ARCTIC EMERGENCIES 
UNITED STATES.ARMY AIR FORCES FLIGHT CONTROL COMMAND 
SAFETY EDUCATION SECTION You can beat the ARCTIC 
IF YOU 
GET PLENTY OF SLEEP AND REST 
AVOID TIGHT CLOTHING 
EAT PLENTY OF FAT 
KEEP DRY 
3 THE ARCTIC IN SUMMER 
Arctic is not always ice, snow, and 
cold. In late August, 80 per cent of all land north 
of the Arctic Circle is free of snow. Most of the 
remaining snow-clad 20 per cent is in Greenland. 
Summer temperatures in the lowlands, remote from 
mountains and seacoast, run around 85 to 90 deg. F. 
From mid-June to September there are 10 times as 
many mosquitoes per square mile over two-thirds of 
the land north of the tree line than in any equal 
area in the tropics. 
4 THE ARCTIC IN WINTER 
The world’s coldest spots are not within 
the Arctic Circle. There probably is no spot on any 
seacoast within the Arctic Zone that can show a 
minimum as low as the —90 deg. F. temperatures 
recorded at Riverside, Wyoming. The lowest tem- 
perature recorded at Pt. Barrow, Alaska, is —56 deg. 
Arctic winter climate on the average is dry. Actually 
relatively little snow falls. Frequently what appears 
to be a blizzard is merely old snow being blown from 
one point to another by a high wind. Annual snow- 
fall added to annual rainfall seldom exceeds 10 
inches. Heaviest snows come in the Spring. 
5 ARCTIC SIBERIA—The coa*» of Siberia resembles 
that of Arctic Alaska. There are no glaciers on 
the mainland. Some large areas are completely 
free of persisting snowbanks. Franz Josef Land 
— a group of islands in the northern and west- 
ernmost areo—are mainly ice-covered plateaus 
rarely more than 1,000 feel high. 
ARCTIC ALASKA—The Brooks Range (7,000 
to 10,000 feel) cuts across the northern lip of 
Arctic Alaska to form a level triangular prairie 
extending out to Point Barrow and the Arctic 
Sea. Although the range is a formidable travel 
barrier, numerous cuts and passes do exist at 
lower elevations. There are few glaciers in 
Arctic Alaska. 
ARCTIC CANADA—The greater part of the main- k 
land of Arctic Canada, with the exception of the r 
Yukon territory, is prairie. The Yukon, on the 
other hand, is mountainous with peaks as high 
as 8,000 feel. The only glaciers are to be found 
Inlhe Canadian islands to the north and northeast. ARCTIC OCEAN—The Arctic Ocean covers ap- 
proximately 5,000,000 square miles. Surface 
water has temperatures ranging from 28 to 32 
deg. F. Toward the end of summer, two-thirds 
of the sea is covered by drifting pack ice seven 
to ten feel thick. 
SVALBARD A R C HIP E L A G O—The Svalbard 
Archipelago lies between Norway on the west 
and the northern tip of Greenland on the east. 
The chief island, Spitzbergen, is a plateau cut by 
many deep fjords. Plains exist in the north and 
west and mountains in the south and east. Gla- 
ciers fill the valleys except in the southern interior. 
GREENLAND—A turtle-back island continent 
about 700 miles wide at its widest, 1,600 miles 
long, and with lengthwise mountain ranges 
from 7,000 to 10,000 feet high. Its coasts are the 
most rugged in the northern hemisphere. An 
ice dome fills the center of the continent to a 
depth of 8,000 feet. LAND YOUR PLANE 
w 
w w hen an emergency develops over the 
Arctic, LAND YOUR PLANE if it is at all possible. 
Crash landings or even wheels-down landings can be 
executed with safety on snow. Landings on ice should 
be made “wheels up.” 
Don’t wander aimlessly if you are lost. Save 
enough gasoline for a landing under full control 
with enough extra for an exploratory approach to 
your landing spot. Watch for blowing snow, it will 
indicate the direction of the ground wind. 
Don’t pick an area of ice or snow that looks 
patchy from an altitude. It may be deeply drifted 
snow or rough crevassed ice. Tightly packed snow 
drifts, known as Sastrugi, look like ocean waves from 
an altitude. If a landing must be made on such ter- 
rain, land parallel to the drifts. 
In searching for a good landing spot, make use 
of the natural “sky map.” It will save time. In the 
Arctic, a uniform overcast with clouds at a high 
level reflects the terrain below it and gives a fairly 
dependable indication of terrain and general ground 
conditions. A uniform white “sky” for example, in- 
8 dicates a uniform covering of snow. If the “map” 
is mottled, the region directly below is likely to be 
pack ice or drifted snow. Blue (new) ice is indicated 
by grayish patches, and open water, timber, and 
snow-free ground show up as black areas in the cloud 
reflection. 
