Page 14 - William B. Lake

probably due to the massive construction project of the “Alaskan Highway”. This Highway was
nearing completion and there was a need for rail movements for equipment and supplies to
Europe be prioritised at that crucial stage of the war.

Bill’s Postings in Canada prior to Mossbank

It is evident from Bill’s wartime airgraphs that the rail trip across the continent to from Quebec to
Alberta had required them to be diverted via the west coast of the United States. This indirect
route would have added several days to an already long journey. In an airgraph to his parents in
Kempsey he describes the rail route as being via San Francisco as a brief stop-over point; then to
Vancouver (where he had sufficient time to purchase some postcards during a short stop-over)
before travelling across the Rockies to the 3M Depot at Edmonton prior to transfer Lethbridge via
Calgary. It was undoubtedly a long and gruelling travel route, which in combination with the ship
travel from Australia would have had a physically debilitating effect from which they would need to
recover. At San Francisco they would have transferred to a rail route taking them Vancouver.
There was obviously very limited time for breaks and sight-seeing.

“I’ve seen a lot of the USA and Canada but only from a train window.”
(Bill’s transcript from an early airgraph)

I suspect that Bill’s journey over the Rockies was the most pleasant part of the trip for him. During
the few hours stopover in Vancouver, they would have transferred from the Canadian Pacific Rail
to the Canadian Rail system to travel across the Rockies via Edson to Edmonton’s 3M Depot.
This train journey would have revealed a view of the Rocky Mountains that would have been
spectacular and totally different for most of the Australian airmen. At the stage Bill arrived it was
heading towards a very cold winter and the view from the comfortable railcars would have been of
extraordinary snow-covered peaks and river valleys.

Following the journey there would have required a brief respite for aircrew recovery at the
Edmonton 3M Depot before they again travelled to and commenced training at No 8 B&GS
(Bombing & Gunnery School) at Lethbridge. Ultimately it all came down to a complex schedule to
maintain the training centres across Canada which formed part of the BCATP (British
Commonwealth Training Plan). Unknown to the incoming trainees it was to become one of the
coldest winters in Canada during the war and the extreme conditions impacted the training
program and also resulted in many training accidents and fatalities (including at Lethbridge).