Description
Mr. Pike explains the logistics of a field ambulance team and the responsibilities of each section during the Korean War.
Leslie Pike
Mr. Pike was born January 8, 1933 in Carbonear, Newfoundland. An only child, Mr. Pike left school at age 15 and worked as a clerk at a local hardware store to help support his mother and grandmother. Mr. Pike had a great desire to leave Newfoundland and decided to join the army. On October 23, 1950, at age 17, Mr. Pike travelled to St. John’s recruiting station. He became a stretcher bearer with the Regular Force 25th Canadian Field Ambulance Regiment, and served during the Korean War. After the war, Mr. Pike stayed in the service for an additional six years before returning to civilian life.
Transcript
There were 237 staff total, all men in this particular case. The Field Ambulance is made up to serve a brigade, and a brigade has three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment, and tanks and engineers and so on. So, there’s a headquarters for the Field Ambulance, which is called the Advanced Dressing Station which serves a purpose in the evacuation route. And there are four sections, the headquarters section of 26 men and three other sections, one, two, and three section each with 26 men. Each of these three sections support each of the infantry regiments, and the headquarter section is either spare or it’s behind the artillery depending on the location where the strategic need of the other Field Ambulance, of the other section. The Colonel Brawso who was in charge of the Field Ambulance was with the Advanced Dressing Station which is a fairly large unit consisting of about 80 or so men. I don’t know if that all adds up to 237 or not, but it’s something along those lines.