Crimson Route

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The Crimson Route was a set of joint United States and Canadian flight paths for ferrying planes and material from North America to Europe during World War II. The Canadian city of Iqaluit was originally an airbase along this route.

1 Early history
2 Formation of the Route
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Early history

In 1941, the US established a series of northern airfields and weather stations across the North Pole with the approval of the Canadian government. Ostensibly the original mission of these airfields and stations was to aid in moving short range military aircraft to Great Britain as part of the Lend-Lease Act prior to American entry into the war. The Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defence made the plan official as Recommendations 17 and 26 in July 1941 and June 1942 respectively.

Due to intense German U-boat traffic in the North Atlantic, the transport of Lend-Lease equipment by ship became treacherous in 1941. The only other option was to use air transport, but the limited aerial range of transport aircraft of the time prevented nonstop transatlantic flight. This led to the creation of the Crimson Route.

First referred to as the "North East Staging Route," it eventually became known as the "Crimson Project" or "Crimson Route," supposedly after the Red Cross who were using the same route for medical evacuation of wounded soldiers from the European Theatre.

[edit] Formation of the Route

Originally there were to be three routes making up the Crimson Route: Eastern, Western and Central.

[edit] Eastern route

The Eastern route originated from Presque Isle, Maine, connecting to Labrador, northern Quebec, Upper Frobisher Bay (now Iqaluit), the western and eastern coasts of Greenland, and then to Iceland, ending at Prestwick, Scotland. This route was referred to by the American military as the "North Atlantic Ferrying" or "Staging Route."

[edit] Western route

Beginning in Great Falls, Montana, this route traveled to Regina, Saskatchewan, The Pas, Churchill, Manitoba, Southampton Island and to Upper Frobisher Bay where it joined the Eastern route. This was the route that the American military directly referred to using the term Crimson Route.

[edit] Central route

Detroit, Michigan began the Central route, going to airfields at North Bay, Ontario, Kapuskasing, Moosonee, Ontario, and Richmond Gulf, intersecting with the Eastern route at northern Quebec.

Most of the Canadian airfields were newly and expressly constructed for the purpose of the Crimson Route.