Weather On The Front Line

Heroes Remember

Weather On The Front Line

Transcript

It was just a series of moving up, moving here, moving there, and if you were really lucky, you got out of the lines for 24 hours and got a, a hot shower at the mobile bath unit and a change of clothes and a hot meal, and that. They tried to get rations, hot rations, to us as often as they possibly could and they had what they called ‘gook bearers'. They were a labourer battalion, and that, and they would come up carrying them old hay boxes on their back that they'd put hot water in around the outside and then put the food in the centre. But by the time they got to you, I mean, it was cold. But still, it was better than sea rations. Interviewer: What do you remember about the weather conditions when you were first there in Korea? Well, the weather conditions were a lot like Canada: cold. It could get real cold up in the hills, 40 below, and that, snow, and that, and wind. Very windy around the mountains, and that, the hills. Quite, quite windy, and that, and it would just bite right through you. And we were lucky enough that, like I say, most of guys were, was used to cold. I mean, you know, they were from the Prairies and from back East, and that, so, you know, in that sense, we were very lucky. And we had decent parkas and, and that that the winter, winter issue was, was quite good.

Description

Life on the front line became almost routine for awhile. But the weather conditions were, by times, cold, snowy and windy.

Ray Nickerson

Mr. Nickerson's father was a farmer and Veteran of the First World War. Mr. Nickerson was the second youngest of 10 children. Three of his older brothers served in the Second World War. He left school at the age of 16 and enlisted in the army with the PPCLI. His parents were not happy with this. After enlisting, Mr. Nickerson went to Curry Barracks in Calgary for basic training. He did his advanced training in Curry and in Wainwright, Alberta. In November 1950, his battalion was told they were going to Korea to serve with the U.N. force. Mr. Nickerson saw action near Pusan, Seoul and at Kapyong. While in Korea, Mr. Nickerson was wounded by a land mine. He was hospitalized for nine weeks. After his recovery, he returned to the front . Mr. Nickerson's tour of duty ended late in 1951 and he returned to Canada. He remained in the Canadian Army until his retirement in 1968.

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