Skip McKimm was a CommOp who was transferred to Metz in the summer of 1953. He was subsequently transferred to 1 Air Div Movements Unit in Paris in the spring of 1954. He spent a year in Paris working with a very small number of RCAF personnel, before returning to Canada in 1955.
Skip explained his unique situation as follows: The normal tour of duty for communications personnel in Paris was only three months. There really wasn't very much to do as a ComOp so I used to help out in the Steno's typing pool since I was a fast typist. I also got my ME6 drivers licence and drove the CO to a number of meetings at SHAPE and other locations in the area. While at these meetings, I would tape the proceedings, i.e. what was siad by whom etc, then when we got back to the office, I would type these up for the CO. He thought this was great and he was very pleased with my work at the Movements Unit.
When it came close to the end of my tour in Paris, and I was scheduled to return to Metz, the CO drove to Metz and spoke with the appropriate people. This resulted in an extended tour of duty for me. I am certain that there would have been a number of people in Metz in Metz who were ticked off at me, but what the heck - I didn't really want to live on the station in Metz (after being on the economy for well over a year). I was able to spend the rest of my tour in France working out of Paris and I returned to Canada in the early summer of 1955.
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Updated: December 5, 2002