plotting. P/O Robinson is not entirely satisfied with his work as results are not what he expected. We are troubled greatly with RF in the oscillator compartment and must devise some means of overcoming this. Find the exhaust filters cause a tremendous amount of sparking. Also the shorting bars on the doors are pitting the doors badly.
A mail box was made by one mechanic out of a heavy metal can and mounted near the front door. This pleased the personnel greatly as they never had time to post their letters before coming on shift.
7 Apr 43
A beautiful day and one of our busiest. We plotted a track for 88 miles and then it went off our trace. Our longest track was 192 miles. This was a Fortress and carried IFF The number of tracks was 73. In the afternoon P/O Leighton went up in a Canso and surveyed the site and the surrounding territory. Possibly now we have the answer to spurious echoes. There is a chain of lakes and on warm days fog banks occur over them. F/O Peter ran a maintenance period later in the afternoon. We are seriously thinking of changing the HR tube. The flyback is causing trouble and yet our blackout pulse is OK. One of our operators, AC1 Dahl, was posted today to Rockcliffe to report not later than April 19th for a course as Deputy Controller. This is a lucky break for Dahl.
8 Apr 43
Overcast and snowing hard. Old man weather seems determined to keep aircraft down. This leaves the operators with little work so they are back again talking to themselves in true Ganderized fashion. This practice plotting seems to help in their speed but does not help them in picking up blips out of the grass. The HR tube was changed and as anticipated the flyback was overcome. PPI was set to 65 miles and immediately the boys plotted aircraft at the extreme range of this tube, then found it in the grass of the HR. This may help in increasing range. It is a case of the apparatus being able to do it, but can the operators keep up with it. They plotted a few tracks - range 63 miles and longest track 200 miles. A queer thing occurred tday, when out of nowhere at 63 miles a tremendous blip appeared reaching saturation at 270º. It was followed at about the same range to 220º and then as suddenly disappeared. The minds of this station would probably have felt better had we had a phone to find out if an aircraft were in trouble or a sneak raid was being pulled in the bad weather. As it stands 19 Detachment gets fair results but is of no use to anybody just because there is no phone or other means of communication.
9 Apr 43
Miserable weather still prevails. About the only operating done today was to drive the truck to stores and pick up a garbage can. A hole was cut in the floor of the tower so the rollers could be greased. Some Newfy labourer cut the other one on the wrong side and missed the proper location by over a yard.
Our test of well water has returned to the Station Hospital but that place being quarantined we were unable to get it. It is now known that when building the well, etc. the local labour, who are great tobacco chewers, had the pleasant habit of expectorating into the well. This is thought to either kill germs in the water or kill the person who drinks it afterwards. A range of 37 miles and a couple of aircraft were recorded today. TCA came in and was picked up coming in and also going out to Torbay. It returned later.
One of the mechanics appeared before F/O Peters with a sheepish grin on his face and two pieces of metal in his hand. They turned out to be one of the backing bolts for the tower - about a 3/4" bolt welded to a small barrel. "They didn't quite fit so I pushed them", said the mechanic. Breaking 3/4" bolts takes quite a push and LAC Zarnke is just the strong lad to do it. AC1 Husolo drew up the 4 miles to 1 inch map during grave yard shift. It covers 100 miles all round our station. The grid has yet to be put on.
Still snowing and not a single plane up today after 10 AM. Since this was the case a maintenance period was held and the rollers, etc. of the tower greased with F/O Peter and Sgt. Moore applying the grease via unusual channels and with many grunts and groans. P/O Leighton hung from the structure and played railway conductor. It was his job to signal an operator when to turn and when to stop the tower so that Sgt. Moore would retain all his fingers. There were two planes up early this morning and both were picked up at fair range. One was picked up at 43 miles, flew right over the station and on till it was faded out at 52 1/2 miles. This was 100 miles long. The other was picked up at approximately 63 miles and followed for 60 miles out to 80 miles. It was apparently a craft going from Torbay direct to Stephenville or Sydney. This proved that the increase on the PPI helps the operators. This afternoon being quiet, the PPI range was increased to 85 miles. The PRF had to be raised to 550. Even then it was impossible to get 90 miles out of it. However, this is near enough for the present. All the boys not on duty went to the theatre last night and saw "Tarzan Triumphs". They had a good laugh when in the middle of Africa a little hand portable transceiver was turned on and the German operators says, "come in Berlin". So Berlin immediately obliges with QSA5 R9 plus. Too bad radio isn't really that way.
