June 9, 1943

Mess hall at hospital area open so eating there now. Went spear fishing at foot of glacier, but caught nothing. Many flowers in bloom and mountain goats and artic fox around

Earlier today when researching another entry I actually saw a photograph of the hospital.

Apparently there are two types of Arctic Fox, a White one and a Blue one. According to Greenland.com [Link] “The white arctic fox finds most of its food on the tundra, whilst the blue arctic fox forages along the coast where it finds its food in connection with tidal movements.”

Arctic Fox – Photo by Billy Lindblom

The Photo above was taken by Flickr user Billy Lindblom.  I suggest you head over to his page and check out some more of his great wild life photos. [Link]

“Although Greenland geographically belongs to North America, the majority of plant species originate from Europe. Greenland’s national flower, Niviarsiaq, which means ‘young woman’, is, however, most common in
North America.” – Also from Greenland.com [Link]

Close-up of the flower on Dwarf fireweed (Chamerion latifolium) photographed on a little north-east of the cemetary in Upernavik, Greenland. This flower is the national flower of Greenland and it is called niviarsiak in Greenlandic, which means something like “little girl”. Photo by Kim Hansen

One final note, the next entry in the diary is not until July 2nd and a few of them become very short and sweet.  I am not sure why there was such a long break but alas there is.  There is another long break between October 1943 and February 1944.

In 1943 and 1944, my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company. He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry – July 2, 1943

† Dwarf Fireweed – By Kim Hansen (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons]

June 5, 1943

Went ashore, checked in, taken to army rec bldg. Given physical, badges, a hot meal, mail, etc. Taken to hospital area to barracks. No cots, blankets or mattresses until midnight, when it was light enough to read a newspaper. 342 men in six barracks with one cold water faucet outdoors, and one 6 passenger latrine.

Today in that part of Greenland, it looks like the sun sets just before 10:30 pm and rises just after 3:30 am but never gets below the horizon enough to get truly dark.

Camp Pershing in Iceland, 1942

We have all head of the midnight sun in which the Sun never sets during the summer months (in the Northern Hemisphere).  This is pretty much limited to North of the Arctic Circle. Bluie West One is about 375 Miles too far South.

What I guess I didn’t know (or remember perhaps is a bit more appropriate,) is that during the winter months these same regions will never see the sun and encounter something called the ‘Polar Night’

In 1943 and 1944,  my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company. He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry – June 6, 1943

June 4, 1943

Left bay and worked way through ice to Bluie West One.  Arrived about noon.  Escabana tied up across dock and crew were working in shirt-sleeves.  All interested in how things were in Boston as they were going back as escort to the Fairfax.

When I was writing the May 30th Diary page, I did not have the advantage of the next entries in front of me.  On that day I learned about the Escabana and its fate at the bottom of the ocean [Link].  It chills me now to read that my Grandfather unknowingly was one of the last few people to speak with some of their crew.  He had helped fill at least some of them with hope of what news came from Boston

Bluie West One was the code name for Narsarsuaq Air Base.  Construction on the airfield began in July of 1941 and it consisted of a steel mat airfield.

Bluie West One

There is a wonderful article about the base on the Warbird Forum entitled ‘Remembering Bluie West One’ [Link] that all should read.

In 1943 and 1944,  my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company.  He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry – June 5, 1943

June 3, 1943

Arrived coast of Greenland, followed shore outside of ice, and then went into bay of east coast near Ivictut.  Saw eskimo kyacks, Danish village, Victor Mature on a Coast Guard ship, went down life nets into life boat and rowed ashore to walk around.

Ivictut Greenland now seems to be known as Ivittuut and was a former Mining Town – and one of the only natural sources of the mineral Cryolite (which plays some sort of a role in Aluminium Manufacturing.)  I have to say that the photo below from 1940 does not look all that inviting despite the mountains.  This time of year, the average high temp is 54 F with a low of 39 F.

Cryolite Mine, Ivgtut Greenland

I know I asked – Who is Victor Mature?  Well it is a good thing that we have google to rescue us.

