LORAN - The War Years

Alexander (Alex) McKenzie II, wrote about his experiences during World War II working with the establishment of LORAN (Long Range Navigation) stations along the Canadian Coast in an article titled Cruising the Labrador, or LORAN in 1941-1942: A Memoir which was published in “The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord” IV, No 4 (October 1994), 23-39. During the war years Alex was employed by Radiation Laboratory at MIT in Division 113 (Field Engineering and Procurement) headed by WL Tierney.  This note, which attempts to add dates and specific locations to Alex’s Memoir, draws on material I retrieved from papers, including his Laboratory Notebook, maintained by the US National Archives and Records Administration in The Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center, 380 Trapelo Road, Waltham, Massachusetts in September/October 2011 and July 2012.

Alex spent time at 4 sites in Canada during 1942 and 1943.

Site #1: This site is located at Bocarro Point, near the southern tip of Nova Scotia, about 12 miles from Barrington NS and just east of Cape Sable Island.  Using Google Maps, I estimate the location to be N43.450099 W65.471073. This station was completed before Alex arrived, but he was involved in testing and adjusting the transmitter and antenna.  His notebook shows he was on site at least between September 14 and 18, 1942.

Site #2: This site is on Deming Island, near Whitehead NS, just south of Cape Breton Island.   Using Google Maps, I estimate the location to be N45.214334 W61.176517. Again, the station was completed before Alex arrived but he was involved in testing and adjusting the transmitter and antenna. His notebook shows he was on site at least between September 22 and 25, 1942.

Site #3: This site is at Loran Point, Battle Harbor, Labrador. Using Google Maps, I estimate the location of the station to be N52.248272 W55.604990. Alex’s notebook shows he received a telephone call from WL Tierney and AJ Pote (head of Radiation Laboratory Division 111) in Sydney NS on November 3, 1942, and his Memoir indicates he was in transit to Battle Harbor by ship on November 5 (Guy Fawkes Day).  I believe that most of the construction had been completed at Site #3 by the time Alex arrived, but the LORAN equipment had not yet been set up or activated. His notebook indicates that he was on site on or before November 11 and his Memoir  states that he was still there when my brother Charles Garthwaite was born on December 5. He travelled to Site 4 in mid December.

Site #4: This site is in Bonavista Newfoundland.  Using Google Maps, I estimate the location of the station to be N48.696881 W53.085601. Alex’s notebook shows he received a telegram from WL Tierney in Bonavista on December 16, 1942.  I believe there was not much completed at Site #4 when Alex arrived. His Memoir states that he left this site in mid March 1943.  A letter from William Vissers, Jr to WL Tierney dated March 24, 1943 states that Mr Vissers arrived at “Station Number Four” on March 15.  Another document, dated March 23, provides a list of “Drawings left at Site #4 by A.A. McKenzie”; it is not indicated whether this list was prepared by Alex or by Mr. Vissars, but it seems reasonable to assume that they prepared it together, indicating that Alex probably left sometime between March 15 and March 24.

I obtained copies of the following documents from the National Archives:

May 7, 1942, Acquisition of Canadian sites for Long-Range-Navigation Stations, memo from D.G. Fink to Melville Eastham

October 10, 1942, Sites #1 and #2,  Loran Memo #108, Alexander A. McKenzie to Walter L. Tierney

undated, LRN Site No. 3, unsigned

early Nov 1942, Report of Construction. at L.R.N. Site #3 LORAN Point, Battle Harbor. Labrador. August 10 to November 5, 1942, Macnamara Construction Co. Ltd. [Some pages consisting only of photos were not copied]

July 17, 1942, LRN Site No. 4 (Bonovista Point, Newfoundland), Joseph A Waldschmidt [only a portion of the map was copied]. This page also includes an aerial photo of the site and a photo of some of the buildings.

undated, a list of supplies for 1 officer and 8 men for 6 months included in an archive folder for Site 4

March 23, 1943, Drawings left at Site #4 by A.A. McKenzie, unsigned

March 24, 1943, letter from William Vissers, Jr to WL Tierney

undated, LRN Site No. 5 in Frederiksdal, Greenland

undated, LRN Site No. 8 sketch map near Key West, Florida

June 28, 1943, LRN Site No. 9 proposed for Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota

September 7, 1943 Test Planning document for a test in the eastern US using stations at Montauk NY (site 6), East Brewster MA (site 7), Key West FL (site 8), and Gooseberry Falls MN (site 9).  Only the first page of the planning memo was copied.

LORAN - postwar

Information about LORAN was declassified as soon as World War II ended, and some of those involved with inventing and building LORAN at Radiation Labs began writing descriptions of the system for the public.  Both my father and Donald G. Fink each wrote 3-part articles following the same general outline: an Introduction, a description of the fixed transmitting stations, and a description of the movable receiving stations.  Don Fink's 3 articles were published in Electronics magazine with the title The LORAN System starting with the November 1945 issue. Alex McKenzie's 3 articles appeared in QST titled  Loran - the Latest in Navigational Aids starting with the December 1945 issue. I have been able to recover the first article by Don Fink and the second and third articles by Alex.