Bail out over the Arctic only in an extreme emer- 
gency and then stuff your maps, emergency rations, 
and as much loose equipment as you can in your 
pockets and inside your flying coat. Landing with 
your plane is important not only because it will pro- 
vide you with shelter, food, fuel, and equipment, but 
because it will serve as a marker for the planes that 
are sent out in search of you. Men are hard to see 
on the snow even from a low altitude, a plane stands 
out against the snow. 
9 IF YOUR LANDING IS IN SNOW COUNTRY, DO TWO THINGS 
IMMEDIATELY 
one—Drain several gallons of lubricating oil from 
the engine oil sump. In the far north this oil will 
be your immediate source of fuel for heating and 
cooking. If you wait too long after landing, the oil 
will become so stiff that it will be impossible to drain 
it. A cowl section can be used as a receptacle. Drain 
a similar quantity of gasoline, but don’t spill any on 
your hands—it will freeze them. 
Drain residual oil and gasoline—they will be your main source 
of fuel if you have been forced down in ice country 
10 If your plane is still flyabie after landing, protect the tires with 
evergreen boughs. They will freeze to the ice if unprotected 
two—If you were successful in making a wheels- 
down landing and your plane is still flyabie, drain 
all the lubricating oil (it will be simpler to heat the 
congealed oil than to heat the engine if a take-off is 
attempted) and stake your plane to protect it from 
the wind. In snow country, mooring anchors can be 
made by burying branches, sacks, boxes, or cans in 
the snow and pouring water over the spot. On ice, 
two holes can be dug a foot apart and a hole chopped 
through the intervening bridge to take the mooring 
line. Mooring lines should be tight enough to pre- 
vent the plane from rocking. 
Some measure should also be taken to prevent 
your landing-wheel tires from freezing to the ice. 
A padding of boughs, canvas, or straw under the 
wheels will do the job. 
11 IF WOOD IS 
AVAILABLE, BUILD 
SIGNAL FIRES 
OIL - BLACK SMOKE 
SWATER-WHITE SMOKE 
I TO MAKE MOORING 
' DEADMAN IN TREE 
COUNTRY, BURY LOG, 
FILL HOLE WITH SNOW 
AND WATER, AND 
LET IT FREEZE 
PLACE COWL 
sections-shiny 
SIDE UP - ON 
WINGS 
KEEP WINGS AND 
FUSELAGE FREE 
OF SNOW 
TO MAKE DEADMAN 
IN ICE COUNTRY, DIG 
TWO HOLES IN ICE, 
CUT THROUGH CENTER 
TO TAKE ROPE 
IRES WILL FREEZE yj J , 
TO ICE - PROTECT * ... x/ 
THEM WITH WING OR ENGINE 
" COVERS OR PINE BOUGHS SIGNALS 
Remove all snow and frost from your plane—it 
will stand out better against the snow. Remove the 
cowl panels from your engine (or engines) and 
place them, unpainted side up, on the wings. They 
will serve as reflectors. If wood is available, lay up 
several large signal fires about fifty feet each side 
of the plane. Lubricating oil thrown on a fire will 
make a smudge that will be visible for a good many 
miles. In snow country where there are trees, distress 
messages can be written in the snow by forming 
200-foot-high letters with evergreen boughs. Keep 
your signal pistol or signal flares where you can get 
them quickly. 
If you are equipped with the basic parachute pack 
kit, or life raft kit, make use of the blue-and-yellow 
signal panel. Use the signals shown on the following 
pages. 
MIRROR SIGNALS 
When the sun is shining, a mirror or any piece 
of shiny metal salvaged from your plane can be used 
as one of the best of all signalling devices. However, 
the mirror must be accurately aimed if the reflection 
of the sun in the mirror is to be seen by the pilot of 
14 PANEL 
SIGNALS 
Need Gasoline and Oil 
Plane is Flyable 
Need Tools 
Plane is Flyable 
Need Medical 
Attention 
O K to Land — Arrow 
Shows Landing Direction 
Blue 
Do Not Attempt 
Landing 
Indicate Direction of 
Nearest Civilization 
Yellow 
15 PANEL 
SIGNALS 
Need First-Aid 
Supplies 
Need Quinine 
or Atabrine 
◄•USE BLUE 
ON LIGHT 
BACKGROUND 
Should We Wait 
For Rescue Plane? 
Need Food 
and Water 
Blue 
Need Warm 
Clothing 
Have Abandoned Plane, 
Walking in this 
Direction*^ 
Yellow 
16 BODY 
SIGNALS 
Once you have sighted a 
rescue plane and attracted 
the attention of the pilot, 
the body signals on this and 
the following page can be 
used to transmit messages. 
Need Medical Assistance 
URGENT 
O K 
Do Not Wait 
Can Proceed Shortly 
Wait If Practicable 
Need Mechanical Help 
or Parts—Long Delay 
Pick Us Up— 
Plane Abandoned 
Do Not Attempt 
To Land Here 
Land Here (Point in 
Direction of Landing) 
17 Our Receiver 
Is Operating 
Use Drop 
Message 
Affirmative 
(Yes) 
Negative (No) 
Affirmative (Yes) 
BODY SIGNALS 
Negative (No) 
18 a passing plane. One of the simplest ways to aim a 
mirror is to use an aiming stake as shown below. 
