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| World War I | World War II | | Construction | Regiments | Telecommunications | | Recollections | Community Happenings | Dignitaries and Celebrities | | Phillip's Head and Wiseman's Cove | After the War | On August 4, 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. The people of Botwood were among the first to answer the call to aid the mother country. Employees of the A.N.D. Company who volunteered to fight had their pay supplemented by funds from the government to equal their wages received before enlisting. The First of July Drive, also known as the infamous Battle of Beaumont Hamel, took the lives of 432 Newfoundlanders. Botwood lost several of its citizens in this tragedy. Harry Crowe donated the
funds for the erection of a monument to show appreciation for the boys
who lost their lives in the Great War. The War Memorial was erected in
1920.
Newfoundland came into World
War II in the early hours of September 3, 1939. That day at approximately
11:00 am the people of Botwood became the first on this side of the Atlantic
to capture an enemy vessel. At the time, the German freighter M.S. Christoph
V. Doornum was in port to load cargo of ore concentrates from the Buchans
mine. The ship had docked several days earlier and under normal circumstances
would have been back out to sea but it was delayed by a series of unexplained
technical problems. Shortly after, the Newfoundland Constabulary appeared
on the wharf to seize the vessel as a prize of war. The captain and crew
were removed, put aboard a Botwood Railway Company Passenger Coach, taken
to St. John's, and from there to maximum detention for the duration of
the war. Customs officers boarded the ship afterwards and seized all its
supplies; later the ship was taken to Halifax, renamed, and sailed under
the British flag.
Construction(back
to top)
Botwood village is built on the west side of a long bay which stretches north for 35 miles or so before the open sea is reached. It is a seaport with sufficient dockage to handle the output of the base metal mines and pulp and paper mills in the northeastern district of the island. One gravel street winds through the village from the south to north, with frame buildings scattered on either side. Twisted fences creep down to the roads edge (Cassidy, 1940-45).During the Fall of 1939 the people of Botwood were treated to aerial shows. The RCAF flew over the town at low altitudes to take airphotos and measurements to help determine the ideal location for militart facilities they would need. Their quiet existence was about to change with the influx of Canadian Armed Forces personnel. The British Air Ministry and the Newfoundland Government jointly constructed two bases in Northeastern Newfoundland at Botwood and Gander. Botwood has a large protected deep water shipping port with an easily defendable entrance at Phillip's Head and Laurenceton. It also had a railway link to the Newfoundland Railway at Bishop's Falls. More importantly, Botwood was international aviation port for Pan Am and BOAC. Support services and shore facilities such as offices, terminal, crash boats, fuelling barge, wireless station, and meteorological services had been in place since 1937. During the winter of 1940 RCAF engineering and security personnel took up residence, along with a squadron for anti-U-boat warfare and escort of convoys (MacLeod, 1986).The Airbase was constructed by the Atlas Company beginning in 1939. Two hangars were built to accommodate six planes; later as many as twenty-four PBY Catalinas operated from Botwood. Ammunition bunkers were dug out of Killick Island and a causeway was built to connect it to the Airbase. The Airbase was used as a refuelling station, base for seaplanes, and employed many civilians as well as military personnel. During the first year of the war soldiers stayed in canvas tents; later that year army barracks were built at several locations in the town. The Canadian Army, Navy, and Air Force came in droves, taking up residence on great tracts of land that had been appropriated by the Canadian Government. Barracks, hangars, huts, a hospital, and a nurses' home were built along with the various other structures that the services deemed necessary for support. A letter dated August 12, 1942 from the Royal Canadian Air Force stated that the property of Mrs. Sarah Jewer was necessary for the Air Force to continue their operation in Botwood. The property of several other citizens of the town was also needed for the military operation. Arrangements had been made for the church steeples of the United Church to be lowered since they were hazardous to aircraft. The Botwood command area formed quite a formidable little force, with artillery, engineers, signals, medicals, the Air Force, and later on, a Naval detachment. There was also a new and efficient military hospital. Regiments(back to top) Ten thousand army and air
force troops from various regiments were stationed in Botwood at different
periods. In the winter of 1939-40 the Canadian Black Watch Regiment arrived
to secure the area. Five hundred and twenty-nine soldiers were trucked
from Botwood and stationed in Phillip's Head.
