August. Turning north up the channel he was struck by the full force of the ice just north of King William Island. In early September he found refuge at Paisley Bay on the west coast of the Boothia Peninsula near the North Magnetic Pole. In August 1942 he forced his way out of the ice, went north and with difficulty passed the Bellot Strait. At the other end he found civilization of a sort at the Hudson's Bay Company post at Fort Ross on Somerset Island. He then continued through Prince Regent Inlet, Lancaster Sound and the Davis Strait, reaching Halifax on 11 October 1942. 1944: east to west This was the third ship crossing of the Northwest Passage, the second east–west crossing and the first to be made in one season (7,295 miles in 86 days). Instead of the standard route along the coast he used the Parry Channel and Prince of Wales Strait. Fitted with a more powerful engine, St. Roch left Halifax on 25 July 1944 and by 20 August was at Beechey Island. Continuing west he reached William Edward Parry's Winter Harbour on Melville Island. As usual for explorers at this place, he tried to enter McClure Strait to the northwest and, as usual, was blocked by ice. Next he turned southwest and passed through the Prince of Wales Strait, apparently the first ship to do so . Passing Walker Bay where he had wintered four years previously, on 4 September he reached the Hudson's Bay Company post at Holman Island, on the west coast of Victoria Island. Just one day before this post had been supplied by the Fort Ross which had sailed from Halifax and through the Panama Canal and Bering Strait. With about a month left before the ice would probably close in, he hurried west, passed through the Bering Strait and reached Vancouver on 16 October. Larsen's explorations and Canadian sovereignty Some believe the real purpose of the voyages of discovery was not to patrol the Arctic searching for evidence of German infiltrators, but rather to protect Canadian interests from her American allies. There were difficulties in the American/Canadian alliance during World War II, manifested during the construction of the Alaska Highway. Legacy In 1946 he was awarded the Royal Geographical Society's Patron's Medal for his achievements. In 1959, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society awarded him their first Massey Medal. Larsen Sound,