Any piece of wood four or five feet long can serve 
as the stake, or one of your party can stand in po- 
sition. 
Hold the mirror so you can sight along its upper 
edge. Change your position until the top end of the 
stick and the plane line up. Then adjust the angle 
of the mirror until the beam of light reflected by 
the mirror hits the top of the stick. If stick and plane 
are then kept in the sighting line, the reflection will 
be visible from the plane. 
FESCUE 
PLANE 
MIRROR 
OR SHI NT 
P!EC£ OF 
METAL , 
TOP OF MIRROR 
MUST 3£ If UFO 
UP WITH TOP OF 
A/M/NG ST/CK PHD 
RESCUE PLANE 
How an aiming stake can be used to aim a mirror for signalling 
19 If your kit contains a mirror with a holo in it, use as abevo 
Some emergency kits are now fitted with a special 
signalling mirror, which is a double-faced mirror 
(i.e. mirrored on both sides) and provided with a 
sighting or aiming hole. If you have one of these 
mirrors, use it as shown above. 
Hold the mirror a few inches away from your 
eye and sight at the plane through the sighting hole. 
The light from the sun shining through the hole will 
form a light spot on your face, and this spot will be 
reflected in the rear surface of the mirror. Then, still 
sighting on the plane, adjust the angle of the mirror 
20 so the light spot on the rear mirrored surface just 
coincides with the sighting hole. When it does, the 
mirror will be accurately aimed. 
SNOW GOGGLES 
As soon as possible after landing check your equip- 
ment. Snow goggles should be worn at all times. The 
snow goggles in your kit will protect your eyes against 
the glare. If they have been lost or broken, you can 
fashion a pair of Eskimo-type snow shields from a 
scrap of wood about six inches long and an inch 
Improvised snow goggles con be mode by cutting slits in wood 
21 wide by burning holes or slits through it at eye width. 
The goggles can be held on with a short length of 
shroud line cut from your parachute. 
Don’t make your snow goggles out of metal. 
Metal will freeze to your skin. 
As an additional precaution against snow blindness, 
blacken your cheeks and the bridge of your nose with 
soot, charcoal, or dirty engine oil. The blackening 
will help cut down reflection. 
SNOWBLINDNESS CAN OCCUR DURING A BRIGHT 
OVERCAST AS QUICKLY AS DURING SUNNY WEATHER. 
CLOTHING 
Several layers of light clothing are much warmer 
than a single layer of heavy clothing. Inner clothing 
should be fluffy and porous; outer clothing should 
be windproof. 
AVOID TIGHT CLOTHING AND 
TIGHT SHOES 
Your clothes should be loose enough to allow a 
free circulation of air so that your perspiration can 
evaporate. If it doesn’t, it will form frost inside your 
clothes and you will be well on your way to freezing 
and frostbite. One of your biggest problems will be 
22 Don’! wear frost-covered clothes. Dry them on a rack of sticks 
to keep your clothes and your socks dry. If you must 
do heavy work, loosen your clothing and remove 
some of it. Avoid becoming overheated—an excess 
°f perspiration will mean wet clothing and drying 
them in sub-zero weather is difficult. If you get wet, 
change to dry clothing as soon as possible. Frost can 
be removed by turning the garment inside out and 
beating it with a stick. To dry clothes with the heat 
from a fire build a simple rack to hold them. 
Don’t wear tight shoes. If the shoes you have on 
are not big enough to allow you to wear at least 
two pairs of heavy socks don’t use them. Instead, im- 
23 provise a pair of boots by wrapping your feet in 
strips of canvas cut from your wing covers, motor 
covers, or any other heavy material that may be 
aboard your plane. If rescue fails, your feet will be 
your only means of travel, so take care of them. 
Keep your hands and feet warm and dry and you 
will be fairly comfortable no matter what the tem- 
perature. 
An improvised warm double sock can be made by 
putting one pair of wool socks inside another and 
stuffing a layer of stuffing from a life preserver cushion 
into the space between the two. 
If your shoes ore light, improvise bools from canvas and cord 
24 Doubt* socks filled with cushion stuffing will protect your feel 
If you have them, a good combination for keep- 
ing your hands warm consists of heavy woolen inner 
mitts with canvas or other windproof outer mitts. 
NEVER TOUCH COLD METAL WITH YOUR BARE 
HANDS. IT WILL FREEZE TO THE SKIN. If yOU do 
touch metal by accident, thaw the metal loose from 
the skin. Don’t pull it. 
Tight-fitting face masks made of canvas or other 
cloth should be avoided. They are more of a hazard 
than a protection. Instead, fasten a piece of cloth 
across the front of your parka hood just below the 
25 Protect your face with a loose cloth fastened to your parka 
level of your eyes and let it hang down loosely below 
your collar. 