Telecommunications(back to top) Telecommunications and maintenance in the Gander/Botwood area started in 1937. A new link was added to the chain of communication centers that connected North America to the European Continent. The wireless station at Botwood, designated by the call letters VOAB, was ready for operation in March 1937. The station was equipped with facilities for point-to-point communication with other stations, and ground-to-air service to transatlantic flights. To assist these flights in maintaining a predestined track, VOAB also provided medium and high frequency direction finding. In addition to communication with aircraft over the course of its trek, the wireless operator handled all take off and landing instructions. All messages were transmitted and received in International Morse Code. With the shift of attention in aviation and the completion of the new airport, radio operators were moved from Botwood to Gander on November 30, 1938. In 1939 the telecommunications
operation at Botwood was reactivated. The communications station was located
at the end of the Wireless Road and called the Wireless Station. Botwood's
calling code in transmitting messages was FM. Mrs. Marion Evans was one
of the employees of the Canadian National Telegraphs at that time and stated
in an interview:
First it was Department of Posts and Telegraphs Service, Provincial Government. Then it went to Federal Government, Canadian National Telegraphs. And the Wireless Station was there during the war, and it was taken over by the Government after the war. I worked there from 1948 until about '53 - '54 (Langdon, 1991).Most people who worked at the Wireless Station were trained and brought in from outside. Mrs. Evans was the Teleprinter Operator who received messages from St. John's. She also took the messages that came in by morse code from the Northern Peninsula. The messages were received by wireless and transmitted to St. John's by the teleprinter. The Wireless Station had a schedule whereby they called or typed in messages. The printer was like a typewriter, Botwood took messages from Point Leamington, Leading Tickles, Cottrell's Cove, and Fortune Harbour by phone and transmitted the messages to the designated areas. Thunder storms would cause interference in transmitting messages and trouble for the Wireless Station. Storms would often blow the transmitter. The station would then have to wait for someone to come and fix the equipment to begin transmitting messages again. In case of an emergency the backup source was the Hickman Building Communication System, housed in the present day Heritage Center (Langdon, 1991).Recollections(back to top) Mr. Kenneth Dean, resident
of Botwood, was employed by BOAC in 1941 and Pan Am for the summers of
1942 and 1943. In an interview, Mr. Dean spoke of his experiences on the
base:
You had guards on the gate all the time and you definitely had to have a pass in order to get in to the gate, otherwise you wouldn't get in. I couldn't even come down on a day off; I had to carry my pass with me all the time or otherwise I couldn't get in and they knew me well enough, but that didn't make a difference ... they were strict about who came and went (Smart, 1991).Mr. John Dyment came to Botwood in March of 1942 as a Leading Air Craftsman and later became sergeant in charge of a duty watch shift. Mr. Dyment came back to Botwood in 1991 to revisit the site. He remembers sleeping in
the boathouse where the Botwood Heritage Society Center is today. It was
in March of 1942.
We came up on the old Caribou and then on the train and then got in a stake body truck and came down here with all our gear and there was no place for us to sleep. We had to sleep in the boathouse and they had some bunks for us up stairs. We slept there for about a week. They had the Mess Hall - we got our meals up there, al,,ight and then about a week we got into the brand new barrack blocks up there and got the thing kind of organized (Rowsell, 1991).Mr. Augustus Wells of Botwood reminisced about working on the Airbase: I operated the bus at that time, which was to pick up the passengers from the flight, take them up to the quaters there to get their meal, and return back to the base again .... As I sat in the bus, driving up they'd ask a lot of questions, people from the States most. They wanted to find out a little history of Newfoundland, their government, and one thing and the other (Reid, 1991).Mr. Ernie Lund, Operations Officer on the Airbase, remembered some of his wartime experiences when he revisited Botwood during the summer of 1991. It was the best summer that I had during the war years. And I'll tell you why. One, it's a close knit group. It's a close community and the hospitality and the warmth of the people and the fact that the people on the base knew their jobs ... a Catali,ta Fliilig Boat went on a training trip to Montreal once a week and brought back all the fruits and vegetables ... a second Catalina stopped in Summerside and picked up butter, potatoes, milk and cheese, dairy products. We met the lobster boats coming in from Twillingate and they'd have the stoves fired up. We could see the smoke and we knew they had the pot on and the lobsters were in the pot. For 35 cents we got a small one pound lobster; for 50 cents we'd get a big one and for 75 cents the pick of the crop. So we had fresh lobster and salmon. We had the best of food, the best of hospitality. What more could you want (Heath, 1991)?Mr. Gerald Mossman of the 102 Eastern Air Command Marine Squadron was skipper of a crash boat in Botwood from 1942 to 1945. He lived on the base and gave his own account of this: "I lived on the base, yeah. I lived on the rise just up off the base. The lower rise was where the aircraft and the hangars and the boats and all this was. The upper rise of the land was where the airmen, sergeants, and officers lived, sang, drank, and ate" (Heath, 1991). Mr. Mossman started raising
pigs as a hobby to keep himself occupied and out of trouble.
