Roger Beauregard (Primary Source)

In that time, the 3^rd Battalion (Royal 22^e Régiment) had just been formed a few months prior, and there were 1,200 to 1,400 soldiers in the battalion. Instead of four infantry companies, there were five, Company E. Each company had between 250 and 300 members. More NCOs and officers were needed. My first platoon commander was Jean Riffou, who was a cadet officer in those days. He was doing his third phase (officer training) at Valcartier. That was my first platoon commander. There was a sergeant in the company and a few corporals. After three months' service, they promoted me to lance corporal. I never completed my basic training.

It took two special trains to transfer the battalion from Valcartier to Seattle. I think the trip took five days. I found it very interesting, because it was the first time I'd seen the mountains, for example. But when we arrived in Seattle, we boarded the American ship, a "Troop Transport Ship". One thing that struck me was that we were all volunteers. Morale was high, we sang, we did crazy things. 10 or 15 minutes before the ship left Seattle for Korea, we heard sirens on the dock. We made our way to the edge of the ship. There were two American army cars with two Jeeps. Each Jeep was carrying four American nuclear policemen and rifles. The fifteen soldiers got out who, no doubt, didn't want to go to Korea. They were declared absent without official leave, all tied together with... I'm looking for the right word... They were all chained together really. They boarded the ship to Korea at gunpoint. I realized how lucky we are to be Canadian!

Conditions (at the front) were not very good. We were in a compartment about the same size as this room. There were four bunks on the ship, 16 or 18 inches between levels and 18 inches wide. When we were lying on top, they were almost touching the bottom. The conditions weren’t very good. And since we were traveling in April, the Pacific Ocean was not peaceful.

They (the soldiers) came from all over. Some came from the prisons, others from Beauce, others from Gaspé, New Brunswick and Lac-Saint-Jean. There were three pages for the name Tremblay on our roll call, several from Montreal. It was interesting to see the differences between those who came from a city like Montreal and those who came from places like Gaspésie or Lac-Saint-Jean. When we arrived in Korea, the people from the cities were less comfortable than we were. We arrived in Pusan (now Busan, South Korea) in the morning. We stayed on the ship for two or three hours. Then we transferred to Korean trains, made of wood, wooden seats, no windows because they’d all been broken. They gave us what they call a "box lunch". We ate it. In the evening, we left Busan for Seoul. We were given ammunition, because apparently there was always a risk of North Koreans still being present in the south. But the journey to Seoul was uneventful.

We arrived in the morning and were loaded onto trucks. We went north and took up a reserve position of the Canadian brigade. We stayed there for about seven or eight days. Then we replaced the PPCLI (Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry). This was our first position. I was in Platoon 5, Company B (of the 3^rd Battalion, Royal 22^e Régiment). The other companies were all integrated in the same position. Platoon 5 was on a small hill by itself and the other platoons were on the other side of a river, let's say. We were pretty good there, but we had to carry all our equipment on our backs, of course. The slopes were quite steep. When I arrived, with second lieutenant (Jean) Riffou, I worked with my section to set up the platoon equipment. We made seven trips from the bottom of the hill to the top. In the morning, we were exhausted, it was tiring. We were in good shape, but we got into better shape by climbing hills everywhere.

Normally, we slept during the day because the risk of being attacked during the day was minimal. So we'd go to sleep at, say, 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning, after breakfast, cleaning our rifles and shaving. Discipline was quite severe. As section corporal, this was one of my responsibilities. So we took up our defensive positions, with the exception of... We always had an outpost, a corporal and a private. It's to give notice, the bad guys, the infiltrators, and from time to time we were assigned to go on a standing patrol. So we were on our feet all night. After the first light, we ate our breakfast, shaved and cleaned our rifles. Once the rifles had been examined, it was time to rest.

Normally, what we call the "standing patrols", which were every evening, were determined by each company having to provide a certain number of patrols. The platoon commander decided which NCO would go. Normally, I as the corporal chose the ones I wanted to accompany me. So, in general, we had learned how patrols were organized, how people were prepared for the patrols themselves. In general, patrols became too routine. The "briefings" (instructions) for the patrols were not very good, with a few exceptions.

First, I had only 14 months' service when I arrived in Korea. I soon realized that I wasn't really prepared. I'd had all the training. But, for example, I had no experience using a map. The corporals didn't have a map, the platoon commander did. So I had no experience. There were times when I was more or less lost in, shall we say, "no man's land". When you get caught out, when you're not sure where you are, when it starts to get light, when the Chinese have seen you, when they start throwing mortars in your direction, when suddenly you find yourself in a minefield by accident, then you're still lucky to be alive.