Life in a Bunker

Heroes Remember

Life in a Bunker

Transcript

Living conditions were something. Like the First World War, we just lived in holes. And like the sergeant said, "We're living like rats, and we're gonna die like rats." And that's the way it was. We built up the bunkers nice. We put plywood on the inside. We had these PX boxes. We'd build up the side of them, and they come out fairly nice inside, but . . . Interviewer: So how many days might you have to be in that bunker? Well, I think we did three months in and a month out, and three in and a month out. Interviewer: And that was your home. That was our home. Then when you went back to the echelon, A Echelon, they had tents, so it was not bad. We had, we got in the armoured corps, we got one hot meal a day, and we had to go down and pick it up from the infantry. And he didn't like us because every time they missed us, they'd hit his kitchen. So, his pots and pans . . .So, he wanted the tanks off the hill, yeah.

Description

Mr. MacBride briefly describes life in the bunkers.

Albert Hugh MacBride

Mr. MacBride was born July 25, 1932, in New Westminster, British Columbia, in St. Mary's Hospital. He lived the early part of his life in White Rock and moved to New Westminister during the Second World War. When he was 18 he joined the Canadian Army enlisting with the Armoured Corps and the Lord Strathcona's Horse Regiment. Mr. MacBride did his basic training at Camp Borden in Ontario and later in Meaford, Ontario, with his tank regiment. He served as a driver/gunner with the Armoured Corps assigned to a tank. On his way to Korea, Mr. MacBride flew to Japan and after a short stay was transported to a troop ship on it's way to Pusan. In Korea, Mr. MacBride made his way to Hill 355 and served as a part of a five man tank team. In 1953 he returned home to Vancouver via Seattle, Washington, and was greeted by his father upon arrival. Mr. MacBride left the army and joined the Canadian Air Force and transferred to a career as a crash rescue firefighter for 20 years. He was married in 1954 and stationed all over bases in the Canadian Air Force from Summerside, P.E.I., to Germany. After leaving the air force he was the Provincial Fire Inspector and later the Fire Marshal for the Federal Government with Parks Canada Historical Sites and Indian Affairs for 14 years.

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