This type of face shield not only protects your 
face, but allows your moist breath to escape. 
don’t grow a beard if you can help it—moisture 
from your breath will freeze on your beard and form 
an ice-mask that may freeze your face. 
SHELTER 
Shelter can be provided in a number of ways. 
Hard-packed snow drifts can be hollowed out to 
provide protection for two or three men. If a semi- 
26 permanent type of camp is necessary, build an ice 
house. The ice or snow can be cut into blocks with 
a machete or a snow knife or with a large blade im- 
provised from a strip of metal salvaged from your 
plane. 
A good tent can be made out of your parachute— 
with the shrouds serving as stake lines. When you cut 
your chute free of its harness, save the harness. It can 
be used as an improvised pack. 
Pitch your tent in a sheltered spot, but not in the 
lee of a snow bank where it stands any chance of 
being buried by drifting snow. If no natural wind- 
break is available, construct one out of snow or ice 
blocks. The opening to your tent should be away 
from the direction of the prevailing wind and the 
floor should be covered with boughs, canvas wing 
covers, engine covers, or seat cushions 
In tree country, a lean-to shelter can be con- 
structed by arranging a framework of poles and 
covering it on three sides with a thick layer of ever- 
green boughs. 
Here again, the floor of your shelter should be 
lined with boughs, canvas, or seat cushions. If you 
are using a sleeping bag, air and dry it at least once 
every three days. Wear as few clothes as possible in 
your sleeping bag. Excessive body moisture will con- 
27 SAVE YOUR PARACHUTE—the canopy makes up into a good tent 
In tree country, a lean-to can be made from evergreen boughs 
28 dense and form frost inside the bag. When this 
happens, turn the bag inside out and beat it with a 
stick. A damp or frosted sleeping bag is dangerous, 
keep it dry. 
Don’t put your sleeping bag directly on the snow 
or ice. Protect it with a layer of evergreen boughs 
if they are available or with a wing cover, seat 
cushions, or engine covers. 
HEAT 
In tree country, wood for heating and cooking 
fires is no problem. Various types of fires and fire- 
places can be used. Shield your fire from the wind 
and, in snow country, don’t build it directly on the 
ice or snow. The melting snow will wet the wood 
and reduce the heat of your fire. Build it on a crib 
of wood or metal as shown on the next page. 
If no wood is available, your main source of fuel 
will be the oil and gasoline drained from your engine. 
This can be burned in several ways for cooking and 
heating. If the oil is congealed, mold it into small 
balls. Place one of the pieces in the bottom of an 
open-top can or any other receptacle that has a 
draft hole cut near the bottom. Cover it with the 
kapok or other stuffing salvaged from your seat cush- 
ions, pour a very small amount of gasoline over the 
29 Build your fire on a platform of logs or metal salvaged from 
your plane. The platform will prevent the water from melting 
ice or snow from welting the fire wood and putting out the fire 
30 top, and light it. More fuel can be added as 
desired. If the oil is liquid, mix a little gasoline with 
it, pour the mixture into the can over an improvised 
wick consisting of four or five strands of twisted cord 
or rag supported on a bent-wire tripod frame, and 
light the wick. A small flame inside a closed heater 
of this type will provide enough heat for quick cook- 
ing. The same type of tin-can heater can be used as 
an economical burner for small quantities of wood. 
A heater for use inside your improvised tent or 
lean-to need be nothing more than a candle burning 
inside a small tin can. Or, if you have no candles, a 
miniature of the cooking burner can be made. 
In some Arctic regions surface coal is available as 
A tin-can stove. A large can 
makes a good stove, cut stoke- 
hole and flue 
A tin-can healer that burns 
oil. Wire tripod supports cord 
wick 
31 fuel. It can be found in some river valleys. On sea 
beaches, coal often can be found in the windrows. 
This coal has been scooped from the sea bottom and 
piled on the beach by the ice. Starting a fire with 
this coal may be difficult, particularly if no wood for 
kindling is available. 
Animal fats and hides also provide a source of 
fuel. A small chunk of caribou suet, for instance, 
placed on a small piece of wood and lighted, is suf- 
ficient to cook enough meat to last three men one 
day. The hide of a musk ox or a grizzly bear will cook 
three or four pots of food. Seal blubber also makes 
an excellent fuel. 
WARNING: DANGEROUS CARBON MONOX- 
IDE FUMES ARE PRODUCED WHEN ANY 
KIND OF FIRE OR HEATER IS BURNED IN 
AN UNVENTILATED SHELTER. BE SURE TO 
PROVIDE VENTILATION. 
Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the greatest 
dangers in the Arctic. Carbon monoxide gas is color- 
less and odorless, so your only means of combating 
it is through adequate ventilation, particularly at 
night. A snow drift may cover your tent and reduce 
the normal ventilation through the fabric of your 
tent, so provide some other means of ventilation while 
32 your stove or fire is burning. Keep a burner or fire 
going only long enough to cook your food, then put 
it out. 
FOOD 
Eat as much fat as you can. Fat is a heat-produc- 
ing food and very important to your health in the 
Arctic. 
