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Daniel Ford

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Remembering Bluie West One: : The Arctic Airfield That Helped Win the Second World War Kindle Edition

by Daniel Ford (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.9 23 ratings

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In June 1940, the U.S. Coast Guard set out to survey the coast of Greenland, the largest island in the world--and the coldest. A year and a half before the country entered the Second World War, the United States was looking for a place to put an airfield that would serve as a bridge to Europe. (For the same reason, British troops seized Iceland; they would later be replaced by American
soldiers.) Thus began the saga of Bluie West One, whose 5,000-foot pierced-steel runway would serve as an interim stop for ten thousand American bombers and twin-engine fighters en route to the Second World War. In the 1950s, BW-1 provided the same service for turbojet warplanes. Meanwhile, a strange legend grew up around the station hospital, which travel writers,
novelists, and movie-makers have claimed was a warehouse for Korean War veterans too wounded to return home. In 2005, Daniel Ford traveled to Greenland to explore the truth and fiction of Bluie West One. (About 6000 words or 20 Kindle pages.)

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

In the late summer of 2005, my wife and I flew to Iceland, then to Greenland, so as to visit the haunted airfield of Bluie West One. To our astonishment, Greenland proved to be one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. (Even the winters are apparently not so awful as they were in the 1940s. Greenlanders in recent years have begun to introduce sheep and even cattle to their lonely farms. We were told that not for three years had the local lads been able to drive their Toyota pickups across the ice of Eriksfjord to visit the girls at Brattahlid.) I also spent some days in the less scenic surroundings of the Library of Congress in Washington DC, researching the history of the airfield, and especially sussing out the legend that Hospital Valley--a lonely meadow above the airfield--once was the site of a ghastly warehouse where terribly wounded soldiers of the Korean War were kept, because they were too frightful to be sent home. Was there any truth to this? Of course not, but the tour guide at the local museum is still peddling the myth, and if you have stood among the wildflowers in the incredible stillness of Hospital Valley, you can understand why people believe it is haunted. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

From the Back Cover

On the cover: a 1943 aerial photo of the airfield at Bluie West One, at the head of a fjord on the southwest coast of Greenland. The glacier and Hospital Valley are at the top; the black water of Eriksfjord is at the bottom. The main runway is one mile long, straight up the glacial moraine; a shorter auxiliary runway follows the shore at an angle. The military camp is off to the right. Cover design by Joy Sillisen.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007TTSV1K
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Warbird Books; Revised 2014 edition (April 14, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 14, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1993 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 18 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,814,206 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #111 in 30-Minute Travel Short Reads
- #123 in Polar Regions Sports
- #144 in Polar Regions Travel

Customer Reviews:
3.9 23 ratings

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Daniel Ford

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Daniel Ford has spent a lifetime studying and writing about the wars of the past hundred years, from Ireland's war of liberation to America's invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. A U.S. Army veteran and a reporter in Vietnam, he wrote the novel that was filmed as 'Go Tell the Spartans', starring Burt Lancaster. As a historian, he is best known for his prize-winning study of the American Volunteer Group--the gallant 'Flying Tigers' of the Second World War. Most recently, he has written a memoir of his life so far: "Looking Back From Ninety: The Depression, the War, and the Good Life that Followed." Visit www.DanFordBooks.com and sign up for a monthly newsletter about war, flying, and less important subjects.

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3.9 out of 5

23 global ratings

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susan thompson

I lived at Bluie West One

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2023

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Great book to get the feel of Narsarsuaq. Quite a history of a very obscure airbase during WWII and the Korean Conflict.

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2020

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It would be nice to have more photos.
A very interesting look at probably a little known chapter of WW2

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Ole Thomasen

Returning to BW 1 i my mind

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2013

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I found "Remembering Bluie West One" very interesting.
I have lived for 2½ years at BW 3 and have visited BW 1 several times.
Especially the chapter about the hospital recalled many memories.
I visited what was left of the hospital in 1966 - several buildings - it was
a very peculiar feeling - seeing the days menu lying on flor - in one room there was
hanging on the wall the days orders to the staff.
All in all a very informative and easy read book.

Ole Thomasen

One person found this helpful

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ChrisRut

An excellent portrait

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2021

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Though small, it organizes many disparate facts into a recognizable whole. I'd been studying BW1 for an article I'm writing and now have a much better overall picture. It also clarified a mysterious flyer's logbook entry I'd been trying to decode by tying the codename "ONOTO" to BW1. It appears nowhere else on the internet! Anyway, worth the price to me for sure.

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mark j wegleitner

I was there 1948-1949

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2018

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I was 19 years old had appendix removed in hosp. Worked as X-Ray tech. In 1954 went to Medical school Minn.entered USAMedic Corp retired 1975 . Enjoyed book memories restored !!

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2013

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Enjoyed the book especially since I as stationed the the naval unit then called Navy 1503.I recallthe many bombers and other wartime blames that landed at the base to refuel on the way to Brtiain and Scotland..Also recall the accidental dropping of a depth charge by a Coast Guard Cutter at the dock area.Navy divers were flown tothe base shortly afterward and eventually brought the depth charge to the surface unexploded.

One person found this helpful

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Art

SOME GOOD STUFF HERE BUT NOT MUCH

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2020

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Not a bad little account. Just a 15 minute read but not worth $2.99. I was glad that the tale did confirm some points of my curiosity. BW-1 was the airfield made famous in Fate Is the Hunter.

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

Succinct history of the base and its legends. Combine this with the relevant chapters of Gann's Fate is the Hunter.