Four Degrees Celsius (4 page)

It took the strength of both men, lying on the platform, to pull Walker's boots out of the mire, one at a time. They trudged onward, eventually finding a Native camp where they borrowed a canoe. After making their way upriver, they tied the plane to the canoe to tow the aircraft to Fitzgerald. This proved equally impossible. Once again they turned around, paddled upstream, secured the plane onshore, and spent the second night in cabin number ten.

At daybreak Cruickshank and Walker paddled to Fitzgerald, left the canoe, bought gas, and borrowed a powerboat to take them back to 'SQ. After refuelling the plane they set off again, heading towards Fitzgerald and their rendezvous with Dickins. However, when they landed they found that Dickins had already left. Dickins had flown with MacAlpine and Pearce during the summer of 1928 to drop off prospectors and visit some of the Domex bases, so he was familiar with the area and had a personal connection to the lost party. He covered roughly 2,600 miles on flights through rain, fog, snow, and high winds but found no sign of the missing planes or the men. He then returned to his normal posting with Western Canada Airways.

Right: Francis Roy Brown lived in Winnipeg until the outbreak of the First World War. He enlisted in the Canadian Cycle Corps and was sent to France where he served at Ypres, Vimy, and Passehendaele. Left: Bill Spence, smoking his trademark pipe, poses next to a set of caribou antlers at Bathurst Inlet. Born in 1892 in Oshawa, Ontario, Spence acted as chief pilot for Dominion Explorers.
Right: Provincial Archives of Manitoba, Canadian Air Lines Collection #1455.
Left: Provincial Archives of Manitoba, Canadian Air Lines Collection #2141.

When they reached Fitzgerald, Cruickshank and Walker were asked to fly to the Domex camp at Stony Rapids, on the easterly shore of Lake Athabasca, where primary search planes with pilots and mechanics were waiting for further direction. Two planes were waiting for Cruickshank at Stony Rapids, and two more were standing by at Baker Lake. The roster of this search and rescue team was outstanding. Flying a Fokker Super Universal (G-CASO) with mechanic Paul Davis was Roy Brown, a First World War veteran. “Bertie” Hollick-Kenyon, a young pilot and another First World War veteran, with mechanic Bill Nadin, flew a Fokker Super Universal (G-CASL). Bill Spence of Dominion Explorers flew with mechanic E.G. Longley and Guy Blanchet, a Domex northern surveyor, aboard a Fairchild CF-ACZ. Jim D. Vance from Northern Aerial Minerals Exploration, with mechanic B.C. Blasdale assisting, also flew a Fokker Super Universal (G-CARK). Thankfully, a wireless system linked Baker Lake and Stony Rapids, which meant that critical decisions and plans could be made.

G-CARK, the Fokker Super Universal, owned by Northern Aerial Minerals Exploration, is readied for the search. The 'RK was the first Super Universal to be made by Fokker and was purchased by president John Hammell.
Provincial Archives of Manitoba, Canadian Air Lines Collection #1339.

The Manitoba Free Press
, September 25, 1929, detailed the area of the proposed search:

Tentative plans for the aerial hunt for the McAlpine [
sic
] mining party missing in the sub-arctic revolves about one of the most forsaken areas in the Northwest Territories, namely, the region between Bathurst Inlet and Coronation … That country is declared to be about the most hazardous hop in the 2,000-mile journey from Baker to Aklavik … on account of the extreme dangers of using seaplanes in the far north so late in the season, most of the rescue planes will likely carry ski equipment so that the undercarriage may be changed to suit conditions beyond the 65th parallel … But even with winter equipment on board, the pilots who are joining the widespread rescue trek are fully aware of the fact thate [
sic
] they are daring death by venturing into the sub-Arctic with pontoon machines so late in the year….

Further stories heralded that the “Mighty Air Fleet” would be based out of Stony Rapids. The report continued that this would be the greatest air hunt in history and the airmen would comb the sub-Arctic in search of the Dominion Explorers that had been lost for weeks.

September 18, 1929

Richard Pearce's Diary, Dease Point

The boys are talking about the probability of a plane coming in here for it is pretty well agreed a search for us is now on. Everyone on the party feels keenly our helplessness and inability to move toward a post at this time. Joe told us again to-night by illustration a canoe would be swamped, and I guess he is right. At any rate, the Colonel is positive that no one take a chance on a move that the Eskimos will not take part in, though all of us have offered to do so, if he would give his consent.

While Andy Cruickshank and Alf Walker had been fighting their way north, gas and supplies were already being freighted up the Dubawnt River to Wholdaia and Dubawnt Lakes under highly adverse weather conditions. It was important to cache supplies along the projected search routes as there were weight and capacity restrictions for the Fokkers and Fairchilds. These supplies enabled the search planes to refuel and extend their searches further afield without having to return to the home base each day.

