Friday, Jul 21, 2006
Navy returns to Northwest Passage, tends historic RCMP graves
(CP) - The Canadian navy will return to the Northwest Passage this summer for the first time in more than a generation to get a first-hand look at shipping in the increasingly ice-free waters - and to help tend the graves of two long-dead RCMP officers near the derelict remains of one of the force's loneliest outposts.
"We maintain historical gravesites and there are many throughout the North," said RCMP spokeswoman Jennifer Hayward. "Once a member, always a member."
Operation Lancaster will take the army, navy and air force into Lancaster Sound, the channel off the north coast of Baffin Island, which is considered the east end of the Northwest Passage. It's the first time in decades the navy has operated that far north.
"Talking to the old salts, we think the last time they were in Lancaster Sound, particularly this far into (the passage) was probably 30 years ago," said navy Lieut. David Connelly.
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Connelly said it's also been at least that long since the Forces mounted an Arctic operation of this size - at least 400 soldiers, sailors, air crew, RCMP and Canadian Coast Guard officers.
The Aug.12-24 operation will employ the frigate HMCS Montreal as well as two smaller coastal defence vessels. Six aircraft - Twin Otters, Griffin helicopters and maritime patrol airplanes - will fly overhead.
A platoon of 35 soldiers from the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment, the Van Doos, will be deployed along with Ranger patrols from several Nunavut communities.
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This patrol will visit Dundas Harbour on the southeast coast of Devon Island, where the RCMP maintained a small detachment in 1924-33 and 1945-51 - an expression of Canadian Arctic sovereignty from an earlier time.
Two tumbledown houses, a stone path and an outhouse are all that is left, as well as the remains of two constables whose postings to this remote place ended in tragedy.
Const. William Stephens was shot Aug. 26, 1927, in a walrus-hunting accident. Const. Victor Maissonneuve died June 16, 1926, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
"He was serving alone at the time," said Hayward. "There were no witnesses."
There are 25 such lonely RCMP graves throughout Nunavut, tended by the nearest detachment. At Dundas Harbour, a 2002 visit from Grise-Fjord-based members noted that Stephens and Maissonneuve needed some care.
"We'll be bringing in a new white fence," said Connelly. "We'll be repairing and beautifying the graves and holding a modest ceremony."
The ships will also sail up Baffin's east coast and set up a series of observation posts along Lancaster Sound to observe shipping, which has been increasing in recent years as retreating ice makes Arctic waters more navigable. The ships will also patrol Lancaster Sound and conduct fishing surveillance.
"We do expect some shipping traffic," said Connelly - mostly cruise ships and adventurers, along with vessels bringing in supplies for Nunavut communities.
Although none of the ships is fully ice-capable, the Montreal has moderate ice capability.
"We're expecting relatively ice-free waters."
The patrol will end with stops in communities along Baffin Island's east coast to allow residents and members of the Forces to mix. The idea is for the two groups to get to know each other a bit as the military extends its reach in the Arctic, Connelly said.
The navy has been gradually working its way ever further north since its return to the Arctic in 2002 with a patrol to the southern tip of Baffin Island.
Patrols by the Rangers - a largely aboriginal force of reservists - have increased in number and extent. The air force is expecting the purchase of new patrol aircraft, and the Conservative government has promised a new deep-water port and winter warfare school.
© The Canadian Press, 2006
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