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PBY Catalina at Bluie West One
PBY Catalina amphibious patrol bomber on the steel-mat runway at Bluie West One, with Quonset huts in the background, in 1943 or 1944.

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REMEMBERING BLUIE WEST ONE

BW-1 was a U.S. Army airfield from 1941 to 1947, and as Narsarsuaq Airbase a U.S. Air Force installation from 1947 to 1958, when it was turned over to the Danish government of Greenland. I was enchanted by the name (why One? why West? and above all, why Bluie?) from the day I first heard it. So in August 2005 I flew to Reykjavik in Iceland, thence to Narsarsuaq in Greenland, to investigate the place for myself. This is what I found out.

Bruce Casper emails: "My uncle Ralph Casper was onboard the USS Dorchester enroute to BW-1 when it was sunk 70 miles off Greenland on Feb. 3, 1943. We are unsure as to whether his body was recovered and buried at BW-1 or he was lost at sea. I have been advised that the graves were moved from there in 1958 but no one can tell me there final resting place or which service moved them. Any help in the quest would be appreciated." If you can help, please send email. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Layout of Bluie West One
Here is Bluie West One at the height of its powers, with the east-west runway now hard-surfaced, a secondary runway at an angle to it, and a full quota of buildings. Not visible is Hospital Valley, off the top of the photo beyond the the end of Runway 27. This photo would have been taken about 1950.
Flying Tigers 2007

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    • The Smithsonian Institution Press edition went through seven printings from 1991 to 2001. Now Flying Tigers is available again, revised and updated, from HarperCollins. Find it at Amazon websites in the United States - Britain - France - Germany - Japan - and Canada

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