Tracked military snow machines (Penguins) on ice during RCAF Operation Muskox, Port Radium, Great Bear Lake, 1946 - N-1979-052-4715

Operation Musk Ox was an 81-day military exercise organized by the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases acr ...

in 1946. It involved the 48 members of the Army driving 11 4½-ton Canadian-designed snowmobiles ("Penguins"). They were joined by three American observers in a smaller American-made snowmobile called a "Weasel" as well as an observer from the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack subma ...

and a number of scientists. The

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environ ...

provided airdrops of supplies. The main expedition, led by Patrick Douglas Baird, travelled , starting from Churchill, Manitoba, first to Baker Lake, Northwest Territories where the number of vehicles was reduced to ten. From there, the group travelled to Denmark Bay on

Victoria Island Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world, and at in area, it is ...

, then south to

Kugluktuk Kugluktuk (, ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; ), formerly known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996, is a hamlet located at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Islan ...

, Port Radium, Norman Wells, Fort Simpson,

Fort Nelson Fort Nelson may refer to: Canada *Fort Nelson, British Columbia, a town *Fort Nelson River, British Columbia * Fort Nelson (Manitoba) (1670–1713), an early fur trading post at the mouth of the Nelson River and the first headquarters of the Hudson ...

, and Grande Prairie, and then by rail to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

. Two soldiers were killed in an accidental fire incident in Churchill, just before the main group departed. Many of those on the expedition suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning because wind blew exhaust inside the snowmobiles. On April 4, a Port Radium local drowned while trying to help rescue one of the Penguin snowmobiles which had fallen through the ice on

Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the boreal forest of Canada. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest i ...

. The mission demonstrated that it was highly unlikely that Soviet forces would attempt an overland invasion of North America through the Arctic.

References

External links

Expedition Into The Arctic (1946)
Newsreel on YouTube
The Canadian Army returns after military exercise Operation Muskox
Newsreel on YouTube
Obituary for Patrick Douglas BairdOperation Musk Ox 1946
Exercise Musk Ox, article by Hugh. A. Halliday
TRACKS NORTH The Story of Exercise Muskox
John Lauder, author; P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Peter Kikkert, editors. Arctic Operational History Series, no.5 2018; Mulroney Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, 5005 Chapel Square, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. B2G 2W5; ISBN (pdf): 978-1-7753409-7-3

A Survey of Army Research and Development, 1939-45, p.19-20 (14 Feb. 1955) (Canadian Army Headquarters Report No.73) Northern Canada

Musk Ox Musk ( Persian: مشک, ''Mushk'') is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial sub ...

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