Marking History

Shedding new light on Canada’s role in the search and recovery of an iconic World War II aircraft

- Gordon Baron and Cindy Phillips

Back in 1999, my partner Cindy and I lived on Calvert Island, B.C., for a time.

For centuries, the east side of the island has been used as a blockade by mariners for protection from the Pacific Ocean swells generated by the approximately 7,000-kilometre crossing from Japan. While exploring the rugged west side of Calvert, we discovered overgrown paths lined with plastic debris tied to tree branches, which were used as trail markers by boaters.

The ten-foot salal bushes were so thick, we had to crawl on our hands and knees to make it to the next opening. After spending two winters hacking out paths, and erecting boardwalks, bridges and ladders, we found out that there was a much more interesting history to these trails and beaches than we initially knew.

BACK IN TIME

Following the Japanese attack on the U.S. Aleutian Islands in Alaska in June 1942, the U.S., along with additional aid from Canada, sent military personnel to Alaska to help with the battle of the Aleutian Islands.

Fast forward a couple of months to August 1, 1942. At the Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station in Brooklyn, N.Y., pilots Ensign Mac J. Roebuck, Ensign Jack Sanderson and Lt. Ray G. Thorpe received their new OS2U Kingfisher aircrafts; it took seven days to fly across the U.S., toward Hawaii, their initial destination. When the squadron landed at Sand Point Naval Air Station just north of Seattle, however, their fixed landing gear was exchanged for floats, and they received new orders, sending the squadron to Kodiak, Alaska, instead.