10 Apr 43
The weather is alternately snowing and raining, hence there is no flying and our operators just sat the whole day through watching and hoping for a track. We took advantage of this lull in flying to overhaul some of the equipment which takes longer than the normal one hour a day for maintenance. Our records were brought up to date and some of the operators spent a little time window-washing by way of a change.
30 Apr 43
Our Equipment Assistant, Cpl Lee, is giving a hand to the new ASG section of 10 BR who just moved in to Gander Station.
HEALTH - During the month four of the airmen visited the hospital. Only one case was in very long. This was for jaundice and most of he time was during March. Another case was for stiffness in the shoulder and LAC Grant was in a day due to a bit of steel in his eye. AC1 Tarnow is having foot trouble. Actually very little illness of any kind has occurred.
NUMERICAL STRENGTH OF STATION AS AT APRIL 30, 1943 -
OFFICERS | OTHER RANKS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aircrew | Ground Crew | Aircrew | Ground crew | ||
Male | WD | Male | WD | ||
- | 2 | - | - | 51 | - |
BG Leighton, P/O
for (PF Peter) F/O,
OC No 19 Detachment,
Gander, Newfoundland
1 Sep 43
Weather broken up today, low ceiling with light rains. Hence little flying activity though managed to track one aircraft up to a maximum range of 112 miles. Still unable to obtain aircraft for calibration purposes to re-run 090 azimuth because of poor flying conditions. Preparation of map at scale of eight miles to the inch, not yet complete.
2 Sep 43
Weather still closed in today, with visibility less than one half mile and as a result few tracks were recorded. Kept busy however, on revision of establishment and Security Guard Schedules. A slight improvement in the weather during the afternoon, raised our hopes that we might be able to run an interception but a check with sector revealed that nothing was to be had. Normal sweeping continued throughout the day.
3 Sep 43
Although the early hours did not bear him out, the Met reported an early break in the overcast skies and he was right, for it was clear overhead before the noon hour and the remainder of the day was a busy one with fifty-two tracks being recorded as well as two successful interceptions (practice). The latter was carried out with one Harvard (Cambus 32) as target and the readiness section (Cambus 28 Leader) as fighter, all aircraft of #126 Squadron.
The second of a series of Sports Nights, in co-operation with the Airborne RDF section of Gander Station, was held in the Recreation Hall and about thirty-five men turned out for the fray. A few of the personnel of Sector Operations joined us, thus helping to swell our total. Our boys managed to come out on top in the basketball game by a score of 21 - 11 but were trounced, two games to nil in Volleyball and by a count of 5 - 4 in Bordenball. Swimming from 2100 to 220 hours and light refreshments in the lounge at 2200 hours. These evenings are proving successful and are much enjoyed by all personnel.
4 Sep 43
Another busy day with considerable activity during normal period of sweeping and in addition, a successful practice interception was run in the afternoon, with Sector controlling the aircraft and we tracking the aircraft and passing the information to them. One Harvard (Cambus 31) was the target and the readiness section carried out its normal role as fighters. Four of Sector personnel paid us a visit during the exercise and appeared very interested in the inner workings of a GCI unit.
LAC Bail and LAC Bray posted to #5 Manning Depot for Aircrew training, effective Sept. 26. The former is now out on leave and arrangements are being made so that he will not have to return to this unit while the latter will leave on furlough at once. These lads are really anxious to get into Aircrew and they have the best wishes of us all in their new endeavours.
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Updated: June 13, 2004