Korea Brigade (1951/1952)

Great video. Two of my Mom's brothers served both in Europe in WW2 and in Korea. The older one was a big bugger, had a bit of a British accent, and was a boisterous man. The younger one was quiet spoken. John, the older boy, would get wound up once in a while, telling my Dad of some of the stuff they had to deal with during battle. John told Dad one of the worst things he had to witness was guys dying in tank fires, both our side and the enemy.

Thanks for posting that video. It brought to mind my two uncles, both good men. John retired out of the Canadian army a sgt./major. I couldn't imagine getting on the wrong side of him.
 
Love the up beat music how lovely. My great uncle went to Korea with the Patricia's. Was sgt major sometime after and retired a Captain . Must have been a serious boss. Died before iwas born though .
 
interesting video, i have always had a interest in Canadian troops who served in the Korean war, noticed that wearing steel helmets,at Fort Lewis in training, but rarely in combat, also headgear was a mix of Bush caps and Berets, though the Bush cap was probably cooler, in the Korean summer,black coveralls were also worn in Fort Lewis.... Bush trousers and shirts were worn also, in the field, most riflemen carried at least 2 bandoliers of .303 for their No.4 rifles, plus their ammo pouches were full of 2 Bren gun mags, and a pack on their back, a full load to carry up those hills in the Korean hot summer, troops had to be young and fit

I was issued Bush clothing in 1971, when i was joined the Milita, but we never wore it, Battle Dress for parade, with puttees, and ankle weights, Combat uniform for the field
 
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x westie said:
interesting video, i have always had a interest in Canadian troops who served in the Korean war, noticed that wearing steel helmets,at Fort Lewis in training, but rarely in combat, also headgear was a mix of Bush caps and Berets, though the Bush cap was probably cooler, in the Korean summer,black coveralls were also worn in Fort Lewis.... Bush trousers and shirts were worn also, in the field, most riflemen carried at least 2 bandoliers of .303 for their No.4 rifles, plus their ammo pouches were full of 2 Bren gun mags, and a pack on their back, a full load to carry up those hills in the Korean hot summer, troops had to be young and fit

I was issued Bush clothing in 1971, when i was joined the Milita, but we never wore it, Battle Dress for parade, with puttees, and ankle weights, Combat uniform for the field
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You could starch 'Bush' clothing until it could stand up by itself - iron it until you could cut your finger on the trouser creases. But 5 minutes after you put it on -- you looked like a bag of shxt.....2 minutes if you sat down. I think that is when boot polishing reached its pinnacle -- if you could get the toecaps on your boots shiny enough - you could distract attention away from your crappy uniform. An awful, and cheap, uniform....with only one benefit - it was a lot nicer to wear on parade in 90 degree heat than Battledress!
 
AP said:
You could starch 'Bush' clothing until it could stand up by itself - iron it until you could cut your finger on the trouser creases. But 5 minutes after you put it on -- you looked like a bag of shxt.....2 minutes if you sat down. I think that is when boot polishing reached its pinnacle -- if you could get the toecaps on your boots shiny enough - you could distract attention away from your crappy uniform. An awful, and cheap, uniform....with only one benefit - it was a lot nicer to wear on parade in 90 degree heat than Battledress!
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us troopies were very fortunate that we didnt have to wear our Bush uniforms,as you mentioned a real pain in the ass to look sharp,.. i never did figure out why the QM stores issued them, as i never saw anyone wearing Bush
 
Just watched the video.... very interesting. It sure didnt look like there were a whole lot men carrying rifles with waists much bigger than 30 inches.....'maybe' as big as 32....
 
AP said:
Just watched the video.... very interesting. It sure didnt look like there were a whole lot men carrying rifles with waists much bigger than 30 inches.....'maybe' as big as 32....
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most of the men in the video looked to be very young, and you are right, no overweight troopies, i had read that many of the men who joined the army for the Korean war, were Second World War veterans, they brought a wealth of knowledge , also all the battalion commanders were veterans of ww2 as was Brigadier Rockingham, the Brigade commander,
 
Recruiting Halifax.jpg
This photo is labelled as "Swearing in The First Recruit for the Special Force". The photo was taken by Robert Norwood of Halifax (and area) Nova Scotia. It was taken in Halifax at the beginning of the Korean War.

From left to right is: LCol Delamere, Pte (unknown), and the RCR Major (conducting the swearing in and holding the Bible) is my father

At the time of the photo, my father handled recruiting (and numerous other duties) for Halifax and area - and I know from my mother he was very active speaking on the radio and appearing at various events to promote recruiting and PR etc.

(I may have posted this somewhere else -- but here it is again. My fathers office based on his pictures on the wall which also tell a small story)
 

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AP said:
View attachment 80690
This photo is labelled as "Swearing in The First Recruit for the Special Force". The photo was taken by Robert Norwood of Halifax (and area) Nova Scotia. It was taken in Halifax at the beginning of the Korean War.

From left to right is: LCol Delamere, Pte (unknown), and the RCR Major (conducting the swearing in and holding the Bible) is my father

At the time of the photo, my father handled recruiting (and numerous other duties) for Halifax and area - and I know from my mother he was very active speaking on the radio and appearing at various events to promote recruiting and PR etc.

(I may have posted this somewhere else -- but here it is again. My fathers office based on his pictures on the wall which also tell a small story)
Click to expand...

Thank for sharing this great photo of your father, judging by the ribbons on his uniform, he is a experienced veteran of the Second World War
 
Yes..pretty experienced. He enlisted pre war as a Private (Stanley Barracks, Toronto) landed in Brest as a PSM. Attended first OCTU, instructed second OCTU, then sr. staff at Cdn. Small Arms Trg Wing and various courses in Scotland. He reverted in rank from Captain to Lt so he could be with his Bn for the landing at Pachino as a Pl Comdr... went through Sicily, Italy, then Holland, Belgium and NW Germany. Then Occupation. Wounded several times and managed to pickup malaria in the Med.area. ... the occupation period duties were pretty interesting too apparently. That partial photo on the wall is the RCR company at Stanley Barracks prior to embarkation. I still have it...the little marks are grease pencil over the men: 'KIA', 'MIA', etc etc
 
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