In the winter months, animals and fish will be 
about your only source of natural food. The caribou 
provides the best meat of the land animals and the 
seal provides the best of the sea animals. 
The best parts of the caribou for eating are the 
head, brisket, ribs, backbone, and pelvis. As for seals, 
there is little preference between the various parts, 
although most white people prefer the liver, boiled 
°r even frozen and raw. The heart and the kidneys 
provide good meat for stews. 
Polar bear is very likely to be tough and stringy 
if cooked. It is more tender if eaten raw and frozen. 
avoid polar bear livers, they are 
POISONOUS. 
Musk oxen has a strong flavor, but it is rich in fat. 
Because of the importance of fats, under no con- 
ditions limit yourself to a meat diet of rabbit just 
because they happen to be plentiful in the region 
33 MUSK OX 
CARIBOU 
StAL 
34 DUCK 
GOOSE 
PTARMIGAN 
/RAVEN 
OWL 
SWAN 
35 where you are forced down. A continued diet of 
rabbit will produce rabbit starvation—diarrhea will 
begin in about a week and if the diet is continued 
DEATH MAY RESULT. 
Some Arctic birds are well supplied with fat. 
Geese and ducks are fat in the spring. Swans also 
have a good deal of fat, but cranes do not. The owl, 
the raven, and the ptarmigan are the chief birds that 
spend the whole year farthest north. The owl, con- 
sidered one of the best food birds, has very little fat. 
Ravens are not considered good because they have 
little meat. The same holds for the ptarmigan. 
On the average, all fish have enough fat to make 
them good Arctic food. The liver of the cod, for 
example, is an extremely good form of fat and can 
be eaten boiled. 
Although complete protection from scurvy can be 
had from a prolonged meat-and-fat diet, the rough- 
age value of greens is important. In an emergency, 
almost any local green, pleasant to the taste and suc- 
culent enough to be swallowed, can be eaten. 
There are no poisonous flowering plants or grasses 
in the Arctic. The only poisonous Arctic fungus is 
easily recognized by its yellowish red cap. All other 
Arctic fungi found above the nothern timberline are 
edible. 
36 EDIBLE PLANTS 
There are no known poisonous plants in the 
Arctic above the timberline. However, play 
safe—avoid raw cow parsnip and mosslike 
lichens, they may make you sick. Berries are 
plentiful and nutritious. 
37 SALMON BERRY (Bake Apple) 
A low creeping perennial. The edible berries are 
reddish, turning to yellow as they ripen. They are 
juicy, about the size of a large raspberry, and ripen 
in July and August. Common in the north to the 
Arctic Ocean. 
38 MASU (Liquorice-Root) 
A non-climbing perennial herb of the pea family. 
Grows about i to 2 feet high. Pink flowers and flat 
seed pods. The root is edible and when cooked has 
a taste not unlike carrots. It matures in August and 
can be gathered until late fall. 
39 MOUNTAIN CRANBERRY 
A low-creeping shrub with dark green leathery 
leaves. The dark red edible berries ripen in August 
and September and remain on the vines through 
winter. Widely distributed throughout northern Can- 
ada and found as far north as the Arctic seacoast. 
40 BLUEBERRY 
A low shrub with many branches. The edible ber- 
ries, resembling commercial blueberries, are deep 
blue, ripening around July and August. The flowers 
are greenish white. 
41 JUNEBERRY 
A low tree or shrub with bronzy-green foliage. 
The purplish-black berries ripen in early summer. 
Found in damp woods and near swamps. 
42 BLACK CROWBERRY 
An evergreen shrub, freely branching. The black, 
shiny berries are juicy and sweet. Found throughout 
northern Canada and even on some Arctic islands. 
Often they can be gathered from under the snow. 
The berries keep well when frozen. 
43 WILD RHUBARB 
A perennial herb 3 to 6 feet high with reddish 
stem and pointed leaves. Very common in the Yukon 
and on the Mackenzie and its tributaries, but does 
not occur farther east. The young, juicy stems are 
edible and when cooked resemble rhubarb. 
44 bistorta 
A low-growing herb 5 to 10 inches high. The 
flowers are white or pink in the form of spikes. The 
root, about the size of a pecan, is edible and best 
■when cooked. Common in dry country, chiefly north 
°f the tree limit. 
45 AVOID 
PARSNIP 
Parsnip root should be avoided. Although not 
poisonous, it may make you ill. Usually has a dis- 
agreeable taste. If peeled, stems and leaf stalks can 
be eaten cooked in the spring. 
46 reindeer moss 
A low, bushy, coral-like lichen that grows on the 
ground. Common throughout northern Canada. This 
and other similar lichens must be thoroughly boiled 
or soaked in water for several hours before being eaten. 
47 COOKING 
In the Arctic, boiling is the easiest and best method 
of cooking. Boiling not only conserves fuel, but pre- 
serves the essential elements of the food. In summer 
and autumn, fresh water will be available excepting 
on the ice cap or on the sea. In the winter, ice or 
snow can be used. 
