Conditions for the Soldiers

The country is very, where we were, very hilly, lots of rain, very cold at night in the wintertime, very rugged. We had to make our own stoves. I don’t know how nothing got blown up, with the gas lines and the rest of it and the food was all dehydrated. Of course the cooks used to try to supplement it with whatever they did. 355 was one of the hills we had. The Vandoos were the ones that took that hill. We did a lot of firing and the ammunition we had was ammunition they got from the sea from after they sunk it after World War Two. That’s the kind of ammunition we had. It was dangerous, a couple of them blew up in the barrels and stuff like... oh yes, you know, yes, but these are the, there were a lot of mines, landmines that you have to be careful of. I saw one of my friends trip and get killed with a bouncing betty I think they used to call it at that time and little things like that. It was quite an experience and I said the smell was something else. Well when you make fertilizer from human excretion that’s what you get and when you came into Pusan you could smell it, and the rains. But you got used to it, you learned to work in the mud and you learned to keep yourself dry and hygiene was very, very important.

Mr. Patrick describes his food and ammunition supply upon arrival in Pusan.

Errol Patrick

Mr. Errol Patrick was born in Montreal in 1930. After his parents separated, Mr. Patrick was sent to Trinidad to live with his grandfather. His grandfather held the position of school master until his death in 1942. In 1945, Mr. Patrick returned to Canada to live with his father. He then made the decision to enlist for the Korean War, joining with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Regiment as an artillery soldier. After his service in Korea, Mr. Patrick continued his military career, travelling to Germany in 1957 and that same year he married. He carried on as an instructor for eight years with the Battery Command post of the No. 1 RCHA. In 1966, Mr. Patrick returned to Germany and was promoted to staff sergeant taking on the duty of commanding the troops. After returning to Canada he was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer at Petawawa, Ontario and at the end of his career held rank of Chief Warrant Officer of Artillery while stationed in Gagetown, New Brunswick. In 1985 Mr. Patrick retired from the military with 35 year service. He and his wife raised three children all of whom became very successful.