Dedicated to the soldiers who have served in the 388th Engineer Battalion and the 388th Engineer General Service Regiment (1942-1954), predecessor to the 588th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Army).
This is a brand new site and will be under construction for some time in the future. Any information you may have on the 388th Engineer Battalion would be extremely helpful to document their activities.
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Oil was found along the banks of the Mackenzie River in the wilderness of northwestern Canada in 1789, but the oil seeps were not staked until 1915. Beginning in 1920, the oil field at Norman Wells became the northern-most producing oil field in North America, just 75 miles from the Arctic Circle. It was a major find, but with no pipeline to bring the oil south to market, it wasn't worth much at the time.
This oil had some very important qualities. The crude had a paraffin base and a low pour point, allowing it to flow at temperatures down to 70 degrees below zero or lower. That meant it was practical to transport it through a pipeline in friged temperatures.
This oil became very important after December 7, 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor
and, on June 3, 1942, invaded the Aleutian islands off the Alaskan coast. As the United States
suffered defeat after defeat in the Pacific, US military planners believed there was a very
real possibility the Japanese might invade Alaska itself.
In order to get supplies and equipment to Alaska to stop this possible invasion, the United
States and Canada agreed to build the Alaska-Canadian Highway (ALCAN) from the
United States to Alaska--one of the greatest engineering feats in history. All this
construction required oil--lots of it!--and about three months after the 1942 decision to build
the ALCAN Highway, the Canadian Oil (CANOL) Project was approved.
A major objective was to run a pipeline from the oil field to the refinery for the crude oil, and then north and south along the ALCAN Highway to Fairbanks, Alaska, and as far south as Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, in order to supply gasoline for the planes, military vehicles, and construction equipment.
A contract was negotiated between the US War Department and Bechtel Price-Callahan, a pro-tem partnership made up of W.A. Bechtel Co., the H.C. Price Co., and the W.E. Callahan Construction Co. These civilian contractors were under the direct control of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was of course in charge of the whole project.
 Of course, the civilian contractors had to recruit new employees to fulfill their needs for this arduous task. Here is a job posting used to "attract" new hires for the Canol Road project during World War II. The announcement does not state the location of the job due to wartime security concerns.
Equipment, supplies, and personnel began flowing through Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in late May, 1942. In June of 1942, after only 5 months of training, the 388th Engineer Battalion left the warm climes of Alexandria, Louisiana (Camp Claiborne) for the Northwest Territories. Once in Canada, the route was over the Northern Alberta Railway some 285 miles to Waterways, the end of the rail line.
The 388th Engineer Battallion was assigned to Task Force 2600 and at that time had a unit strength of 26 officers and 1,238 enlisted men.
Waterways was just the starting point for an 1,100 mile water trek to Norman Wells. From the railhead at Waterways, the supplies were ferried on the Athabaska River, then across Athabaska Lake, and onto the Slave River as far as Fitzgerald, a point nearly 300 miles from the railhead. At Fitzgerald, there were 16 miles of rapids on the Slave River, so all freight, including the barges, had to be portaged to the foot of the rapids at Fort Smith. Everything was then moved down (north) the Slave River another 190 miles to Great Slave Lake, then about 150 miles across the lake to the Mackenzie River, and then another 500 miles down (north) the river to Norman Wells.
At that point, a new camp - Camp Canol (for "Canadian Oil"), would be set up on the river bank opposite the Norman Wells refinery to house the thousands of soldiers and workers who would be needed.
Morale on the project hit the highest highs, and the lowest lows, judging by comments of the day. The project was regularly under fire from
many directions, for reasons ranging from cost over-runs to a rumoured
lack of enough producing wells to ever fill the pipeline.
Horrible conditions meant for slow going in the construction process, and for the black regiments in particular, such as the 388th Engineer Battalion, being assigned to the hardest labor work of the project was compounded by a critical shortage of Arctic-weight
clothing, so that they were forced to burn lumber and bridge timbers to keep warm.
The 388th was all over the place. After leaving Camp Claiborne in Louisiana, they we located
at the Canol in the Northwest Territories, Embarras Portage in Alberta, Fort Fitzgerald in Alberta,
Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, Norman Wells in the Northwest Territories, Peace River in Alberta, Resdelta in Northwest Territories, Sawmill Snye in Alberta, and Waterways in Alberta, the jumping off point from the railhead. It's my guess that this was the basis for battalion motto, Hic Et Ubique, which translates to "Here And Everywhere", as they certainly were.
388th Engineer Battalion Assignment Synopsis: Canol
Dates are expressed as month/day/year
Headquarters and Service (H/S) Company
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Camp Claiborne |
|
06/?/42 |
|
| Waterways |
06/07/42 |
06/?/42 |
|
| Fort Fitzgerald |
06/22/42 |
10/42 (?) |
|
| Fort Smith |
10/42 |
09/?/43 |
|
Company 'A'
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Camp Claiborne |
|
06/?/42 |
|
| Waterways |
06/07/42 |
06/11/42 |
included 80 men from Co. 'B' |
| Fort Fitzgerald |
06/13/42 |
10/42 (?) |
unloading pipe, wood cutting |
| Fort Smith |
10/42 (?) |
06/43 (?) |
60 men at Yellowknife sawmill, Fall 1942.
