Constant Changes in Camp Setup

Heroes Remember

Constant Changes in Camp Setup

Transcript

I have never seen such humidity and heat. You know we landed in Greece and stuff like that. You’re getting off the plane and they’re handing you a bottle of water as soon as you get on the bus they’re handing you another bottle of water. You couldn’t drink enough it was so hot and humid especially coming from Edmonton it wasn’t too bad that time of year, just the humidity, the dryness. When we first got to a place we were in Sveti Nikola or something like that, there was an old sewing shop, sweat shop, more or less and we stayed upstairs and there was no cement or anything around it so if it rained, everyone was dragging mud in around where you’re sleeping at night. You’re putting your boots on and off to even move anywhere you go and it’s muddy everywhere and the mud dries, it’s dust in the air, everyone is coughing and sore throats, dry eyes, infections all the time and that was til we moved forward. We were there only a couple of weeks but then we moved forward and we’re in an old – it was a trucking company, that’s what it was. But again, you’re all sleeping in tents now because there was no sleeping quarters in the trucking company and every once in a while they are moving everybody around constantly in the camp; moving our tents around, changing, as more people move in they want more tents and then they come in with hard shelters and move us into hard shelters. Once we got in the hard shelters in the fall there was no heat in them so it’s freezing cold and during the summer it was so hot in the day you got the windows open and the tent flaps up and bugs are coming in all night. You got your bug net up and you’re crawling into your bed space every night and tucking in your bug net, putting your boots in your barrack box or putting stones in them so when you get up in the morning you rattle your boots and empty them out to see what bugs fall out and things like that you had to learn quick. We had what we call, at home we think it would be a lady bug, over there there were thousands of them clinging everywhere and they were biting people. We never did figure out what it was but it would land on your arm and within a couple of seconds they would give you a little bite and you would have a little welt. I had never seen a lady bug do that but it looked just like one but it was a red colour. It was really strange. So you had to have this on because they would get in your boots and they’d bite your feet too!

Description

Mr. Williams speaks about the conditions in camp and how things were always changing.

Andy Williams

Mr. Williams was born June 24, 1964 in Trenton, Ontario. His father being in the Air Force, Mr. Williams had the strong desire to join, however, when his time came, the decision for service would be army and began his training career as an army medic. In 1985 he joined as a reservist and spent 25 years with the Regular Force. In 1997, Mr. Williams was deployed to Bosnia with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse Royal Canadians holding rank of master corporal. Another opportunity for a posting was exercised in 1998 when he deployed to Kosovo, this time with the 1 Service Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment. Mr. William’s army career as a medic took him to many In-Canada posting serving with the Canadian military and upon retirement resides in Berwick, Nova Scotia with his wife and family.

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