Crossing the Rhine
Heroes Remember
Crossing the Rhine
Transcript
Description
Mr. Pollak describes an incident while crossing the Rhine where the Canadian unit were able to decode more effectively than the British or Americans and they subsequently averted serious casualties from an artillery barrage.
Fred Pollak
Mr. Pollak was born May 20, 1919, in Vrezno, Czechoslovakia, a small town in the German part of Bohemia. In September of 1938, his family was expelled from Vrezno and had to go inland to Prague. They arrived in Canada as refugees in August of 1939 and lived in Prescott, Ontario. Mr. Pollak eventually joined the Canadian Army, enlisting as a typist. At the end of the war, Mr. Pollak monitored radio transmissions for German traffic and was also employed as an interrogator of war criminals in Belsen.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 01:29
- Person Interviewed:
- Fred Pollak
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- Second World War
- Location/Theatre:
- France
- Battle/Campaign:
- Northwest Europe
- Branch:
- Army
- Occupation:
- Signals Intelligence
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Decoding German signals
Mr. Pollak recounts how he went directly into service after landing in England and how his unit had three years experience intercepting and decoding German signals before they went over to Normandy in June 1944. He then describes the makeup of the unit and the duties they had.
Differentiation of Signals (Part 1 of 2)
Mr. Pollak describes how they were able to differentiate the origin of one signal from another.
Differentiation of Signals (Part 2 of 2)
Mr. Pollak describes how they were able to differentiate the origin of one signal from another.
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