They're some hard to bring up from little to where they can eat ... they gotta have milk. Now how do you get milk in a place where it's mostly powdered milk? I'd go in the mess hall early (I didn't want the cook to know what I was doing) and I'd watch my chance and slip the bucket under the tap, turn the tap on, and have a chat with him. I think he still knew what I was doing ... Then I used to watch my chance when he'd go into the fridge for something; that was my opportunity to get that out (Heath, 1991).Mr. Frank Howell was a motor marine mechanic and boat driver in 1944. Mr. Howell also revisited Botwood during the summer of 1991. When I first landed, the thing that impressed me was the activity of aircraft flying and our job was to lay flare paths on the ocean at night for the planes to come in at night ... and two speed boats pulled them at different directions, just so it would be into the wind and the planes would land by. This went on day after day, and these planes were coming in from their reconnaissance over the ocean looking for submarines. And then I was in charge of the Battery Shop, keeping all the batteries in line, charged up for the lights (Heath, 1991).Community Happenings (back to top) The people of the area were affected by the war in many ways. Some of their staple foods were rationed; the government issued ration coupons used to purchase items such as sugar, flour, tea, and beef. If other items such as boots were needed, these coupons could be traded for them. In June 1940 a meeting took place to form a Home Front Association. The chairman for the evening was Mr. J. W. Aitken, J. P. and Mr. K. MacDonald acted as secretary. The Committee formed at Botwood included: K. M. MacDonald, president; K. MacDonald Jr., secretary; Rev. W. B. Perry, treasurer; Major Robbins, S. Jeans, J. P. Janes, James Arklie, Dr. Smith, W. Thompson, James Inder, W. Jewer, E. Elliot, M. Collins, E. Randell, E. Foote, C. Compton, and V. C. Perry. The Association sponsored a fund for the Newfoundland Overseas Club. They had social events for recruits and citizens of the area who had enlisted (Grand Falls Advertiser, 1940). The official opening of the Botwood Seaman's Club took place on Wednesday, September 10, 1941 at 3:30 pm. The committee in charge consisted of: Mr. J. Arklie, chairman; Mr. T. W. Antle, secretary; Mr. C. R. Abbott, treasurer; Mr. K. M. MacDonald; Mr. J. W. Aitken, J. P.; Mr. H. G. Coppin; Rev. W. G. Legge; Dr. 0. V. Smith; and Dr. N. D. Stewart committee members. Large numbers of merchant seaman constantly visited the Club during their stay in the port. The building was of excellent design, consisting of a large social room with open fireplace and canteen, plus rooms for reading, writing, and card-playing.The recreational facilities provided by the Club were greatly appreciated. [Throughout the years this building on Water Street has served many purposes, several of which are: Community Center, Public Library, Canadian National Telegraphs, and presently the Lions Club /Boys and Girls Club.] Blackouts were a common
occurrence. The following is an account of a practice air raid in 1942:
This is Black-out Week and it '@s very black here in the main part of the town. Everyone seems to have carried out instructions very good and there are not many complaints about light showing. However, the roads are very bad and in places where the construction companies have been trying to fill up holes, there are big stones which are very dangerous for pedestrians especially in this black-out (Grand Falls Advertiser, 1942).In April of 1942 a barn dance was held in the Girl Guide Hall to raise money for the "Milk for Britain Fund". The Girl Guides decorated the hall to look like a barn. Lanterns were hung on the walls and bunches of hay were placed around the hall. Instead of tickets, patrons received a piece of ribbon with a pin to wear in their coats. Square dances were the order of the night and much enjoyed by the soldiers and old-timers (Grand Falls Advertiser, 1942).In June of 1942 a ceremony was held in the general office of the A.N.D. Company. The staff of the office gathered to say farewell to Miss Bernice Carter, who joined the RCAIF Woman's Division. She was the first woman from Botwood to join the forces and left soon after to go to Canada (Grand Falls Advertiser, 1942). On November 6, 1943 the Grand Falls Advertiser ran a story highlighting the Victory Loan. The purpose of these loans (also known as Victory Bonds) was to make money available for the purchase of the tools of war to aid in the victory for the allies. Posters were placed all over Botwood. One afternoon a big white plane appeared over the housetops and scattered leaflets advertising the new loan. "Everyone seemed to be tense seeing the plane flying so low, and when the leaflets appeared from the plane, excitement was high." The Home Front Association recommended this Victory Loan to the public and noted that they were available at the Bank of Montreal. Dignitaries and Celebrities (back to top) On a lighter side, Botwood was a great place for celebrities who sometimes had to wait here for good flying weather. The Transatlantic Inn, known as the "Dip and Dive", saw a number ofpersonages. Prominent among these visitors was Charlotte, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. The Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill was forced to wait over for an afternoon and evening in Botwood in November 1942. Besides these visitors, there was a continuous stream of stage and screen celebrities who were flying to Europe to entertain the American troops. Mr. Dyment recalled some
distinguished visitors coming to Botwood during the war.
