Remembering Dick Bullock
by Peter Sinclair
Before he left Wrigley in 1949 Cpl Dick Bullock had established a reputation
as a bit of a maverick throughout the Mackenzie stations - and Calder.
Dick had been at Wrigley when it closed, followed by a tour in Ft. Good
Hope under S/Sgt Dave Allison.
When Wrigley was to be reopened in 1948 he was one of the few with site
knowledge/experience. It was fortunate for us that he had that background
to get the station up and running.
For staff he had two operators and a cook. Hal Zinn was an experienced
operator and a pretty fair mechanic. I was the green operator on a steep
learning curve. The cook was inclined to be moody.
Dick wanted to return to Good Hope and somehow got the idea that if he
was "contrary minded" enough Calder would let him return. This
had nothing to do with the running of the station. It seemed more like
a personal feud with Calder. This could take some strange forms. On official
correspondence he stopped using "Wrigley NWT", instead used "Lana
of the Purple Mountains" or "Grouse Valley". The only way
Calder could identify the station of origin was the WR file number.
On another occasion we could not get typewriter ribbons of either the
standard or telegraphic mil. WE eventually obtained some standard ribbons
with met supplies and I rewound one onto the mill ribbon holder. The old
ribbon was full of holes and literally falling apart. Dick had me loop
it up into a neat bundle which he attached to a letter to Calder. "This
station realizes ribbons are in short supply and will do its part in conservation.
Find attached one ribbon to be repaired, re-inked and returned." We
received a box of ribbons the next mail.
The one that really made his reputation was his reply to a CQ message
requesting suggestions for improvements to the stations. Dick convened
a "brain storm" session and encouraged flights of fancy. Some
of the items on his reply were: A gymnasium, a greenhouse to grow fresh
vegetables, a control tower so we could see both ends of the runway. When
Ft. Simpson passed this on the CQ circuit a lot of stations must have copied
it. Over the years I have talked to many old operators who knew of this
message and had a chuckle over it.
There are some examples of Dick's actions to nudge Calder - there were
many more. Unfortunately Calder did not respond as he hoped. In early spring
1949 Dick was notified that he was to be replaced as Station Commander
and was to attend a Jr. NCO Course in Vimy. He declined the posting and
elected to take his release from the Army. In preparation for the changeover
all of his gear, including his 15 ft. freighter canoe and Johnson outboard
was moved to the HBC Post under the care of the Factor, Led Kotowich.
In early summer Sgt. Moe Lynn - with wife, son and Dog, Kazan - came
in. They occupied the second Igloo as temporary MQ. After the changeover
Dick returned a few weeks later on a CPA flight as a civilian. Hal Zinn
used the station boat to take him down to the HBC Post and he was on his
way back to Good Hope.
I have always thought of Dick Bullock as a good, effective station commander.
No one could fault his day to day running of the station. he got all of
our myriad tasks accomplished without fuss, and ran a happy station. he
had the patience to bring along a green operator to the standards and skills
needed on a northern station.
I also picked up a few skills I have never used again: driving a road
grader; driving and dozing with Caterpillar tractors; and how to skin a
muskrat and stretch the pelt.
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