Pinetree Line Miscellaneous

Rear Row (L-R) Andy Becaud, John (Horrible) Horrigan, Frank Orford, Russell, Jerry Mercier, Bernard Sproule, Doug Betts, George Gogan, Ed Schellenberg, unknown, "Red" Widmark

Center Row (L-R) Montgomery, Mather, F/L Ronnie, unknown, Lloyd Leadbetter, Roger Cheverfils

Front Row (L-R) John Sopp, Louis Liauteaud, Hugh Kelly, Bill Dragomir, John Desparioux, Ermel (Tony) Andoney (deceased), Matheson

Betts, Douglas - When I reported to St. Hubert I was assigned to and I spent my first winter in an old war time barracks. There were cracks in the walls and the wind would blow through making it so cold that we could not sleep. We would end up in the shower with the hot water on full blast to warm up the place. It was a nice way to get cosy - and also to shoot craps. The main problem with the barracks was that it was infested with rats. We used to spread newspapers around the bunks before going to bed. Then - when we would hear the paper rattling we would jump up, put the lights on, and kill as many rats as we could with brooms. As can be expected - we became known as the "rat pack". We complained so loud that they finally had to let us live off base - paying us extra for food and rent. I lived in Longueuil on the second floor of a house on Main Street for nearly a year. I recall the course starting in late November 1949 and we graduated towards the end of January 1950. Half of the group (myself included) proceeded to Chatham and we arrived there on 2 February 1950. Since there was nothing for us to do in our trade at that time we were all misemployed. I worked with the electrical shop personnel installing stives in PMQs. This went on for several months and we then moved into our "Ops" building (Building 41) and sorted out equipment, most of which had been used by the RAF during WW II. The Radar/Comm trailer(s) arrived somewhat later. It was called AMES-11 (C) for Air Ministry Experimental Station, version 11 and the (C) identified it as a Canadian version. While the radar was being set up, I was again misemployed as a DF operator out in the field. This was a lot of fun and a real good job but it only lasted a month ot two.

Ellis, Gordon (deceased) - I joined the RCAF, for the second time, in August 1949 as an LAC and was sent to Air Defense Headquarters in St. Hubert in October 1949 as a Clerk Operations Fighter. This was the birth of a new trade and I was getting in on the ground floor (so to speak).In October 1950, I got my Acting Corporal rank and was initiated as the first in the trade. I worked in this position until July 1952 when I was transferred to the Pinetree Line site at Mont Apica. The original personnel were trained in Montreal in a classroom instructed by Radar Operators, Radar Technicians and Controllers (former Aircrew personnel). Air Defence Operations was housed in the old bombing teacher house on the Station until a new Operations building was completed. Air Defence Operations was made up of Group Headquarters, an Operations Room, a Station Operations room and a Triangulation Room. The training school at Clinton was opened later and the Clerk Operations Fighter name was changed to Fighter Control Operator with new personnel filling the classes, and then being transferred to the new Pinetree Line radar stations as they opened.

Gendron, Laurier - I joined the RCAF in 1949 and went to Aylmer for basic training. I was told that there were no trades available and was offered a new trade "Clerk Operations Fighter". I was posted to and was one of the first to arrive at St. Hubert in November 1949. Most of the people in the photo (Course #1) were not there at that time. The officer with the peak cap in the photo was F/L Ronnie, a hard case Scotsman with war time experience in RAF fighter operations. Andy Bouqueau, originally from Jamaica, was a bright mathematical wizard. He developed the trigonometry to solve a "one station DF fix" procedure. In those days we used triangulation DF fixing (Homing) to bring fighters (Vampires) back to home base - St. Huberts, Uplands or Chatham. I did not get to attend the first course. When I got to St. Hubert, S/L Ockenden asked me if I would build the Operations Room for him including all the tote boards. I remember opening the windows in the late fall of 1949 to cool the place down so I could spray the GSM table with a spray gun to allow the lacker to fall in droplets so as not to create a shiny surface. When the Ops Room was completed in the spring of 1950 I was assigned to work at Dorval airport with the Air Traffic Control section along with Tony Andoney (deceased) and Fred Green (deceased) among others - to get all air traffic from the tower and pass the information to the Surveillance section at St. Hubert. This lasted for a few months until a better system had been established - then I returned to St. Hubert and worked the AMES-11 on the tarmac. In the meantime, airwomen had started to arrive at the COC. Late in 1951 I was posted to the Quebec City 2452 AC&W Auxiliary Squadron on temporary duty as an instructor. I was ultimately posted to the Pinetree Line site at Lac St. Denis during the summer of 1952 as part of the Advance Party. Those early days at St. Hubert were a rip roaring time for everyone. Most of us were living off base in the surrounding areas such as Longueuil, St. Hubert and St. Lambert as there were no adequate facilities on the base. The "Aviation Hotel" (nicknamed Hanger #5) at the end of the road was the place to hang out - and a tour of the Montreal night clubs was a "must". But darn - it was cold sometimes.

Sproule, Bernie - I joined the RCAF in July of 1949 and proceeded to Aylmer for basic training or what was known as "boot camp". On completion of the basic training course, I was held at Aylmer until the start of the first Clerk Operations Fighter course which was scheduled to be held in Montreal starting in December 1949. The students who attended the first course were made up of a variety of men. Some had been in World War II and some, like myself, were very young and new to the military. We were housed at St. Hubert and bused each day into Montreal over the Jacques Cartier bridge since there was no tunnel available at that time. F/L Ronnie was in charge of the first course. We were taught the Dalton computer, plotting, tote boards, identification procedures, GEOREF plotting and Meteorology on our Clerk Operations Fighter course. As soon as this course was finished I took leave and proceeded to Pugwash, Nova Scotia to visit my girlfriend. After my leave, I returned to St. Hubert but I was only there for a short period of time. I found myself plotting canned tracks, doing Ident, and reading GEOREF positions over a hot line for training purposes with other tradesmen at St. Hubert. There were no radar scopes or height finders at St. Hubert as it was the COC (Combat Operations Center). I was soon posted to RCAF Gorsebrook in Halifax with two other airmen to set up an "Early Warning Centre" to train Reserves for future use in our trade. The Reserve personnel were to obtain training in the same functions that we had learned during our course. Due to the fact that there were no Reserve personnel available to train at that time, we were misemployed to Shearwater each day to grease, oil and check the tires of hundreds of Army trucks while waiting for the Pinetree Line site at Beaverbank to open. There was a shortage of personnel at the Search and Rescue Centre in Halifax so I went to this location to work. I found myself doing flight plans at the SAR Centre and liked it so much I tried to remuster to ACOp. This is when the RCAF realized I shouldn't have been at the SAR Centre in the first place. I guess that the RCAF had sort of lost track of me when I was working in the SAR Centre. Things soon changed and I ended up at Chatham, on the end of a runway in an AMES-11 truck convoy until going with the first group to open the Pinetree Line site at St. Margarets. I also spent time in Parent, Senneterre and Moisie as part of the early Calibration Crews.

Updated: March 5, 2005