Part of the deal with the Air Force was that they had to tend or look after these civilian aircraft when they landed in spite of the fact it became an Air Force Base for the duration of the war ... The aircraft landed and we couldn't bring them into the dock here because it was just too windy and dangerous, so we tied them up to a scow and went back in I remember we had to get the stern line in and put a little gang plank down for the passengers to get off and who marches cut but Winston Churchill, with a big cigar and the cigar was lit and those were wing tanks underneath ... The wing tanks were full of gasoline. I guess nobody told him that but anyway it was so dirty and windy I don't think it could have done any damage, but anyway I reached my hand out to help him aboard. I said 'Can I help you aboard sir? 'and he couldn't even hear me. He shook my hand. He said, 'How do you like it up here in Newfoundland Sergeant?' ... And then of course, there were other people going through here all the time, we never knew who they were but I remember Bob Hope and Frances Langford. They were on their way overseas to entertain the American troops in Europe. Well, they landed in here on a Pan American Clipper ship and they got storm-stayed and had to stay overnight. So, they put on a show for us that night. The first time we'd ever had live entertainment on the base ... (Rowsell, 1991).Mr. John Ferris, Meteorologist at Botwood during 1942-43, speaks of taking Frances Langford and Merle Oberon on a fishing trip. They got off the plane; they were in slacks and everything. They didn't look like movie stars. They said they'd like to go fishing. So Hughie Lacey was there. He and I are pretty good friends. He got his father's boat. They were quite thrilled. I guess we were out there a couple of hours. The girls went out fishing with us. We caught some cod fish (Evans, 1991).A Personal Note (back to top) Miss Janet Hutchison worked
in Botwood as a secretary for Mr. Bustard of British Overseas Airways Corporation.
The following is one of several letters she wrote to her parents during
her stay in Botwood [These letters are on display at the Botwood Heritage
Center.] We have included this letter because it not only gives a personal
glimpse of the history of the town, but also a sense of the war "atmosphere"
of the 1940s.
