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Black Regiments in the Northwest
During World War II, the U.S. Army leadership believed that black regiments did not perform well in combat and were unfit for Arctic climates. However, the Army was desperate for manpower to construct the Alaska Highway and related projects such as the Canol. Three out of seven regimental units – the 93rd, 95th, and 97th - were enlisted black men, making up one third (3,695) of all enlisted men building the Highway. A fourth regiment, the 388th, worked on the Canol project at Waterways, Alberta, unloading equipment and materials, building living quarters and constructing the Canol Road.
Morale among black troops tended to be low due to insufficient equipment and clothing, long tours of duty and lack of recognition by white officers and generals. Construction equipment was difficult to get during World War II and the black regiments seemed to get the worst of the lot. Few blacks had ever experienced northern wilderness living conditions such as those of the winter of 1942-1943 when record low temperatures reached -60 and -70 degrees Fahrenheit. In general, all military men were far less equipped, clothed and fed than civilian contractors, who continued to work during cold temperatures while the military units hibernated and tried to survive.
U.S. Army Engineers Black Regiments played a large role in building the highway... (view more details)
A group of black men behind and boarding truck in winter. ca. 1942. ...(view more details)
Despite these hurdles, black regiments constructed a large portion of the highway equal to standards of their white comrades. Fittingly, the last gap in the Alaska Highway was closed on October 25, 1942 with the meeting of a black cat skinner from the 97th Engineers and a white cat skinner from the 18th Engineers near the border of Yukon and Alaska, northwest of Kluane Lake.
A church service at a U.S. Army construction camp along the route of the highway.... (view more details)
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