While I am sure there are other men by the name of Victor Mature, the Victor I believe Merton is referring to in this case was a movie star of the era.  Victor joined the Coast Guard after being turned down by the Navy as he was in fact color blind.  He served aboard the USGCS Storis which was doing patrol work in Greenland along side the Escabana (see May 30, 1943)

Victor John Mature – Click to Visit ‘Find a Grave’

Victor had been in several movies up until this time including: One Million B.C., No No Nanette, and My Gal Sal.  He apparently also auditioned to be in Gone with the Wind.

I have to imagine that my Grandfather has seen this film and I will be watching it soon myself.

In 1943 and 1944,  my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company.  He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry – June 4, 1943

Two Entries for today:

May 30, 1943

Left St. Johns with three Coast Guard cutters as escorts.

May 30 to June 2, 1943

Saw many icebergs, floes and seals.

I am having a hard time finding the Fairfax again in the Convoy lists and it is possible that the information may not exist.  Strangely enough in Early April it sees itself sailing from St. John’s to Greenland in the company of three escorts.  These escorts must have had similar duties throughout the war.¹

The C.G.C. Escanaba Remodeled for War

One of the Escort’s for the Fairfax, though not at this time, was the USGC Escanaba which sunk on what I think may have been the return trip of the Fairfax from Greenland, after Merton Departs.  It may have hit a drifting mine, but the exact cause is unknown to this day.²

In 1943 and 1944,  my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company.  He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry: June 3, 1943

¹ Arnold Hague Ports Database [Link]
² Wikipedia.Org [Link]

May 20, 1943

Saw large flights of planes. Started getting colder.  Reached St. Johns, Newfoundland and anchored in harbor. Saw first iceberg, ships damaged by submarines, one with hole in bow that bum-boats could go through, and a Greek ship with a huge hole in the side.

While the remainder of this convoy moved on a bit further North, the Fairfax and a few others from convoy BW-25 anchored in St. Johns.

It looks like a ‘Bum Boat’ is a small vessel used to bring cargo and goods over from the shore.  Some of the photos I saw looked like they could be up to the size of the small lobster boats we see here in New England.

‘Bum’ boat alongside at Freetown, West Africa

In 1943 and 1944,  my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company.   He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry – May 21, 1943

May 19, 1943

Lights and water pipes broken by depth charges dropped by Coast Guard chasing submarines.  Lost two ships from Convoy.

Wow!

I tried to do a bit of research on the ‘lost ships’ and I am going to guess that these were not sunk but perhaps moved on for repair at safer ports. This could be that Merton’s date may not match the actual as discovered in the previous days.

Searching uboat.net shows no Allied ships sunk in the area where my grandfather was during May.  One ship, the British steam merchant Aymeric, at a loss of 53 crew with 25 survivors, sunk on the 17th much further North near Greenland.¹

The Aymeric – Sunk on May 17, 1943 near Greenland – uboat.net

Searching for sunken U-Boats on the other hand yields nothing concrete, however…

U-381 reported for the last time on 9 May from approximate position 51.30N, 36.00W [MAP]  and is listed as missing south of Greenland on 21 May 1943.¹

U-381 was a part of the Wolfpack that sunk the ship mentioned above.

Did U-381 venture close to Newfoundland and succumb to damage from the depth charges dropped by the convoy’s escorts?  My guess is that only her Captain – Wilhelm-Heinrich Graf von Pückler und Limpurg and Crew of 46 will know.

Wilhelm-Heinrich Graf von Pückler und Limpurg – uboat.net

In 1943 and 1944,  my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company. He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry – May 20, 1943

¹ Source – uboat.net

May 18, 1943

Arrived at Sidney, N.S. and anchored in harbor overnight.

My Grandfather was a man of many words.

On Arnold Hague’s Convoy Database Page [LINK]  it looks like Convoy HS.86 may have departed on the 19th and arrived on the 20th.  I had noticed an inconsistency with Merton’s arrival in Halifax yesterday but did not think of it.

The Dorchester – From www.greatships.net

The diary records I have appear to have been typed up at a later date and not a true day to day journal.  I would love to know if that other journal even exists and that these were just the notes.  Perhaps he has lost a couple of days while on the ship or perhaps his memory is a bit off.  I of course can’t rule out that the website is wrong either.

Perhaps in the future he will catch back up with himself.

In 1943 and 1944,  my Grandfather Merton Young traveled to Greenland while working for the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Company.  He wrote a brief diary of his journey and this is a piece of that story.

Next Entry – May 19, 1943