Canada. An Operation Muskox "Muskox Trek Winter 1946" Jacket Patch

Canada; Patch in a multi-piece felt construction, featuring the head of a muskox in brown and white felt, with black threading for the horns, eyes, nostrils and mouth, along with copper-coloured threading detailing the edges of the snout, on a white felt background, the muskoxsurrounded by a circular navy blue wool panel, trimmed along the edges in light blue embroidery, with two images in yellow felt and detailed in black threading on either side, the left side illustrating a Canadian-designed four and a half ton snowmobile known as a "Penguin" on the left and an airplane on the right, inscribed in yellow embroidered text "MUSKOX TREK" above and inscribed in red embroidered text "WINTER 1946" below, 150 mm (w) x 130 mm (h), very clean, extremely fine. Footnote: Operation Muskox was the largest military exercise ever held in the Canadian Arctic and the fourth of four military expeditions held in the region in the 1940s. The previous three, Eskimo, Polar Bear and Lemming, had been on a far smaller scale in terms of personnel, equipment, and the sheer distance travelled.The origin of Muskox, and of Arctic exercises generally, dates back to the beginning of the Second World War. The fighting in Norway (1940) and in the Aleutian Islands (1943) demonstrated to Canadian Army planners that combat in such environmental conditions might be required in the future. The growing Western antagonism with the Soviet Union, which lay directly across the Canadian Arctic, only increased these concerns. In discussing the operation, one Canadian Cabinet Minister explained: "We all know that invasion of North America, if and when, will come from the north, not the south. . . . We have to be ready. . . . We have to be able to live, travel and fight in the cold." In 1939 there were no Arctic vehicles in the Canadian Army, nor was there any Arctic clothing, winterized radios or electronics. The military had largely avoided the region. The Army left security to the RCMP, the Navy had few ice-strengthened ships and the Air Force had avoided it for lack of suitable airfields. Muskox thus offered the three services an opportunity to test their skills and equipment in a totally unique environment. The expedition consisted of 48 officers and men driving 11 cabbed, high-powered, 4½-ton snowmobiles. These Canadian designed vehicles called "Penguins" were originally designed for the invasion of Norway and were capable of withstanding temperatures of 50° Fahrenheit or more below zero. Accompanying them were three American observers with one smaller American snowmobile called a "Weasel". The Royal Canadian Navy was represented by an observer who travelled with the group. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) was deeply involved in Muskox. Lacking the logistical support of road or rail networks, the expedition had to make due with what it could carry and what the RCAF could provide through airdrops. Despite being able to fly over the harsh terrain, the RCAF still had a difficult task. The Canadian Arctic boasted relatively few airfields and the spaces to cover were vast with many supply drops requiring a round flight of roughly 1,400 miles. To mediate some of these problems Colonel G.W. Rowley, fluent in Inuktituk and an experienced Arctic traveler, was selected to take an advance detachment from Churchill to Baker Lake early in the season to establish an advanced air base, a signal station and a meteorological station. Muskox was thus divided into four main detachments: the main expedition, the base forces of 221 men, the RCAF detachment, and Colonel Rowley's advanced team. The main moving force started its trek in Churchill Manitoba. Breaking into three sections and moving 20 miles apart to increase flexibility, the expedition headed north for Baker Lake in the Northwest Territories. The trip north consisted largely of long days traveling across barren terrain, maintaining the vehicles and an official beard growing contest - eventually won by Lieutenant Croal of the RCN. The temperatures for the trip were frigid, with a daily mean of -25° F which occasionally dropping to -50°. These conditions made Muskox an excellent testing ground for the Army's new winter clothing and its mechanical innovations. Blizzards regularly delayed the vehicles, as did mechanical breakdowns and other unexpected problems, yet the convoys continued onwards with few serious interruptions. Upon reaching Baker Lake the expedition was forced to cut to ten vehicles because of fuel consumption, learning a hard lesson about Arctic logistical limitations. Moving north, they carried on to Victoria Island - crossing the frozen Northwest Passage to do so. On Victoria, the convoy reached Denmark Bay, an area which had only been visited by white men twice - once by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1905 and once by Henry Larsen, an RCMP officer, in 1940. Making the turn south, the moving party crossed the ice-covered Coronation Gulf and continued for 300 miles down to Coppermine (now Kugluktuk). There, in four or five homes, nearly fifty soldiers were put up by the locals overnight. From Coppermine the convoy traveled to Port Radium and across Great Bear Lake to Norman Wells. Moving south to Fort Simpson and on to Fort Nelson, the expedition was slowed by a number of rivers. Advanced parties were flown in to bridge a number of these yet snowmobiles often had to be floated across on rafts. The longest leg of the trip was from Fort Nelson to Grande Prairie and this was completed in four days. Here the vehicles had the unpaved Alcan highway to speed their progress. The next leg was certainly the easiest; accomplished by rail, travelling southeast to Edmonton where the expedition was officially dismissed. Operation Muskox had been a great success. A number of important lessons were learned and some vital skills had been developed. Air supply was determined to be the only reliable way of supporting any Arctic mission and the RCAF developed a very efficient supply service. Any material that was needed, whether a spare engine or an extra case of food, could usually be flown in within 24 hours and delivered by parachute. In all the RCAF moved 419 tons of cargo and flew 792,000 miles in support of the mission. Muskox was not a purely military exercise. It had an important scientific element as well. A group of scientists accompanied the expedition and most of the officers had had some scientific or technical training. They kept careful records on methods of navigation, meteorology, snow conditions, signals and the health of both the men and the Northerners they met along the route. Maps were improved as was the force's understanding of the region. The operation had been the most extensive foray into the Canadian Arctic ever undertaken. Covering 3,100 miles, the route taken by the moving party was essentially equal to the distance from Quebec City to Vancouver. In addition, it had been purposefully undertaken during the coldest winter month and, for all but the last 700 miles, it ran across some of the harshest Arctic terrain. Vehicles broke down frequently and men often endured temperatures dropping to -50°, yet the mission constantly pressed on toward its objectives. Perhaps ironically, in a manoeuvre designed to enhance the military's ability to conduct operations in the Far North, the fear of a Soviet Arctic invasion was slightly diminished as the real difficulty of operating armed forces north of 60° was firmly established.