Trama

This Cold War era documentary describes the building of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, a string of radar stations across Alaska and Canada north of the Arctic Circle meant to protect against air attacks coming over the North Pole.

This RKO-Pathe short film produced with the assistance of the United States Air Force is about the construction of the DEW Line, the Distant Early Warning System, a string of radar stations built across Alaska and the Canadian north as part of NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command. These are isolated outposts, many of which are accessible only by air. Buildings, roads, and landing strips had to be built from scratch. There's a visit to Barrow Village, Alaska the most northern point of US territory.—garykmcd

The Distant Early Warning (DEW) System was one of the many Cold War programs designed to ensure that the Soviet Union could not launch a sneak attack on the United States. To implement the program, Canada agreed to allow the United States to build a series of radar installations (called the "DEW Line") above the Arctic Circle to monitor Russian aircraft. This short film shows how these outposts were constructed in desolate areas under the most difficult conditions. Until roads and airstrips were built, everything had to be dropped from the air. This included large road building equipment and electric generators. Air Force personnel are seen at work in these stations and on a visit to Point Barrow, Alaska.—David Glagovsky <dglagovsky@verizon.net>