Grostenquin France

Memories of the Original Trailers - Bob Cooper

In 1952 and early 1953, the official government policy was "no families". The tour of duty was one year for married personnel (unaccompanied) and two years for single personnel. Some of the married personnel decided to bring their families to France at their own expense. There was no RCAF accommodation available (PMQs or trailers) so the only option was to find suitable accommodation on the French economy. This was not very satisfactory as the accommodation was substandard and over priced by Canadian standards.

The first trailers at 2 Wing arrived in early 1953 at the initiative of a representative of a British Caravan Company who arrived on the station offering to rent the units to RCAF personnel. Since there was no official trailer site on the station, these caravans were set up on buttons which were part of the 421 Squadron dispersal area. As was expected, the arrival of these caravans resulted in the arrival of more families from Canada.

The original caravans were a far cry from what we know and accept as mobile homes today. One look at the photo provided by Lloyd Skaalen pretty well says it all.

My family moved into a trailer in March of 1953. There were several trailers on the buttons at that time including, Alan and Barb Cottingham, Jacques and Jaqueline Nadeau, Don and Dotty Nivens, Dave and Dolly Martell. There were six or eight trailers per button and several of the buttons were in use. The English Company seemed to be anxious to provide as many trailers as needed. I have no idea how they were transported from England to France. The trailers were all rental at this time. About two years later they offered them for sale with the rent paid applied as down payment. I cannot recall what the rent was or how it was paid. Trailers were doled out based on a waiting list as opposed to rank or seniority.

In August of 1953 some of our trailers were hauled to 3 Wing (Operation Grand Trek) while the runways at 2 Wing were being repaired. During our absence the new site (by the water tower) was opened and the trailers were moved from the buttons to the new Station Trailer site. When we returned from 3 Wing with our trailers in October 1953, we found that places had been reserved for us and our trailers were moved right on to the new site. A school had been opened on the Station and was operated by a Mrs. O'Neill. The kids loved her. Meat and vegetables were sold around the site several times a week and we did a lot of shopping in Germany. I would guess that we ended up with between 60 and 70 trailers on the new site by the end of 1953. It was a "hodge podge" arrangement up to and including the rank of WO. I do not recall where the Officers had their trailers but they must have been segregated.

Discussions about PMQs (eventually built at St. Avold) started in late 1953 and a reversal in the policy pertaining to "dependents overseas" took place in 1954. It was at this time that we were reimbursed for bringing our families over.