Night Work

Heroes Remember

Night Work

Transcript

My job was in the night time. I only go up in the front line because I was out in the front between the two of them in the night time. With first light, when the fog started to come in the mornings and they’d come in from their side so you don’t know if they were coming in behind it. So at first light, we’d come back and go back to our camp. And our camp was about maybe four miles behind the lines. We go back there in the daytime and then last light then we go on back up again in the night but I never seen any fighting. I can remember too, the RCR’s, when we go up they’d be up in their trenches and you could see the fear in them because every night they’d expect something you see. And we’d be going out there and if we made any noise then they wouldn’t know if it was the enemy or not so they might shoot back down at us, you know, because we were down in the dark and that. I remember one night going out on the fence patrol, there was myself and Royce and the fellow Ralph and I was the NCO so when you go out, the NCO would go out first and then he’ll come back last, that’s the routine. Americans had a huge gun about half a mile away I suppose, over in the lower bank, right back where our tent was now that’s four miles back. But the gun was absolutely huge and when they used to fire that off, the concussion used to shake our tents from that distance, (inaudible). After a while, it was funny, you know, and that was loud and concussion and you get used to it. It’s amazing how you get used to it, you know. But the first time, oh my God, frighten you to death.

Description

As NCO, Mr. England describes the type of night duties his crew performed.

Douglas England

Mr. Doug England was born February 9, 1931 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He was the oldest son of five children and at the young age of ten, he lost his mother and was cared for by his grandparents. Later, in his teenage years, Mr. England joined the Reserves and at the age of 19 transferred to active force. He joined the Royal Canadian Engineers and volunteered for service in the Korean War. After the war, Mr. England returned home to St. John’s and married. To this day, Mr. England volunteers at the local legions with a strong focus on commemorating the Korean War.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Recorded:: November 10, 2015
Duration:: 2:13
Person Interviewed:: Douglas England
War, Conflict or Mission:: Korean War
Location/Theatre:: Korea
Battle/Campaign:: Korea
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Royal Canadian Engineer
Rank:: Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO)

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Date modified:: 2019-04-03