The Role of a Signalman

Heroes Remember

The Role of a Signalman

Transcript

We were in headquarters behind the lines and being attached to the artillery they had observations posts that they kept a look on the enemy lines and so we had to maintain communications between headquarters and also the guns, the 105 millimetres that they used. We had to have lines to them and from them up to the front lines. So if the observation officers spotted a target, they’d call back by phone because the wireless, too many hills, by phone and they’d call for the artillery to fire so many rounds on the North Koreans. So we had to maintain those lines 24 hours a day. Just thinking about lines there, one of the big problems with our lines was especially in the dry weather they’d be just laying on the ground and quite occasionally the grass would be set on fire for some reason and that would ruin our lines so we’d have to start... guess the part was, a lot of the other countries they had lines. They’re just a small little black telephone. They’d have them on the ground, course they’d all be mixed up and we’d have to go to a central post and try to sort out, you know, our lines and get communications back again.

Description

Mr. Carney provides detail of his responsibilities as a signalman and how he maintained the communication lines.

Cy Carney

Mr. Cy Carney was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He grew up in a coal mining town where his father worked in the coal mine. Coal mining not being a career Mr. Carney would settle for, he decided to join the Army. In 1950, Mr. Carney joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals as a signalman. Mr. Carney’s initial thought was to join for three years, but his military career spanned 29 years. After the Korean War, Mr. Carney served in other missions with the Canadian Forces to include two years in Yukon, three years in Europe under NATO as a machinist, and in 1969 he was posted to Cyprus under the Black Watch as an electrician for a six month tour. After retiring from the military, Mr. Carney was employed at the Owen Plant in Grand Lake for 17 years. Mr. Carney married and had five children.

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