Equipment Issues

Heroes Remember

Equipment Issues

Transcript

We had a lot of, I guess everything was Second World War vintage. Our weapons were Second World War. We were fighting an enemy with automatic weapons. That wasn't really fair. First, we had better artillery than they did and their superiority, but this Sten gun here was the automatic weapon that we had. Well, you can't hit anything with a barrel that long. They were even dangerous. If you dropped one they could start firing. The rifles were the Lee Enfields, a single shot and artillery was Second World War vintage, you know, so, and when your boots wore out you couldn't get a new pair unless you bartered with the Americans. My uniform consisted of a pair of British pants, American combat boots and a Canadian woolen carky sweater. That was my uniform. When the 4th Field came in, I stood there and watched a guy my size and my rank jump off the truck and I took him to my bunker and then we did a little bartering and I ended up with a complete uniform to come home with.

Description

Mr. McKinney compares the weaponry used by Canadian and North Korean forces, in particular our superior artillery and their better automatic weapons. He also comments on his 'unique' uniform.

James McKinney

James McKinney was born on August 17, 1932 in Winnipegosis, Manitoba. Eventually his family settled in Gladstone, where he finished high school. Along with a brother and two friends, he enlisted in the army at Winnipeg. Mr. McKinney joined the artillery, took a jumper's course, and transferred to the airborne artillery. He also studied logarithms at night school during his basic training, and went to Korea as a Tech Able with the 1st Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Heavy Artillery. In this capacity, he ranged guns on enemy positions and acted as an observer in the observation post trench.

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