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| These are photos of Unalaska and its port, Dutch
Harbor. I along with several hundred infantry trained soldiers
arrived at Dutch Harbor in July, 1943, via the SS Columbia, a
passenger ship converted for carrying troops. We were reserves for
the forthcoming Kiska invasion in August. We were assigned to the 58th Infantry and we were quartered in Pacific huts outside of the town halfway up a mountain side. Prior to leaving Seattle, we traded our standard outer garments for arctic field jackets, arctic boots, gloves with a trigger finger, a wonderful double eider-down sleeping bag and a rucksack pack which held 80 pounds of equipment. We trained hard, day and night marching around the mountains on narrow foot paths. We fired and operated Japanese weapons captured 2 months earlier on Attu. We also made beach assaults from landing barges. The Seabees were constructing roads in our area which required dynamite blasting. One day we were notified that there was to be a blast and that we should stand across the road a few hundred feet from the blast. There was some miscalculation in the timing of the blast and the effect was that the rock mountain side came flying out in thousands of fragments, some the size a basket ball. We were showered with these fragments. I received several small cuts and the soldier standing next to me was killed instantly when he was hit by a large fragment in the head. He fell next to me and never uttered a sound. I was lucky. Many fragments fell through our Pacific huts, and the occupants rushed out thinking it was an air raid. After the Kiska screw-up, a number of us were transferred to the Post Engineer which was totally over staffed so we drew KP for a week at a time. By October, we were told we were being transferred to APO 729 which was a primitive base and they needed us. Of course, we had no idea where APO 729 was (Shemya) and that we would travel by the Navy troop ship, "David W. Branch". That turned out to be one of the most hair-raising adventures of my entire stay in the Aleutians. Ian Beaton Click on a thumbnail image and a larger image will appear in your browser. To return to this page, click on your Brower's Back or Return button.
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1. Ian Beaton - 58th Infantry, Dutch Harbor, Ready for Kiska! Never happened! July 1943. |
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2. Ian Beaton - Det. Post Engineer Section, Dutch Harbor. 1943. |
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3. Ian Beaton - Dutch Harbor. |
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4. Ian Beaton - Dutch Harbor. |
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5. Ian Beaton - Dutch Harbor. |
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6. Ian Beaton - Dutch Harbor. |
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7. Ian Beaton - Dutch Harbor. |
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8. Ian Beaton - Photos not having any strategic value to the enemy would be stamped with a "Passed" stamp. All personal photos and mail was censored by the U.S.Army. |
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9. Ian Beaton - Dutch Harbor. This is a photo that was stamped "Restricted" by the Army Censors. |
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10. Ian Beaton - A "Restricted" photo was not allowed to be sent home during the conflict. |
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11. Ian Beaton - Dutch Harbor. |
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