To cook meat in water from ice or snow, melt small 
bits until you have an inch or two of water, fill the 
pot about three-quarters full with the ice or snow, 
cut the meat into inch chunks and place it on top of 
the ice, and then put the pot on your fire. As the 
ice melts, the meat will sink and as the water is 
gradually warmed the meat will thaw. After the 
water has boiled for two or three minutes remove 
the pot from the fire and place it on evergreen 
boughs or a piece of wood to cool to eating tem- 
perature. When the meat has been eaten, the liquid 
remaining should be drunk. NEVER OVERCOOK 
MEAT, overcooking destroys the vitamins. 
For a variation in diet, chunks of meat can be 
broiled over the fire in any one of a number of ways, 
but the bulk of your fish and meat should be boiled. 
48 WATER 
at sea, ice that is a year or more old can be used 
for drinking or cooking water. Old ice can be distin- 
guished from the current year’s ice by its rounded 
corners and by its bluish color in contrast to the 
milkish grayishness of salt ice. Ice a year old rarely 
has any noticeable saltiness, while ice two or three 
years old is generally fresher than the average river 
or spring water. In the summer, fresh water can be 
found in the hollows in old ice. Water fresh enough 
for drinking can be found even in the hollows on 
new ice, which itself is salty in midsummer. 
on land, drinking and cooking water offers no 
great problem. In the winter it is perfectly safe to eat 
snow or cracked ice in small quantities during the 
day when you are traveling and don’t want to take 
the time necessary to melt it down. Eaten in large 
quantities, however, it chills the stomach and re- 
duces your body temperature. 
When melting down snow or ice, don’t fill the pot at 
once. If you do, the snow on top will soak up the first 
water like a blotter and leave a cavity directly over 
the heated bottom of the pot and the pot may burn 
through. This is particularly so when, as the case 
probably will be, you are using tin cans for cooking 
49 containers. When possible, always melt ice for water, 
it requires less heat and takes less time. 
In summer there are innumerable sources of fresh 
water. Lakes and streams are seldom more than a 
mile or so apart in the land north of the Arctic circle. 
Melt ice instead of snow for drinking water, it takes less heal 
ARCTIC TRAVEL 
If you were on your flight course when you were 
forced down, stay with your plane. Rescue planes 
will be out looking for you and will find you, but 
remember—any search takes time. Don’t give up 
50 hope of rescue too quickly. The men who are out 
looking for you are trained in their jobs and if it is 
humanly possible to find you and get you out they 
will do it. You can help them by staying with your 
plane. If they cannot land and bring you out by air- 
plane, they will drop you the necessary equipment 
and supplies to help you trek out. Travel in the Arctic 
is difficult. You will need every aid in the way of 
clothing and equipment that can be made available 
to you. 
If rescue fails and you decide to walk your way 
out, lay your plans carefully and then stick to them. 
What course you decide to follow should be deter- 
mined largely by your location and the terrain. 
In mountainous or wooded areas, your best course, 
unless you know exactly where you are and have 
some definite destination, will be to follow streams 
and rivers downstream. They will lead you event- 
ually either to some post of civilization or to the coast 
where your chances of finding food and a native vil- 
lage will be good. There is just one exception to this 
rule—in Siberia rivers and streams should be fol- 
lowed upstream. The rivers in Siberia flow north, 
while civilization is to the south. 
don’t wander aimlessly. Use your compass to 
maintain a general direction, but don’t try to travel 
51 in a straight line. Follow the contour of the land for 
the easiest going in the general direction that you 
want to go. If you have no pocket compass, remove 
the compass from your plane. 
when you camp, camp on the mountains and not 
in the valleys. Slopes and ridges in the Arctic are 
always warmer than the valleys. 
In thick woods, blaze a trail on the trees as you 
go, just in case you have to double back on your 
course. 
STRAIGHT AHEAD 
TURN RIGHT 
TURN LEFT 
In free country, blaze a frail whenever you leave your camp. If 
will keep you from wandering in circles and help get you back 
52 plenty of food and rest is the secret of Arctic 
travel, particularly in the winter. Don’t rush, cook 
at least one hot meal a day, and be sure to get 
adequate sleep. You can survive many days without 
food if you will relax and avoid exhaustion, don’t 
WORRY ABOUT FREEZING TO DEATH WHILE YOU SLEEP. 
Unless you are exhausted you will wake up before 
you freeze. 
Before you leave your plane make sure that you 
are taking everything that will help you make your 
way back to civilization. Snowshoes, sledges, and 
shelters can be made out of various parts of the plane. 
Cabin doors, main landing wheel doors, and bomb- 
bay doors make good sledges. Skis and snowshoes 
can be made by removing inspection panels, the cover 
strips over wing-root joints, or tail-wheel doors, and 
lashing them to your feet with thongs or parachute 
shrouds. A section of engine cowl can be used as a 
container for melting water or for cooking, as a head 
shelter and windbreak for use with a sleeping bag, 
or as a fire shield for reflecting the heat of your fire 
into your lean-to or tent. 
