An Operation Blue Jay and a Sondrestrom Air Base patch

[Patchcollector]

Hi all,
I was going through some unposted photos of patches from my collection and found these.They both were purchased from the same seller and most likely belonged to someone that participated in this Op.Perhaps the Air Force Detachment(?)
The patches are very large,and the Sondrestrom piece appears to be leather.I've noticed that the patches made for the Northern bases,Canada and above,are usually oversized and these two are no exception.

Operation Blue Jay was a Top Secret US mission to build Thule Air Base after WW2.

It was a dangerous and massive undertaking that was likened to the building of the Panama Canal.

 

 

Here is some info I found online about the Project:

 

The military value of Greenland was not generally recognized until World War II, when weather stations and airfields were constructed at various places in Greenland by agencies of the United States. In August 1943 the Army Air Forces established a weather station at Thule to be operated by Danish personnel. This was accomplished on a verbal contract, which was confirmed in October 1945.

In 1946 the United States and Denmark agreed to expand the work of the station at Thule, and personnel of the U.S. Weather Bureau joined the Danes in operating the weather station. New buildings, a radio station, and a gravel airstrip were constructed in 1946 by the Army Air Forces, operating as a part of a joint military task force. The airstrip was prepared between July and September 1946, and the first Air Transport Command aircraft landed on 9 September. Thule became a resupply point for other arctic weather stations, and the airstrip was also utilized for polar reconnaissance flights.

U.S. - Danish memorandums of 1947 and 1949 continued former agreements, and in 1949 both nations were linked in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A new bilateral agreement for the defense of Greenland was signed in April 1951, and soon thereafter the construction of Thule Air Base began. It was initially designed as a forward base for staging bombers and tankers of the Strategic Air Command, and this mission accounted for the urgency associated with construction efforts.

Operation Blue Jay goes back to 1949. In Washington a secret meeting was held in the office of the Chief of Engineers.

 

Present at this meeting were:

Lieutenant General Lewis A. Pick, then major general, Chief of Engineers;
Brigadier General Noland, Deputy Chief of Engineers
Peter Kuwin builder of airfields, and large dams.
S.J. Groves one of the builders of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Joe Green construction expert.

In December 1950 the Department of Defense directed the Army Corps of Engineers to construct Thule Air Base as soon as diplomatic arrangements were confirmed. The Army engaged a commercial firm, the North Atlantic Constructors, for this task. Hiring was accomplished in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Norfolk, Virginia, was designated the port for shipment of material in surface vessels, and Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, was used as a marshalling point for airborne shipments of freight and passengers.

A reconnaissance party arrived at Thule in the middle of February 1951, landing on the gravel strip constructed in 1946. A United States Air Force (USAF) detachment reached Thule on 10 March 1951, and a naval task force arrived with equipment, personnel, and supplies on 9 July. More than 4,400 passengers were airlifted to Thule during 1951, and more than 1,000 passengers and about 300,000 tons of cargo arrived on surface vessels. Until adequate barracks were available, the bulk of the construction force was housed aboard ships furnished by the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). During the winter of 1951-52 the construction force was reduced to the minimum number of men required to perform inside work and maintain the construction camp, but the workmen returned in the spring of 1952, and again in the spring of 1953, to finish the initial effort.



The construction of the Thule Air Base.

Because of the harsh arctic environment in which it was built, consideration into both the material used to build the airbase and the preparation of the earth upon which it was built had to be given. Various contractors had to witness the manufacturer of material used in the airbase construction. While at Thule the amount of earth preparation, the work site required before construction could begin.In addition there was the massive logistical operation needed for Blue Jay.

The job was to be approximately 900 miles north of the Arctic Circle far beyond any shipping lane. The job was to build a great airbase for America's long range bombers high on the northwest coast of Greenland at the tiny settlement called Thule, and built with the permission of the Danish Government. The base would push America's defense line 2,000 miles to the north. Blue Jays strategic location was ideal, but its construction in only four short months seemed impossible.

The impossible was just a challenge to American resourcefulness. Industry and the Armed Forces joined hands to put across Blue Jay on time. Industry developed new designs that would stand-up to the sever strains of the arctic winter.

Clements panels used for refrigerator walls were adapted to buildings and hanger. More than 300-thousand were used at Blue Jay. Over 11-million board feet of lumber would be needed for housing and storage. Steel for hanger trusses to stand a hurricane blast of the arctic winter was fabricated. And steel for the water distillation and giant fuel tanks each 200 tons were needed. Lacking port facilities at Thule eight old LST unloading docks were improvised.

