A view of Thule in 1949

Email received from Bill MacDowell:

If it wasn't for the Navy, you guys would never had the opportunity to be there. Nice to hear from you on the net. Regards, Bill Macdowell

Maybe you're interested in the real beginning of the base. I was on the USS Wyandot, AKA 92 (Cargo ship) when we entered North Star Bay in 1949. There was absolutely nothing there except eskimos, the Danes and weathermen.

The Wyandot's mission was top secret and classified the original Operation "Blue Jay". We brought the first material to start the base. On board were our compliment of Navy personnel, the Seabees, the Marines, with amphibious equipment, etc.

What you call Mt. Dundas, we called Perry's Peak (or Mountain).

There were no hangers for airplanes and equipment and food stuffs were under tarpolins. We had to examine each and every eskimo for TB and other problems and more important, if anyone of us had a cold we were restricted from going ashore. To get ashore we used M-Boats. We also worked 12 hour shifts in order to beat the ice flow. There is much more to tell, but you get the picture.

Your site was very interesting and brought back many memories. Thanx Bill Macdowell...e-mail: norska@gate.net .