March 1/43, some men reorganized as Co.'E' |
| Fort Fitzgerald |
06/43 (?) |
08/31/43 |
unloading pipe, wood cutting |
| Waterways |
09/?/43 |
09/?/43 |
|
Company 'B'
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Camp Claiborne |
|
06/?/42 |
|
| Waterways |
06/07/42 |
06/?/42 |
|
| Fort Fitzgerald |
06/?/42 |
06/22/42 |
|
| Fort Smith |
06/?/42 |
09/?/43 |
maintain Portage Road, winter road to Hay River. March 1/43,
some men reorganized as Co.'E' |
| Waterways |
09/?/43 |
09/?/43 |
|
Company 'C'
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Camp Claiborne |
|
06/?/42 |
|
| Waterways |
06/07/42 |
10/09/42 |
pipe loading, road/railway/airport construction |
| Peace River |
10/11/42 |
mid 03/43 |
winter road construction to Alex. Falls. Detail sent to Fort Smith fall /42,
left Oct.13/42. Feb.26/43 some men to H/S Co. and new Co.'F' |
| Fort Smith |
late 03/43 |
08/31/43 |
|
| Waterways |
09/?/43 |
09/?/43 |
|
Company 'C' - Detachment
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Embarras Portage |
06/?/42 |
|
airport construction |
| Waterways |
06/?/42 |
|
airport construction |
Company 'D'
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Camp Claiborne |
|
06/05/42 |
|
| Waterways |
06/10/42 |
06/30/42 |
loading barges, wood cutting |
| Fort Fitzgerald |
07/03/42 |
07/03/42 |
51 men remained as part of Co.'A', to
Wrigley Harbour 07/12 loading barges. Left 10/04, arrived Norman Wells 10/20/42 |
| Fort Smith |
07/03/42 |
07/04/42 |
|
| Norman Wells |
07/13/42 |
07/16/42 |
25 men remained until 10/25 unloading barges |
| Canol |
07/16/42 |
08/29/42 |
first Camp Canol, 16 miles down river
| | Canol |
08/29/42 |
08/15/43 |
second Camp Canol, across from Norman Wells. March 1/43, some
men assigned to new Co.'F' |
| Waterways |
09/14/43 |
09/?/43 |
|
Company 'D' - 1st Platoon
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Waterways |
|
06/20/42 |
103 enlisted men |
| Sawill Snye |
06/22/42 |
07/04/42 |
unloading pipe, 20 men to Yellowknife sawmill |
| Resdelta |
07/10/42 |
10/06/42 |
unloading pipe |
| Canol |
10/17/42 |
|
rejoined Co.'D' |
Company 'E'
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Fort Smith |
|
08/31/43 |
airport improvement. Formed 03/01/43 from some Co.'A' and 'B' men |
| Waterways |
09/?/43 |
09/?/43 |
|
Company 'F'
| Location |
Arrival |
Departure |
Remarks |
|---|
| Peace River |
|
early 03/43 |
formed 02/26/43 from some Co.'C' and 'D' men. One platoon at
Norman Wells, left there 08/15/43 |
| Fort Smith |
late 03/43 |
08/31/43 |
airport improvements |
| Waterways |
09/?/43 |
09/?/43 |
|
(Ed. note: I will fill in information here on this site as it becomes available. This is as much as I could find on the 388th at this posting. A fellow up in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Murray Lundberg, has written that he has some info which he will be sending in a few weeks. Any help with info and photos for this project would be greatly appreciated.)
The 388th Engineer Battalion, after having been enlarged and redesignated the 388th Engineer General Service Regiment on 1 January, 1943, returned to the United States by ship in September of 1943 and was stationed at Camp Sutton, North Carolina where it trained for six months prior to departing for England and Normandy.
Today ... Norman Wells and the Canol Road & Trail
Although the Norman Wells refinery was closed June 15, 1996, the Norman Wells oil field, owned by Imperial Oil Limited, is still to this day the company's largest source of conventional crude oil. The oil field produces an average of 30,000 barrels of high-quality, light crude oil daily.
Today, The Canol Road, also known as Yukon Highway 6, leaves the Alaska Highway at kilometer 1345/ mile 836 and travels through the wilderness 210 km/ 130.5 miles to Ross River, where it intersects with the Robert Campbell Highway. It continues on past Ross River for another 206 km/ 128 miles to the border of the Northwest Territories. It's a summer road only, and there are no services or facilities beyond Ross River. This road parallels the famed $134-million Canol (Canada Oil) pipeline which, until the end of the war, carried oil over 960km/ 600 miles from 60 producing wells near the Arctic Circle to a refinery at Whitehorse.
One of the most remote trails in the world, the Canol Heritage Trail sits on the remains of the Canol Road. The trail runs over 200 miles from Macmillan Pass at the edge of Yukon Territory to Norman Wells, Northwest Territories.
- An "historical novel" based on the experiences of Jean Kadmon, who was one of the handful of women who worked on the Canol in 1943. Check out an extract at http://www.enet.ca/pathfinder/mackbrhm.htm
- Four Canadian maps required to go from Norman Wells to MacMillan Pass (Norman Wells 96E, Carcajou Canyon 96D, Mount Eduni 106A, Sekwi Mountain 105P). These are 1:250,000 scale.
- Norman Wells historical center can square you away with trail information (867) 587-2415.
- Maps can be purchased there or from TGIT Geomatics Ltd in Yellowknife (867) 873-8438.
- Check out Hiker's Guide to the Canol Heritage Trail pamphlet from Norman Wells Historical Center (867) 587-2415.
- One more . . . A Walk On The Canol Road: Exploring the First Major Northern Pipeline. This is from Mosaic Press 1252
Speers Road Oakville, ON L6J 5E9.
- Don't forget to register with the RCMP (867) 587-2444 in Norman Wells.
Acknowledgments and Credits
Most of time line synopsis is from "A Postal History of the Canol Project" by
Kevin O'Reilly (1992),
and is used with permission. Murray Lundberg was instrumental in getting us connected and has a site for Yukon Military and Police History for your purusal. Thanks to Imperial Oil for some of the old photos. More to come.
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Copyright 1997, Cahtocom, Ltd. all rights reserved Cahto Peak Communications
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