Croal, James Patrick, 1916-1985 : James Patrick Croal, naval officer, Arctic specialist, was born in Galt, Ontario, 1916. He graduated from Melville College, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1935. From 1935 to 1943 he was employed with the International Nickel Company of Canada Ltd., at Copper Cliff, Ontario, where he conducted research and worked in open pit mining. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1939 and was called to active service in 1943 as an Ordinary Seaman - Officer Candidate. He saw service in the North Atlantic in 1944 and 1945. In 1945, he was promoted to Lieutenant.
James Croal began his career as an Arctic specialist in 1945, when he was appointed Field Trials Officer for Exercise "Muskox", a 3170 mile military expedition through the Canadian Arctic in mid-winter. Croal was employed as a civilian in 1947 for the Defence Research Board's Northern Laboratory in Fort Churchill, where he was involved in the testing of vehicles, clothing and rations in an Arctic environment. In 1949, he gained a regular commission in the Royal Canadian Navy and was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander in 1950. From 1950 through 1953, James Croal served on the staff of the Assistant Chief Naval Technical Services (Works), as Co-Ordinator Naval Construction, training the first group of Army instructors in Arctic survival while coordinating the construction of barracks in the Northwest Territories. In 1954, he served aboard HMCS LABRADOR during the ship's voyage through the Northwest Passage and subsequent circumnavigation of North America via the Panama Canal.
Working with the U.S. Navy in 1955, Croal helped establish advance camps during the creation of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. During 1957 and 1958, he served aboard USCGS EASTWIND as Logistics Coordinator for the Defence Research Board at Hazen Lake, North Ellesmere Island.
James Croal first retired from the RCN in 1961, but was returned to service as a naval consultant on various Arctic projects, in particular aboard CCGS JOHN A. MACDONALD, where he helped to establish a station at Tanquary Fiord in 1962. After his retirement from the RCN in 1965, Croal worked for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the Defence Research Board, the Department of the Environment, the Arctic Institute of North America, and in private and corporate consultant work as an Arctic expert and oceanographer. James Croal died in Ottawa on 13 January 1985.