In the case of a forced landing made wheels down 
on an ice floe when no rubber boat is available, an 
improvised raft can be made by removing the tires 
from your plane and lashing them together with 
53 wire and control cables. The wheels can be removed 
by stacking ice blocks under the wings so they will 
support the airplane and permit partial retraction of 
the landing gear. If there is sufficient time, fuel 
tanks also can be removed and used as floats. Such 
improvised rafts will help you to cross open leads 
and short stretches of sea, providing the water is 
calm. 
BEFORE LEAVING YOUR PLANE BURN ALL PAPERS, TECHNICAL 
ORDERS, AND TRIP DATA THAT MIGHT BE RESTRICTED, CON- 
FIDENTIAL OR CLASSIFIED. SECRET INSTRUMENTS SHOULD BE 
SMASHED AND THE PARTS BURIED OR THROWN IN THE SEA 
54 ARCTIC HEALTH 
Frostbite, or local freezing, is a constant 
danger to anyone exposed to the sub-zero tempera- 
tures of an Arctic winter. Strictly speaking, frostbite 
cannot be prevented, but the risk can be minimized. 
To neglect a frostbitten spot is to invite gangrene. 
There is no particular pain with frostbite. Quite 
to the contrary, there is an absence of sensation, a 
numbness. Frostbite can occur without a person 
knowing it, so examine your face, hands, and feet 
frequently. The symptoms are stiffness and a grayish 
or whitish color of the part affected. 
If you are frostbitten, donT apply snow or ice. 
There is no fact in the old recommended cold treat- 
ment, Instead, warm the affected part gradually. 
Don’t rub the spot. Even the gentlest massage can 
do a great deal of harm. If frostbite appears on your 
face, warm it by pressing your warm fingers against 
it. If a wrist is frozen, warm it by grasping it with 
the other hand. Frozen hands and fingers can be 
thawed by holding them against your chest or under 
your armpits inside your clothes. 
Frozen feet are particularly serious. Try to keep 
your feet from freezing, but should they get frost- 
55 bitten, take care of them immediately. Change to a 
warmer footgear if you can, or wrap them in cloth 
or fur until they thaw. Warm them, but don’t put 
them close to a heater or fire. Warm them gradually. 
A burning sensation follows the warming and 
thawing of a frozen part. The actual thawing may 
be extremely painful. After frostbite there may be 
blistering and peeling just as in sunburn. 
snowblindness is caused by the brilliant reflec- 
tion or glare from the surface of snow. Avoid it like 
the plague, for once you have had one case, reoccur- 
rences are likely to follow. Wear your goggles, either 
your flying goggles or your homemade wooden sun 
shields, at all times during the daylight. Don’t be 
fooled by an overcast day, and on a bright day re- 
member that merely lifting your goggles a half dozen 
times may bring on snowblindness. 
The first warning of snowblindness comes when 
you can no longer detect variations in the levels of 
ground. Later, your eyes will begin to burn, they 
will become inflamed and increasingly sensitive. They 
will pain when exposed even to a weak light. 
The best medicine for snowblindness is complete 
darkness. During the long periods of daylight this 
will mean some sort of dark bandage to exclude all 
light. An ice compress or cold-water compress will 
56 bring some relief providing there is no danger of 
freezing. 
In most cases, snowblindness will disappear in two 
or three days under care. When first used again, the 
eyes see two of everything, but normal focus soon 
returns. 
carbon monoxide poisoning. Among all the 
dangers of the Arctic, the danger of suffocation by 
carbon monoxide is one of the greatest. Particularly 
for one who has never been subjected to extreme 
cold for extended periods, the desire to get warm and 
stay warm often overrules a man’s better judgment 
and common sense. You must depend on your cloth- 
ing to keep you warm. In temporary shelters, stoves, 
fires, and heaters should be used only for cooking and 
then put out. A stove burning for a half-hour in a 
poorly ventilated shelter can produce a dangerous 
amount of carbon monoxide fumes. Carbon monoxide 
is odorless and can overcome a sleeping person with- 
out warning. 
The treatment is fresh air. If you are in a shelter 
and begin to feel drowsy, watch out for carbon mon- 
oxide poisoning. Go outdoors, moving slowly; crawl 
if necessary. Breathe evenly and don’t move about. 
Cover yourself with robes and blankets to prevent 
57 freezing, above all, remove the source of the 
CARBON MONOXIDE. 
general. When an accident happens in the cold, 
shock is very likely to take place, especially if there 
is pain or bleeding. An injured person should be cov- 
ered immediately with blankets, a tarpaulin, extra 
clothes, or a sleeping bag. Keep the head and upper 
part of the body lower than the legs and lower parts. 
Administer warm, non-alcoholic drinks and apply 
heat if possible to the chest, stomach, and thighs. 
If it is necessary to use a tourniquet, don’t apply 
pressure too long at a stretch, as freezing may result. 
