FOX-D by Martin Allinson
Nineteen Months in Retrospect (Download)
FOX D was located on a hill on a promontory about half-way between Broughton Island (FOX 5) and Cape Hooper (FOX 4), and about 50 miles from each.
The site was known as Kivitoo, after the former whaling station beside the fiord below the hill.
The installation consisted of the basic I Site provision of Modules, Garage, tower, and ancillary buildings (which were mostly Jamesway huts, inherited from construction days).
The tower was only 100 foot high, as this was sufficient for the Aircraft Alarm System transmission to clear the intervening terrain between FOX D and FOX 4. It was more than sufficient for the transmission to FOX 5 as there was only sea between FOX D and FOX 5. In fact the lights of FOX 5 could be seen with the naked eye on a clear night.
As there was a small coastal plain near Kivitoo village, a short airstrip had been built and DC 3s could land, albeit with only a light load. Heavy items had to come in by Sealift, or be dropped by parachute in winter on to the ice in the fiord.
DC 3s taking loads from DYE Lower to Cape Christian or to FOX 4would often drop off a light load at FOX D on the way back. Cape Christian, near Clyde River, was much further up the coast. A LORAN (LOng Range Navigation) System transmitter was installed there, and maintained by the US Coastguards.
At FOX D, the road from the airstrip to the Station was about five miles long, with an emergency hut about half way up.
The airstrip, but not the whole of the fiord, could be seen from the Station. So the weather observations for aircraft use had to be taken down at the strip, where any fog banks at all in the fiord could be seen and reported.
PHOTOS
Ian Todd’s Memories of FOX-D and Nauyopee. 1961
By Paul Kelley
In early July 2022 a lady, a daughter of a former DEWLine Radician, contacted Brian Jeffrey. She was aware of Brian’s DEWLine (this) website, and she had some of her father’s DEWLine photos and documents that she thought might be of interest. Brian deputized me as ‘curator’ of this small archive and she then sent me everything. The package that arrived consisted of some 60 photos and two typewritten documents. After reviewing everything, to say they “might be of interest” turned out to be a significant understatement.
The Radician and, later, Station Chief, was Ian Todd. Of the two documents, one was written by Ian (click to download PDF) and the other by a colleague (click to download article). Ian’s text is a summary of his activities on the DEWLine 1959-61 and how he came to make the acquaintance of an Inuit gentleman by the name of Nauyopee.
The second document is an account of one of Nauyopee’s earlier adventures. In the extensive archive of DEWLine memories it can only be described as unique – and is the reason for our effort to preserve it for posterity.
Our thanks to Ian’s daughter, Laura, for considering it worthy of formal preservation and for her permission to make them available in this fashion.
Ian Todd’s Photos
Webmasters note: As we couldn’t use all 60 photos, I asked Paul Kelley to select some appropriate pictures from the collection. Here are his picks.
Ian Todd visiting with Nauyopee and his family. Notice the multiple clocks. Ian makes mention of them in his document.
Construction Era Photos for FOX-D.
The pictures below were selected from the extensive collection of Markham Cheever, the DEWLine’s Superintendent of Construction from 1953 to 1957, before the Line went operational. (Click on picture to enlarge.)
The People.
The people in the photo below, also from the Markham Cheever collection, are displayed in the hopes that someone may recognize a father, grandfather, or friend who was involved in the construction of this particular DEWLine site. (Click on picture to enlarge.)