Their superstructures were chopped off at deck level to provide a smooth unobstructed dock surface now called "dumb barges" they would be towed to Thule and anchored as permanent piers. Throughout the spring of 1951 a tidal wave of equipment rolled into the Army base at Norfolk, Virginia, the prime staging area for Blue Jay. A 6-million tons of cargo moved to Norfolk. At the same time at Rosemont, Minnesota, another procurement program was underway for men.

Here in the upper Midwest was to be found a pool of workers experienced in cold weather construction. These men were tested and given work trials. And they also got survival training. An advance party of these men were sent to Thule to prepare the worksite for the main body due to arrive by ship in June. Sites for hangers, barracks, roads, and quarries were staked out by-the Deputy District Engineer for the Northwest District.

Temporary shelters were put up. The Atwell Hut for example is shipped as a compete building in a single package. Soil samples were taken and the beach was cleared. Back at Norfolk supply yards were jammed up. Shovels, bulldozers, asphalt plants, graders, and rock crushers were all loaded onto ships.

Rolling stock was loaded and trucks were sea proofed for the voyage. DUKW's rolled onboard by the score loaded with fuel and other vital cargo so they could dash ashore as soon as the ships reached their destination. Embarking also were 3,000 men of the engineers, signal and transportation corps plus other military specialists plus the bulk of the civilian workmen. On June 6, 1951 this armada steamed out of Norfolk and headed north. 82 ships carried a cargo valued at $125-million.

The ships churned their way through ice with icebergs and pack ice. The convoy halted and held fast in an ice pack. And a Coast Guard icebreaker broke a path through the ice for the ships.

Finally on July 9 the fleet steamed into North Star Bay at Thule. Their two-week voyage took twice that long and which meant that two weeks were lost. This time had to be made up some how. Ships had hardly anchored when the control headquarters' ship Monrovia raced into high gear to get the convoy unloaded. Cargo was loaded into landing craft manned by 1,000 seamen.

Eventually 153-thousand long tons of cargo were unloaded onto the beach. Work crews 4,000 strong were ferried to shore from their quarters on five personnel carriers. They operated in two shifts, 60% on first or day shift and 40% on the second shift. As soon as earth-moving equipment disembarked from LST's they went to work around the clock in good as well as bad weather seven days a week.
The first objective was the giant airstrip with its runway, which was prepared. The newly completed airstrip received two key visitors on August 8, when Lieutenant General Hoyt Vandenberg, Air Force Chief of Staff and General Pick arrived to check on construction progress at Thule. At this time there was only 2 months left to work.
The fuel tanks were constructed and the welders worked night and day on them. Also under construction was the pipeline as it was being rigged and would run out over a mile from the fuel tanks to the tankers. There were also preparations of the land, needed to support this construction.

On August 30, Secretary of the Air Force, made an inspection visit and with less than two months left, found the work was ahead of schedule. Barracks were under construction, and as soon as they were completed the workmen moved ashore and ships departed for home.

On October 1, Lieutenant General Curtis LeMay, Chief of the Strategic Air Command, visited Thule, and was briefed by Colonel Clarence Renshaw, Northeast District Engineer. A snow and sleet storm lashed the worksite. At the first break in the weather the work crews checked out for a flight home. In only 104 days Blue Jay was operational. A year later the new base had the benefit of another work season.

By October 1953 the vast construction program was substantially completed, and most of the buildings on the base had been accepted by the base commander. The runway, 10,000 feet long and 200 feet wide, was capable of supporting heavy aircraft, and the field was equipped with navigational aids. There were seven large hangars plus several smaller ones for fighter aircraft on alert. Near the center of the base there were 125 barracks, 6 mess halls, a gymnasium, service club, hobby shop, library, base exchange, post office, theater, chapel, and hospital. There were also 63 warehouses, a laundry, a bakery, and plants for generating heat and power.

Water was obtained from an adjacent lake, and an auxiliary supply, used principally by the base laundry, was obtained by distilling sea water. There was a 1,000 foot dock, constructed from barges which had been towed from the Gulf of Mexico, placed on caissons, and stabilized alongside a rock-filled causeway. Eighty-nine miles of road interlaced the base and ran to off-base installations. Hosted tank trucks supplied water and removed waste until 1960, when heated and insulated pipe lines, built above the ground, were completed.