Even tight bandages can dangerously reduce blood 
circulation. If a tourniquet is necessary, keep the part 
beyond the tourniquet warm, but do not heat it 
above body temperature. 
ARCTIC PESTS 
From the middle of June to about the middle of 
September when the first of the heavy frosts come, 
THE WORST ARCTIC PEST IS THE MOSQUITO. During 
those months there are ten times as many mosquitoes 
per square mile over two-thirds of the land north of 
the tree line than the average over the same area in 
the tropics. Fortunately, Arctic mosquitoes are not 
disease carriers, but they are bothersome and during 
58 the mosquito season head nets, leggings, and gloves 
will be important parts of your clothing, 
sandflies, found in large numbers on the main- 
land, are most bothersome in the early afternoon, 
decreasing their activity as the evening cools. Known 
as punkies, midges, and “no-see-ums,” they are per- 
sistent blood-suckers small enough to go through the 
usual netting or head net, 
bulldogs, sometimes called mooseflies, deerflies, or 
horseflies, look like overgrown house flies. Their bite 
is like the cut of a scalpel, drawing blood in a trickle. 
Bulldogs are most annoying on hot days. A head net, 
leggings, and gloves offer the best protection. 
blackflies are bad pests in certain Arctic areas, 
Particularly in the forests during the summer months. 
Their bite causes severe swelling. Protection against 
them is the same as for mosquitoes and sandflies. 
Sandfly 
Blackfly 
Deerfly 
59 Eskimo words and 
phrases 
Syllables spelled like familiar English words 
are to be pronounced just that way. 
Syllables printed in heavier type are to be 
accented. 
61 WESTERN ESKIMO 
I am hungry Kish-tu-ah (the i long, as in mice) 
Our food is all gone . Neck-out-voot nahng-ock 
Water Meek (fresh); Mahk (salt) 
I am thirsty ..... Meck-soosh-too-ah 
Give me a drink of tea . Shy-oo-mick merry-*ing-a 
I am cold Crow-too-ah 
My boots are wet . . . Comie-sig-kah maht-soong-uk 
My clothing is wet . . Aht-koo-kah maht-soong-uk 
62 Bring a dog-sled . . . Ick-ealm-erak ahk-fah-loo-kick 
Yes Ahng 
No Khang-ah 
Look! (at my frostbitten 
wrist, etc.) Tahng! 
I don’t understand . . Ah-yo-koo-chett-oo-a 
I need food Neck-a-mick pee-yoosh-tu-ah 
Bring men (to help) . . Ahng-oh-tit tide-loo-kay 
How far is it to the trad- 
ing post? Kite-loon yock-shig-ta kip-oosy-vig-a-moon 
Matches; fire Spitz-cot; Keen-er-it 
Native stove (seat-oil 
lamp) Kah-minny-ock; Keen-o-gak 
Come quickly! .... Pah-tah-gah-mick tight-ah 
Gun Noo-tick 
To the right! (dog driver’s 
term) Jee! 
To the left! (dog driver’s 
term) Haw! 
Which way? Nah-goon? 
Tobacco To-bak-u-mick; Chew-yah-mik 
Where is there a white 
man? Nah-ne kah-sah tahng-tah 
63 EASTERN ESKIMO 
1 am hungry Kah-poong-ah 
Our food is all gone . Ner-key-voot peeto-hung-i-tu-goot 
Water Ee-mick (fresh); Ee-mock (salt) 
I am thirsty; I need fresh 
water Kee-poong-ah; Ee-mick pee-yuma-voong-ah 
Give me a drink of tea! 
(literally, I need tea!) . Tee-mick pee-yuma-voong-ah 
1 am cold Oo-voong-ah iek-key 
My boots are wet . . , Kah-mig-ga cow-shook-toot 
My clothing is wet , . Ah-no-wog-ga cow-shook-toot 
Bring a dog-sled! . . . Comma-tee-nick eye-shook-too 
Yes Ee-mah; Ah-high; Ah-high-la 
No Nowk; Nah-ga; Ah-guy 
Look! (at my frostbitten 
wrist, etc.) Tah-koo! 
I don't understand (refer- 
ring to what has been 
said) Two-key-siggy-lahng-ah 
I need food Ner-key pee-yuma-voong-ah 
Bring men to help . , . Ahng-oo-tee-nick ky-ko-see-geet 
How far is it to the trad- 
ing post? Kah-bloona-tah-lick conn-oak oo-ah-$lck-pa? 
Matches, or fire . . . Ee-koo-mock 
64 Native stove or seal-oil 
,amP Koo-di-lick 
Come quickly! .... Kigh-geet or Kigh-sa-geet 
Gun Cook-e-oo 
To the right! (dog driver’s 
term) Owk! or Howk! 
To (dog driver's 
term) Owk-a! or Ow-ha! Huh-da! 
Which way? Now koot? 
Tobacco Tobacco-mik 
Where is there a white 
man® Kah-bloon-ah nowk? 
65