Roy Brown and Bill Spence had also run quick searches from Baker Lake on the 26th and 27th and discovered that the supply cache at Beverly Lake had been emptied. This was the first encouraging sign that the MacAlpine group had made it into the sub-Arctic. From Beverly Lake, Spence and Brown flew on to Baker Lake to await Cruickshank's arrival and instructions. But Cruickshank and his team, operating from Stony Rapids, were in the process of making fuel and supply caches, and would not reach them for a number of days. During this time, a major concern had become apparent. Only Cruickshank and Walker in 'SQ, Hollick-Kenyon and Nadin in 'SL, and Vance and Blasdale in 'RK were carrying skis in preparation for freeze-up.
[6]

The other two planes needed to be equipped with these essentials as soon as possible, prompting Cruickshank to contact the RCMP and request that equipment be sent upriver by boat to Baker Lake. Despite apprehensions about the forthcoming unpredictable weather and the large area in which they needed to search, optimism remained high that the MacAlpine group was safe somewhere north of Beverly Lake and that the rescue teams would find them and bring them out quickly.

Optimism for the Dominion Explorers was starting to wane. Without gas for the planes or safe conditions for boat travel, the Domex group's only means of travel once freeze-up occurred would be on foot, and this would be tough going.

A reporter from
The Northern Miner
had every confidence that the men were amply prepared to face the unpredictable weather conditions:

A certain amount of fur clothing was taken aboard the two MacAlpine planes at Baker Lake, and if the party has shot caribou as is quite likely, they will have fashioned some rude protection against the weather from the hides. The country abounds in ptarmigan and arctic hare, both being easily caught or trapped. They were supplied with fish net and lines, and so long as they could cut holes through the frozen lakes they could catch fish, which are fairly plentiful … It has been a fairly open and mild fall in the Barren lands, according to Mr. Blanchet (explorer and navigator of Dominion Explorers Limited), whose experience of that country is as great as that of most men.

In fact, the expedition members had not taken any winter clothing from the post at Baker Lake and so would not enjoy the warmth of fur clothing. They had not landed on a lake so they could not use their fishing lines, and ptarmigan would soon be migrating south from the Arctic coast. Ptarmigan, a member of the grouse family, were easily killed with a stone and would be good eating for the hungry men. Although these fat, fuzzy birds adapted well to the harsh Arctic climate, they did move from the higher latitudes to escape the darkness of the winter months. Footwear posed a further challenge for the Domex crew, as few of the men were suitably outfitted for the region. What little they had was supplied by the ever-helpful Inuit, but there was not enough to go around (and it didn't always fit very well).

Their food supplies were also dwindling, with no end to their confinement in sight. They were down to twenty-five pounds of flour, one-and-a-half tins of baking soda, half a pound of lard, a small tin of pork and beans, two-and-a-half tins of milk, four ounces of jam, a pound of salt, two ounces of pepper, two pounds of apricots, ten pounds of beans, half-a-pound each of rice and tea, two-and-a-half pounds of raisins, three tins of Frey Bentons corned beef, four pounds of sugar, two pounds of currants, one tin each of tomatoes and sausages, a bottle of coffee, a package of dates, half a dozen hardtack biscuits, a package of mushroom soup, twenty-eight chocolate bars, and thirty bouillon cubes. This standard bush fare was heavy on the carbohydrates but noticeably lacking in protein, fat, and fresh produce. Bush fare was fine for a short period of time, but by now the Domex men were feeling the effects of vitamin deficiencies, and day to day work was becoming physically draining.

The stranded men continued their chores around camp — finding and cooking food, gathering fuel and shoring up their frequently collapsing sod house. To supplement their food stores, they hunted the increasingly elusive ptarmigan, along with ground squirrel and ducks, and landed the occasional fish. The Inuit were generous with their own food, mostly whitefish, dried salmon, and the occasional bits of caribou, sometimes green in colour — a sign of the meat's advanced age and almost always indigestible to the Domex men. Major Baker had an additional challenge in eating — a badly infected tooth, which he was treating (inadequately) with Mercurochrome. The lack of fresh fruit and vegetables was beginning to take its toll, and despite bursts of energy, the men were weakening. A vitamin C deficiency weakens blood vessels and can cause a general malaise characterized by lack of enthusiasm.

Initially, the cooking of their meagre food supplies was done on a stove made from one of the plane's heaters, but the men were grateful when MacMillan traded a pair of field glasses for a more functional cooker. The Inuit explained to the men how to use moss and bits of scrub to fuel it. One evening, dinner consisted of grebes, water birds that the men called “hell-divers.” The oily meat left a layer of grease in the pot, and the meal made them so queasy that they decided to settle their stomachs with a tot of rum. In the dark, someone inadvertently used the water from the dishpan to mix with the alcohol. This did little for the flavour of the liquor, and MacAlpine asked for hot water to help wash it down. He was accidentally given straight dishwater, gulped it down, and promptly vomited. To commemorate this event they dubbed their location Dishwater Point.

Pearce kept up his diary entries, summarizing each day as it came. To keep themselves occupied, the men played bridge with a deck of cards that Goodwin had made from linen maps. Baker decided the men needed to build up their strength for the trek to Cambridge Bay, so they went hiking along the shoreline, all the while hunting for food and observing the ice conditions, which unfortunately never seemed to change. Pearce even took on the task of surgeon and lanced the abscess in Baker's mouth. Meanwhile, their sod hut continued to bulge and buckle in the warm temperatures.