ALT Processed planes on the ready-line at Gore Field, Great Falls, Montana, awaiting transport to Ladd Field, Fairbanks, Alaska. Gore Field, near Great Falls, Mont. served as the beginning of the World War II era Alaska-Siberia Lend-Lease Route. Airplanes were flown from factories across the United States to Gore Field, outfitted to withstand the long journey north, and then flown to Ladd Army Airfield in Alaska where they were signed over to Soviet pilots for the next leg of the aircraft’s long journey to the eastern front. Today marks the 75th anniversary of the first of those flights. On Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1942, a group of five A-20 Havoc bombers took off from Gore Field and, via the Alaska-Siberia Route, passed through Edmonton, Alberta, Fort Nelson, British Columbia, and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, arriving at Ladd Field on Sept. 3. By the end of the month nine more A-20 Havocs, thirty P-40 Airacobras, and six C-47 Skytrains had also made the journey.