" LAND OF WHITE ALICE " ALASKA RADIO TELEPHONE & DISTANT EARLY WARNING SYSTEM / DEW LINE MD86444

Рет қаралды 12,221

4 жыл бұрын

This color educational film is about the introduction of the White Alice Communications Antenna System as well as daily life in Alaska. This was made in 1959.
Mountains and glaciers of Alaska. Alaska's new antennas for a long distance telephone system, known as white alice. Snow covered landscapes. Aerial shots of the antennas. Snowy mountains. Map shot of Alaska. The White Alice Communications System was a United States Air Force telecommunication network with 80 radio stations constructed in Alaska during the Cold War. It used a tropospheric scatter system for over-the-horizon links and microwave relay for shorter line-of-sight links. The waves being beamed by antennas and received by others are shown animated. An Air Force jumbo jet lands. Cranes and construction equipment build. Men construct the antennas. Strips of steel grow to solid structures. Inside wires and cables adjusted. Outside a snowstorm occurs. Men drill in the snow. A snow storm (:06-3:16). Opening credits: Western Electric presents LAND OF WHITE ALICE (3:17-3:47). Snow falls, buildings are snowed in. Cars are buried. A seagull on a pole in the snow. A wolf with snow licks himself. Snow covered mountains. People in fur coats walk around as snow falls in the village of Kotzebue, Alaska. Pool balls break. A man plays pool as people enter a bar and relax. Across ice covered stone and frozen hills, USAF military men play darts in a building. In another part of Alaska, a man makes a kayak and puts seal skin on it. Neighbors help the man sew (3:48-7:07). University of Alaska. Students play music. A person rides a dogsled as dogs pull it across the snow. A plane is unpacked. People board another plane. Snowplows move. Trucks move out, a jumbo jet takes off, trains move forward. A helicopter takes off. The jumbo jet clears a mountaintop. People head towards a smaller plane. A man is going to fly from Kotzebue to Nome, Alaska with a passenger. The propeller starts up. The Cessna plane takes off (7:08-10:17). Anchorage, AK, the all America city sign. Cars parked on the streets as others drive by. Poor Girl Cafe, statue of a polar bar with snow on it. A wolf realty statue. McQuaid Realty, snow and icicles. Salty Dog Saloon, a bear statue. 49th state banners. Elmendorf Air Force Base, a United States Air Force facility in Anchorage, AK. A pilot readies himself in the cockpit of a USAF fighter jet. The jet, a Convair F-106 Delta Dart, flies off into the sky. The Cessna is going to stop at the village of Candle, AK to drop off the passenger. Dog sled goes by underneath the plane as it flies. A reindeer herder. Reindeer herd wanders the snowy plains. Aerial shot of a tiny village. Children run towards the noise of the Cessna. Shadow of the plane coming in for a landing. The Cessna lands in Candle, AK. Children run over to the plane. The pilot unloads gifts for the children, drops off his passenger, and gives the postmaster his speaker. He also delivers the mail, the plane readies to leave (10:18-15:03). The Cessna is back in the air. The plane flies low to the ground over snowy plains. A train goes across snowy tracks. A snowplow drives. Trucks on a highway. Snowy trees. A snowplow shoots snow high into the air. Two USAF Convair F-106 Delta Darts fly. The Cessna flies over a lonely outpost. It pears desolate and as if no one is there, he radios it in to air traffic control and prepares to land to survey. A pick up truck drives in the snow. The Cessna prepares to land in the snow and does so. Dogs bark. The pilot exits and starts to look around. He enters the home, exits and heads for his plane (15:04-19:02). Back in the plane, the pilot radios in. Snow in Nome. Due to the snow, the pilot cannot reach Nome. So he contacts Granite Mountain, they receive his request. The signal cuts in and out. Granite Mountain goes to contact Nome. Operator connects Granite Mountain to Nome. Snow in Nome as life goes on, drifting snow continues, wind gusts. A dog sled is sent to get an injured man in the house. Numerous calls are filtered through White Alice antennas (19:03-22:41). The sky. Antennas on a mountain top. Aerial mountain shots. Fog and snow. Snow covers some of the antennas (22:42-23:52). Alaskan Natives perform and dance in front of two men. They are getting ready for a play. The performers dance and move while the others chant. Nome written on the side of a snow covered boat. Children play in the snow. Clothes on a clothesline in the snow. People walk through a snowy town. Clouds roll in, the sun sets. The Cessna is parked for the night. Cars drive at night as it lightly snows. Neon signs for businesses. An antenna tower (23:53-26:59). End credits (27:00-27:15).
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com

Пікірлер: 22

@ProfMikeH Жыл бұрын

What an excellent film to capture some of what was going on in Alaska during the Cold War era. If you ever wondered what some of the locations looked like back in that pre-pipeline era, this is a good point to enter. The language used by the narrator is enlightening and calibrates well with the visuals. Also, enjoyable to look backwards to some of my childhood . . . lol 🎅

@mackman1480 8 ай бұрын

It is nice to to see White Allice early warning stations back in the 1950's which I believe were operated by the American military whereas the DEWLINE was operated by civilian contractors. I worked on the Canadian DEWLINE and worked on several sites for about 10 years from the mid 80's to closure in the fall of 1993. I worked at BAR 1 Komakuk Beach for about 19 months which was the most Westerly Canadian site and had 2 trips to Alaska's Bar Main one in and one out which was cool as a young 20's guy. Wouldn't trade that time seeing the porcupine caribou heard, grizzly bears, wolverine, wolves, arctic foxes, whales and arctic char among other amazing sites.

@garymckee8857 4 жыл бұрын

I remember running ABAM cable and wirerapping for days on end.

@Chris_at_Home 3 жыл бұрын

I can relate to the wire wrapping. I did a lot of microwave, fiber optic and satellite communications up here.I have been to many of the radar sites doing satellite communications work.

@mitchdakelman4470 4 жыл бұрын

The narrator, Sheapard Strudwick, was a well known Hollywood actor at the time of the film's release

@rdbjrseattle Жыл бұрын

Never heard of him. I was around in the 1950s and 60s.

@mitchelldakelman7006 Жыл бұрын

@@rdbjrseattle Well, here is that film, made circa 1961 by Willard Van Dyke Productions, for Western Electric. I saw it on TV many years ago, and made available in 16mm free-on-loan by the Bell Telephone Film Libraries which were located throughout the country

@rdbjrseattle Жыл бұрын

@@mitchelldakelman7006 I watched the video some time ago. I forgot about it till I came across it again.

@MrTommyboy68 4 жыл бұрын

Wish they would have shown more on the repeater sites. Are they diesel powered? How do they get fuel there? Lot of unanswered questions.

@erikhilsinger9421 4 жыл бұрын

kadiak.org/wacs/wacs.html Many were fueled by barge. Military sealift was done for several years as well, leaving mountains of fuel drums at the sites which were partly removed and remediated in the 80s and 90s as FUDS-formerly used defense sites. Tatalina radar station gets fuel by barge and air.

@rdbjrseattle Жыл бұрын

The Senator from Alaska told the Senator from Texas to stop complaining about Alaska. He said “Stop complaining about Alaska or we’ll cut Alaska in half and you’ll be the third biggest state.”