Canada Looks North - History of the DEW Line
The shortest distance between Russia and the United States is over the North Pole. During the Cold War, North America needed a way to monitor its skies — fast.
In 1954, the Canadian and US governments launched one of the world’s largest and most remote building projects. The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line network of radar stations would alert North America to airborne attack.
The DEW Line was initially an American initiative. Concern over increased US presence in the Arctic prompted the Canadian government to get involved in the project. Over the next 35 years, Canada contributed money and personnel to DEW Line operations.
DEW Line construction and maintenance made it impossible for most Inuit to lead their traditional lives. With non-Inuit style schools, new economic systems and social programs, and the killing of qimmiit (sled dogs), Inuit were forced into permanent communities.
Getting There and Back
Getting to FOX-MAIN involved a long trip for non-Inuit, and for Inuit who had trained in Leduc, Alberta. New or returning, most workers usually arrived by plane.
A man unloads needed cargo from a DC-3 plane, c. 1968–1975. Photo courtesy of Peter RickerbyFOX-MAIN was a transportation hub. Many workers destined for DEW Line stations farther afield stayed at FOX-MAIN while awaiting good flying conditions.
During its heyday and depending on the season, between 40 and 70 workers lived at FOX-MAIN. A community grew around the station. Originally called Hall Beach, it is now the hamlet of Sanirajak.
Dangerous Flights
Weather was a constant factor when flying in or out of any DEW Line station: snow, fog, or wind could strand workers for days and sometimes weeks. Incoming personnel landed in the airstrip in the Lower Camp and took a US Air Force bus to Upper Camp, a few kilometres away. Planes occasionally crashed. Repairing an aircraft in the Far North was a challenge.
Transportation Hub
Workers, supplies, and goods were transferred through FOX-MAIN. Newcomers to FOX-MAIN embarked from Montréal, Winnipeg, or Edmonton. Six or seven hours later, they would land in Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay). The flight from Iqaluit to Sanirajak was another three hours.
Sanirajak (formerly Hall Beach)
Classrooms, hospitals, and southern money-for-goods systems were all big changes for Inuit. The Canadian government gradually forced Inuit to settle into permanent communities. Around 900 people, most of them Inuit, live in Sanirajak today.
Challenging Environment
From a southern perspective, FOX-MAIN was remote, some 2,300 kilometres from the nearest city, Winnipeg. Winters are dark and cold. Temperatures can plummet to –50 °C. Electronics and batteries fail. Exposed skin freezes in minutes. Water evaporates.
Building the DEW Line
The DEW Line was a massive undertaking. Construction was one of the most hazardous phases of the entire project.
The annual sealift arrives in Hall Beach port, bringing supplies to FOX-MAIN station in 1964. Photo courtesy of Peter LevedagImagine trying to build an airport and radar station on a site accessible only by ship. Ninety-five per cent of the materials needed to build the DEW Line came by sealift during the few weeks when northern shipping lanes were ice-free.
Sealifts brought the heavy equipment needed to construct roads, building pads, and, most importantly, runways.
Construction by the Numbers
- Volume of construction materials transported: 460,000 tons
- Cost of construction in 1957: $750 million ($7 billion today)
- Construction workers required: 23,000
- Flights needed to deliver radar equipment and machinery: 45,000
- Last year in operation: 1993
Sealifts
Throughout the decades of DEW Line operations, the annual sealift was a big event. Ships used the brief break in sea ice to bring in massive quantities of fuel supplies, heavy machinery, and vehicles. Not all DEW Line stations were abandoned — in Canada a few stations became part of today’s North Warning System. Farther afield, some DEW Line sites in Greenland were maintained through the Danish government.
Timeline of the Cold War
Between 1945 and 1991, Canadians watched relations between the United States and the Soviet Union grow ever more tense. The DEW Line was a manifestation of fear prompted by the very real prospect of nuclear war.
• 1944 - Canadian government issues each Inuk an “Eskimo number” tag.
• 1945 - US drops atomic bombs to end Second World War.
• 1949 - NATO forms; USSR successfully tests atomic bomb.
• 1950 - Korean War. Both NATO and communist forces engage in fighting.
• 1950 - Inuit receive the right to vote, but no ballot boxes arrive in the North until 1962.
• 1953-1955 - The Canadian government’s High Arctic relocation program forces Inuit families from Northern Quebec to the High Arctic.
• 1954-1957 - Canada and the US create the DEW Line.
• 1959 - Canadian government approves construction of Central Emergency Government Headquarters (the Diefenbunker).
• 1961 - Construction of Berlin Wall.
• 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis.
• 1965 - US sends ground troops to fight communism in Vietnam.
• 1967 - Anglican day school in Hall Beach opens and operates for three years.
• 1971 - Founding of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to protect and advance Inuit rights.
• 1975 - End of Vietnam War
• 1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of Soviet Union.
• 1989 - Fall of Berlin Wall.
• 1991 - Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
• 1999 - Nunavut is officially designated as a new territory of Canada.
Landing the Job
In a booming 1950s economy, many young men living in southern Canada, the United States, and elsewhere had their pick of jobs that would earn them the nickname DEW Liners. Inuit men were not trained for the best jobs. No women were hired initially. Recruitment continued into the 1980s.
For most non-Inuit, coming to the North was an adventure, but also a patriotic duty. Recruitment ads stressed “adventure and good pay.” Recruits with knowledge of electronics were in demand. Others were needed for less technical roles, such as kitchen work.
For many decades, virtually all DEW Line workers were male. Gradually, women started filling positions, many encouraged as a result of the Royal Commission of the Status of Women’s 1970 report.
Inuit workers were often Survivors of the residential school system. The Canadian government viewed these Inuit as more employable because they spoke English.
Training
Many applicants were fresh out of school. The DEW Line training course in an American facility was often their first time away from home.
In the 1950s, new hires from the south were initially sent to Streator, Illinois, for 12 weeks of training. Western Electric Corporation instructors drilled them in various subjects, including weather observation and equipment technology.
The company had constructed a prototype DEW Line station in the middle of a cornfield. Trainees often stayed nearby in an old hotel, which they nicknamed “the Tiltin’ Hilton.” With gruelling days, little to do in their off hours, and modest living conditions, it was excellent preparation for life in the Arctic.
Training was stressful. Fall below the demanding standards, and you were cut.
Inuit recruits, many of them Survivors of the residential school system, received training in Leduc, Alberta. Again, they were far from their families.
