APc-48...(Part VI)...

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[Editor's note: This article is presented as part of an expansion of thought for the original "APc-48" series...The book length publication will include a discussion of members involved in other wartime support missions, and how their duties, and their lives were intertwined...]

Having been the fortunate participant in a series of interviews conducted with former S/Sgt B. Earl Young (and also the unfortunate recipient of several of his correctional lectures intended for my benefit), the readers here might expect my knowledge of conditions and amenities on the island of Attu during WWII to be more broadbased, with detailed information concerning the problems which faced those stationed there, and the innovations developed in overcoming them...Alas, this author's young ears were somewhat blocked by his active imagination, which was more attuned to what items in the Sergeant's footlocker (brought home on a slow, stomach-churning troopship ride before the youngster was even conceived) could be best employed during the neighborhood wargames in which the future writer was involved...

The lamentable result of this early inattention became the scanty memories of what should have been important at the time, and a hazy recollection of tales of survival in a cold, unforgiving climate, in which those assigned to defend the island against a possible return by attacking Japanese soldiers lived many of their off-duty hours just trying to find the entrance to their Quonset huts in the snowdrifts often covering their living quarters...For those unfamiliar with these structures, they were originally a mass-produced, pre-fabricated building, more intended as a temporary shelter against weather than a permanent place of residence...Sgt. Young recalled the housings as being approximately 20 X 50 feet in dimension, with a half-round covering providing walls and roof...Of corrugated steel construction, insulation was almost non-existent, until the inhabitants created an inner structure to which they could attach whatever cold-blocking materials that were available to them...

They soon learned that stacking their barracks bags, footlockers, storage boxes, firewood or anything available against the inside walls, and bringing their cots, chairs, tables and other comfort amenities closer to the center, and thus nearer the only two provided space heaters, lessened the discomfort to a somewhat survivable level...The fuel used for these rudimentary heaters was whatever burned well and was immediately available, freight pallets being a common source, and if memory serves this writer, the innovative GI's soon learned to convert the stoves to burn kerosene and diesel fuel...The smoke and fumes generated were routed through a sheet iron chimney straight through the Quonset ceilings and rudimentarily sealed against the inevitable leakage...

The smoke from the outside was also a convenient method of locating one's living quarters when trudging home from the day's work details, or the mess halls as snow drifts often completely covered the buildings, and soldiers outdoors were many times at knee-level with the heater exhaust...When snow drifted high enough to block the entryways, entrance and exit to and from these buildings was accomplished through stairwells constructed by the occupants outside the end doors...Covered with corrugated sheet iron on top and on the sides, and topped with a flag to identify the occupants, they could be opened in times of no snow (said by Sgt. Young to irregularly occur during times of the midnight sun) by removing panels, but also extended some thirty feet above floor level for use during periods of incessantly inclement weather when snow covered the buildings...

The Quonset hut derived its name from its original point of manufacture, that is Quonset Point, an area inside Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, RI, although they were manufactured elsewhere, under contract in many locations throughout the US and Canada, to satisfy military demand...Over 150,000 were manufactured during the course of the war, and some are still in use today around the world...The rounded shape allowed better chances of survival in high winds as no flat surface was presented against gale-force air currents other than the ends, which were faced with plywood sheets...Some insulation was factory installed, but more was always needed...

The huts were placed with the rounded sides facing the prevailing winds...It was not uncommon in the Aleutians to experience wind velocities exceeding 100 MPH in sub-zero conditions, although similar units placed in the South Pacific regions often weathered even higher winds during typhoon seasons...During these times, the huts, which were not anchored to the ground, rocked back and forth causing the inhabitants to push against the windward walls in an attempt to prevent rolling over...The flat, exposed end walls were often reinforced with sandbags, fuel drums, sacks of aggregate or stacks of PSP (Perforated Steel Planking) which had been lashed together, providing some wind protection and further temperature insulation... Period photos of South Pacific structures often show Quonset huts nestled in groves of palm trees, not only for concealment from enemy aircraft, but for wind protection during recurring gales...

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