John W. Morris
to find out if there was any objection to putting at risk the whole construction program in Goose
Bay. We proceeded on our own, alone.
The first thing after we turned on the generator, it blew out one of the fuse boxes. I thought, "Oh,
Lord, here we go." Fortunately it was a wiring problem. We hadn't put the generator on line yet,
but still I felt we were going to be in one hell of a mess before it was all over. However, we tested
them with the construction camp as a load and all worked out just fine.
That was one problem. Trees were another. At Goose Bay you couldn't drive a tractor near a tree
because the roots were so close to the surface. General Knapp would not stand to have a tree
removed or killed. His point was well taken because the windblown sand up there raised havoc
with jet aircraft and caused big maintenance problems. The trees, the tundra, and the moss that
grows on top of the ground reduced the sand, so we had to be very careful. Every time we'd
knock down a tree I personally had to go see him. I didn't like to go see him.
We had safety problems. A blizzard overloaded the roof on a big warehouse containing the base
communications supplies. The base engineer was not well equipped to repair the damage so I
suggested to the base commander that he give the Corps the job. We promised to have that
warehouse roof back in a couple of days. Then we would figure out what happened and fix it
permanently. He agreed and we delivered. Then we got into a big deal about why it failed. The
Corps had built these warehouses. It turned out that the maintenance people had not routinely
tightened the wood connectors. In time, they had gotten loose, and the heavy wind caused one of
the trusses to fail, and then the next bay and so forth.
Then building the airfield; you can only pave with the temperature at 40 degrees and rising. Some
days everything was ready, all the trucks and plants working, and it'd be 35 degrees. You'd wait
and look for the sun; it wouldn't come. When we could pave you can imagine we were very
active because the total annual outside work season was only about 90 days.
Then, in the winter, we had tremendous snows. In 1955-56 220 inches of snow fell from
September until June, and the first flake never melted. So the snow removal problem was
immense as was land movement. Just getting around was a problem. Still, our children never
missed a day of school. They went to the Canadian school. The road-clearing facilities were
outstanding. The minute it started to snow or the wind started to blow, the plows started to work
and the roads were kept open.
When Gerry and I wanted to go to the officers' club, which was in walking distance, we would
get all bundled up. If it was a formal dance she'd tie up her dress, put on boots, carry her bag, and
as soon as she got in the club, take off her boots and put on her dancing shoes. The weather was
a constant challenge, often 30 or 40 degrees below zero. We had airmen who would try to run
from the
club back to their barracks, and they'd get frostbitten in a few minutes.
We finished the hospital. I should have put that in earlier. I had the hospital turned over within
three weeks. That was done with a lot of cooperation from the base. We had a long punch list of
things yet to be done, but they accepted it because they wanted the hospital working.
Gerry got a job over there. She was the head nurse and ran the dependents' clinic for over a year,
which was quite nice and made her stay much more enjoyable, especially in the winters. Our little
dog, who had no hair, found Goose Bay unacceptable. He had to go out even in the cold weather.
We felt so sorry for him. He didn't spend much time doing his business, I can tell you that.
Q:
What had been the problem with the hospital construction?
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