 

Some of the ships used in Operation Blue-Jay:

 

 

USCGC Adak


USS Arneb (AKA-56)


USS Ashland


USS CasaGrande


USS Chipola (AO63)


USS Deuel (APA-160)


USCGC Eastwind)


USS Earl B. Hall (APD 107)


USS EDISTO (AGB-2)


USS Fort Leonard Wood


G.W.Codrington. Chartered and operated by Moran T&T of New York.


USS General A. W. Greely,( AP-141)


USS General Elterg


USS General Eltuge


USS General LeRoy Eltinge (AP-154)


USNS General M. L. Hersey (T-AP 148)


USNS General Stuart Heintzelman (T-AP 159)


USNS General W.G. Haan (T-AP 158)


USS Krishna (ARL 38)


USS Lindenwald (LSD-6)


USS LSM 397


USNS LST 287


USNS LST 325


USS LST 509


USS LST 525


USS LST 601


USS LST 980


USS LST 1041


USNS Mahnomen County (LST-912)


USNS Mayfield Victory


USS Monrovia (APA 31)


USS Norton Sound (AV-11)


USS Oak Hill (LSD-7)

USS Piconic


USNS Sappa Creek


USS Shadwell (LSD-15)


USS Sublette County (LST 1144)


USS Talbot County(LST 1153)


USS Taumer


USS Vermilion (AKA-107)


USS Whitewood (AG129)


USS Wyandot (AKA 92)

[Patchcollector]

1

[Patchcollector]

Back view

[Patchcollector]

2

[Patchcollector]

Back view

[Patchcollector]

Here's a no flash shot to try and bring out more detail

[Squeaker]

Very good write up. That blue jay patch looks awesome. I can't imagine having to be stationed there in the cold while the construction was going on.

[Bearmon]

credit to the original author:

http://www.thuleforum.com/blue-j.htm

[Patchcollector]

credit to the original author:

http://www.thuleforum.com/blue-j.htm

 

 

IIRC,I had to do alot of editing of this material before I presented it here on the forum,so in this case I did'nt put up a link to the source,which I normally do.

 

And nowhere did I state that I was the author of it.In fact,if you look at my initial post,I stated this:"Here is some info I found online about the Project:"

 

Also,if you read Squeaker5244's post,he does'nt identify me as the author,he merely states"Very good write up."

[Patchcollector]

Very good write up. That blue jay patch looks awesome. I can't imagine having to be stationed there in the cold while the construction was going on.

 

 

Thanks man!I too think these patches look great,and they're huuuuge!I think there must be some unwritten rule that the farther North the unit is stationed,the larger their patches are!

 

I agree,it must have been really rough working in the cold,and living inside probably packed together like Sardines,man!

[dlmenzel]

I came across this while researching Thule for my Dad. He was on the 
USS Wyandot (AKA 92) and one of the radar men who mapped the bay. Thanks for this, he loved reading it and seeing the old patches. I tried to post some of his 1946 Thule photos for you, but it's not letting me.

 

Thanks, William Menzel's daughter

[Patchcollector]

I came across this while researching Thule for my Dad. He was on the 
USS Wyandot (AKA 92) and one of the radar men who mapped the bay. Thanks for this, he loved reading it and seeing the old patches. I tried to post some of his 1946 Thule photos for you, but it's not letting me.

 

Thanks, William Menzel's daughter

 

Hello and thank you for your comment.I'm happy that you Dad enjoyed reading and seeing the patches!I hope that sometime you will be able to post his photos as I would enjoy seeing them.He was there early on,right after the war ended.It must have been tough living under such primitive conditions.Please pass along my thanks to him for his Service to our Country.

[dlmenzel]

 

Hello and thank you for your comment.I'm happy that you Dad enjoyed reading and seeing the patches!I hope that sometime you will be able to post his photos as I would enjoy seeing them.He was there early on,right after the war ended.It must have been tough living under such primitive conditions.Please pass along my thanks to him for his Service to our Country.

 

I was able to upload a few photos, in the group shot, he is the kid on the bottom right. He was stationed there right after the war.

 

Thanks again

[Patchcollector]

Wow..Those are some VERY cool,and rare,photos!In the first photo with the funny sign,it's amazing that the guys could keep their sense of humor in those conditions!

The photo of the guys in the "kayaks" is amazing,one looks to be an Eskimo,the other American.The two other photos capture the stark beauty of the area.Thanks for posting these!

[Squeaker]

Oh, that looks so cold!

[Patchcollector]

Oh, that looks so cold!

 

 

I agree!I don't know how people can live up there.My hat is off to the personnel that served in that environment!