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Pioneer Service Road Built
Pioneer Service Road was built between February 14th and September 24th. Originally Canada didn't want an incentive to build a connecting road north of Dawson Creek to Alaska across the rugged topography of its northwest to the American Territory. Construction of a land route to Alaska, supported by Alaskan officials, now became a necessity - and the sooner the better. (Initially, the project was referred to as the Alcan Highway; they decide to call it Alaska Highway). -
African-Americans Sent To Alaska From The Deep South
Nearly all of the Army's engineer regiments were already assigned elsewhere in the war effort, mainly in the South Pacific. In order to provide the manpower needed to fulfill the Roosevelt administration's ambitious highway-building plan, the War Department took the unusual step of deciding to employ regiments of African American engineers. Adding three African American regiments of engineers to the four white regiments. -
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Pioneer Service Road Built
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St. Paul Residents Are Taken To Southeat Alaska
Of the more than 800 Aleuts relocated to five camps in Southeast Alaska, at least 160 came to Ward Lake (some sources say the actual number was 200), where they were housed a camp that had originally been built in the early 1930s for the Civilian Conservation Corps and meant to hold no more than 70 people. The CCC camp ceased operation in April of 1942 because the CCC had been disbanded with the coming of war in December of 1941. -
Japan Bombs Dutch Harbour
In this battle, a Japanese aircraft carrier force under Kakuji Kakuta, an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, established an air attack on Dutch Harbor Navel Base and Fort Mears in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The bombing caused moderate damage to the U.S. base. Two days after, under the command of Boshiro Hosogaya, an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, invaded and occupied Attu and Kiska Islands in the Aleutians. -
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World War 2 in Alaska
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Alaska Highway Finished
Although it was completed on October 28, 1942 and its completion was celebrated at Soldier's Summit on November 21 (and broadcast by radio, the exact outdoor temperature censored due to wartime concerns), the "highway" was not usable by general vehicles until 1943. Even then, there were many steep grades, a poor surface, switchbacks to gain and descend hills, and few or no guardrails. -
Taking Back Attu Island
The operation to recapture Attu began. Included with the invasion force were scouts recruited from Alaska, nicknamed Castner's Cutthroats. Total of 3,929 U.S. casualties; 580 men were killed, 1,148 were wounded, and another 1,200 had severe cold injuries. In addition, 614 died of disease, and 318 from miscellaneous causes, mainly Japanese booby traps or friendly fire. -
Taking Back Kiska Island
On 15 August 1943, an invasion force of 34,426 Allied troops landed on Kiska. Castner′s Cutthroats were part of the force, but the invasion consisted mainly of units from the U.S. 7th Infantry Division. The force also included about 5,300 Canadians. The invaders landed to find the island abandoned. The Japanese may have been gone, but Allied casualties on Kiska nevertheless numbered 313. All were the result of friendly fire, booby traps, disease, or frostbite. -
Vought OS2U-3 (marked #55) Kingfisher Crashes in Alaska
Vought OS2U-3 (marked #55) Kingfisher is on board the battleship USS North Carolina (BB-55) in Wilmington, NC. With the assistance of a Royal Canadian Air Force Piasecki helicopter, Lynn Garrison salvaged this Kingfisher from Calvert Island, off British Columbia during the winter of 1963. It crashed there on a ferry flight to Alaska during World War II. Garrison then donated it to the North Carolina Battleship Commission. -
Alaska-Juneau Mine Shuts Down
With the shortages of manpower brought on by World War II, the local union demands for increased wages, and the government's fixing of the price of gold at $35 an ounce, the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company determined that it was not profitable to continue its operations and closed on April 9, 1944. After closure of operations in 1944, the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company (AJGMC) survived by selling power from its hydroelectric operation to Juneau's local utility company. -
Sunk Japanese Submarine Off Of Kodiak Island
The Japanese submarine I-180 is sunk by the destroyer escort USS Gilmore (DE-18) in the north Pacific. The German submarine U-488 is sunk by the destroyer escorts USS Frost (DE-144), USS Huse (DE-145), USS Barber (DE-161) and USS Snowden (DE-246) in the mid-Atlantic.
