1944 C-15A-Wire-5 Restoration

[Robert Bergeron]

Friends,

Hope you all had a nice Christmas with family and friends , inside in the warmth of your homes.

Our Veterans had a very harsh winter over in Holland in 44-45.

I took a ride in the Wire 5 project and took a few pictures. The chains were a necessity because of a spell of freezing rain.

Now , just imagine a minute the setting is in Holland during the winter of 44-45.

The convoy is en route on the Maple Leaf Up road to the Brigade HQ RV before the next phase of the operation.

The Jerries are entrenched , putting up rear guard actions and comitting exactions against the local populations.The civilians have been deprieved by the occupiers of the bare necessities of life. Crimes against Humanity are being comitted.

The Canadians are beginning secret negociations with the ennemy in order to resupply the famished population of Holland.

It is a Christmas without precedent in history. While the other Allied nations are rushing Germany , the Canadians are about to begin the largest humanitarian operation of the war while still fighting feverishly an ennemy that will not surrender at any cost. Canadian lives are lost by the hundreds in order to reach the Dutch and feed them.

The first Canadian Division is now in play. They have arrived from Italy where they were bloodied and they will join the fight in Holland in the New Year.

The 3 rd Canadian Div is in the fight ever since D Day. The Sherbrooke Fusilier and the Sask Light's are the vanguard of the advance . They now need to regroup, resupply before pushing on in very difficult conditions.

We are very lucky to be Canadians and being able to enjoy freedom and wealth away from war especialy at Christmas. In great part because of the sacrifice of our veterans.

That's why this is the time of the year i think of our veterans the most.

Thank you Sgt Fowlis , 27 th Armoured Regt ( Sherbrooke Fusilier Regt ) wherever you are now.

[Robert Bergeron]

Here is the result of the oil and water cans in the tool box.

Quite realistic in black and white.

Also, the jerrycan holder is quite true to original.

Compare with Rob Love's original pictures.

[Robert Bergeron]

How many of these were carried in the Wire 5 truck ?

[Robert Bergeron]

Bags , aerial gear Canadian ?

[Robert Bergeron]

Sorry.

Here is the picture.

[Grant Bowker]

I believe (only) one bag was carried, but wouldn't mind being wrong if someone has an easy-to-read kit list available.

[Chris Suslowicz]

I would say one bag. It contains the rigging kit for both the 20-ft and the 34-ft telescopic masts.

From the WS52 page in WftW Volume 2:

1 Bags Aerial Gear Canadian
8 Guys, assembly
1 Hammers, 4.1/2 lb., Striking
1 Hammers, Engineers, Ball-Pein, 8 oz.
1 Leads, Aerial, No.C6
8 Pegs, Antenna Rods. 'A'
2 Spikes, Ground
1 Base, Plate, vehicle roof
1 Pamphlets, Instruction
1 Base, Aerial, Assembly

All of that goes in the bag.

The WS19 Truck & Ground station is similar, and should be listed in the Canadian Working Instructions pamphlet - mine are all boxed up and not accessible at present.

Chris.

[Robert Bergeron]

Thank you Grant , thank-you Chris, very very usefull information.

One bag , aerial gear Canadian with content then .

I have all of the content in your list and the masts in both sizes , 20 ' and
34 ' .

Now the aerials , long wire . I have a box full of them , the longest being

260 ' in lenght no less !

What was a set of these comprised of and in what were they carried ?

Picture , a ride on ice covered roads , good thing i still had the chains on.


There is something to be said about chains !

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Robert Bergeron

Thank you Grant , thank-you Chris, very very usefull information.

One bag , aerial gear Canadian with content then .

I have all of the content in your list and the masts in both sizes , 20 ' and
34 ' .

Now the aerials , long wire . I have a box full of them , the longest being

260 ' in lenght no less !

What was a set of these comprised of and in what were they carried ?

I have no idea where they were carried, possibly in the Bags, Aerial Gear, or in a cupboard somewhere.

The set appears to be:

Aerial 70-ft No.1
Aerial 90-ft No.1
Aerial 110-ft No.1
Aerial 150-ft No.2
Aerial 185-ft No.1
Aerial 250-ft No.1

The frequency ranges that they can be used on are marked on the wooden board winders.

Later on these were replaced by the Aerial, 100-ft, No.5 which had insulators and shorting links to allow a range of frequencies to be covered.

The Canadian equivalent was the Aerial, Horizontal, 140-ft, 4-section, No.C1 for the WS52. I have two versions of this, an unissued one on the wood/metal drum winder with chain-link insulators, and a second one on a steel frame winder that looks to be American - this came in a kit with different antenna stays and the insulators for the aerial are separate strings of glass shells with a clip at each end. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

Chris.