Cabot Inn
4th May, 1945
Dearest Mummie:Phillip's Head and Wiseman's Cove (back to top) Mr. John Stride of Phillip's Head, who was employed by the military during the 1940s, describes the artillery stations at Phillip's Head and Wiseman's Cove: The artillery station was constructed in 1939 at Phillip's Head by E.G.M. Cape, a privately owned company from Western Canada. It was built to defend the entrance to the port of Botwood. There were two hidden escape hatches on top of the hill, one in front and one in back; only soldiers knew where they were. Lights were installed underground for easier access to and from the station in case the station was being bombarded. The entire station was surrounded and protected by six feet of barbed wire fencing. A 700 foot passage was built underground including booby traps, I 1 rooms, a three-storey observation tower, and gun pads for two 4.7 inch guns that had muzzles about ten feet long and fired a shell weighing 149 pounds. It was concrete throughout but drain pipes were installed underground to flood the station in the event of an enemy invasion. The 11 rooms built underground were protected from flooding by steel hatch doors. These rooms held supplies, ammunition, secret documents, and prisoners of war. The lookout point was built 60 feet off the ground in three levels. The first level was 20 feet, the second 40 feet, and the third 60 feet. It gave the soldiers a good view of approaching enemies and gave them time to prepare for an attack. Soldiers kept watch at all times. The guns used at the artillery station at Phillip's Head were mounted on a concrete base with iron and steel plates. They were placed about 90 feet above the water. A huge camouflage steel net was secretly constructed and installed underwater. It was meant to stop submarines from entering Botwood Harbour and to capture enemies. Wiseman's Cove, located three miles east of Phillip's Head, had guns erected with 18 inch barrels that used 615 pound shells (Sibley, 1992). After the War (back to top) The war officially ended November 11, 1945. Troops left their stations in Botwood, Wiseman's Cove, and Phillip's Head. Residents of the area felt the effect of the war in many ways. The town was left with the remains of the base and a taste of a better way of life. However, several residents of Botwood had lost their lives in this war. A French company was brought in to dismantle the artillery station. The camouflaged steel net was secretly removed from underwater by the army and shipped away. All rooms were cleared of ammunition and supplies. Guns were removed from all stations. The platforms for the guns still remain in Phillip's Head. The military buildings on the Airbase and surrounding areas were left to be sold, dismantled, or relocated. Some of these buildings included two hangers, a jail, (which was located at Caledonia Camp), a drill hall, the Cabot Inn (also known as the V.I.P. building), and several barracks. The V.I.P. Building, where
Sir Winston Churchill once stayed, became property of the A.N.D. Company
at Grand Falls. This building remained the possession of the A.N.D. Company
until 1951 when they sold it to the Grand Falls Branch of the Canadian
Legion for one dollar.
'I was helping to dismantle the airplane hangar in Botwood, and we had removed all but one of the bolts holding the sway-bracing on the roof beams. It was my job then to go up and let that bolt go.'Normal practice when working on the roof beams was for the man to tie a safety rope around a beam, then around his own waist to prevent a long fall. In this case, however, Mr. March fell before he got a chance to tie on the rope. 'There I was, walking up a 14-inch beam with a rope over my shoulder, and an 18 inch Stilson (wrench) in each hand, when suddenly the bolt let go and the beam started to swing back and forth. I had nothing to catch myself, only fresh air. Down I went, striking my head on the beam on the way, then pitching onto a steel beam on the ground. I spent five and one half months in the hospital, wearing 70 pounds of plaster from my ankles to my neck. Nine inches of my leg bone was all splintered up, and when they put it back together, one of my legs was two inches shorter than the other! They wanted me to have my shoe built up, but I told them it was no good. I might be wearing a shoe one day, but a rubber boot in the woods the next, so it was better for me to go on like I was, and get used to it'. There was no question in his mind about not being able to get back to work, and it was not too long before Wilson March was on the go again, hauling wood with his own truck (Decks Awash, 1981).A Royal Canadian Air Force barracks situated northwest of the Airbase was torn down and on its foundation today sits the Atlantic Hotel. The Drill Hall was acquired by the A.N.D. Company at the end of the war. They very generously granted the Botwood Amateur Athletic Association the use of the large steel framed building, which is now known as Botwood Stadium. The Drill Hall became property of the Town Council in November 1963. The storage facilities at Killick Island were taken over by the Newfoundland Commission of Government, Department of Public Works and rented out to A. E. Hickman Company Limited of Grand Falls in 1948. It was used for storage by this company until Hickman's discontinued operations at Botwood in 1978. The boathouse located on the base and used by BOAC was left intact when the war was over. The Newfoundland Government took over responsibility for this building and it was also rented to A. E. Hickman Company in 1948. The Town of Botwood acquired ownership of this building in 1978. The Botwood Heritage Society now has exclusive use of this building for a Museum. A hospital was built by the military in 1942 and later sold to the Newfoundland Commission of Government in 1946. Inside the gate at Caledonia Camp stood a jail. When the war ended and the place was deserted, this building was sold to Mr. Stuart Mills of Botwood. The jail was put on a skid and relocated to his property. The cells in the jail were later renovated into a two storey house. Lumber and material from dismantled buildings were sold to residents of the area. Mr. Wilfred Dean said he bought 1000 feet of lumber; he also bought windows, doors, and insulation. The house he built from these materials is located at 51 Commonwealth Drive. Today, the artillery station
and Airbase are historical sites.
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