What’s going to hurt us? All that happened was that we were in a state of emergency. I had the shirt, pants, and a hat made out of an old shirt and a military ball cap. We have great news! What do you think? Please note: this game is best played on a tablet or smart phone, where you can really zoom in on all parts of the photos. When STRAD closed in 1981, I understand there was a parade? Don Medicraft and I, accompanied by dignitaries and members of STRAD maintenance, went to close the system down. Canada’s military store, CANEX, can still be found on Canadian military bases today. @2019 - All Right Reserved. Tug of War. When I wasn’t yet living in Carp, the public didn’t know anything about the bunker and I didn’t talk about it. ARM was the ‘All Ranks Mess’. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/canadahehx/Diefenbunker.mp3. Source: virtualmuseum.ca. Only the facility located at CFB Valcartier remains in use, as an itinerant accommodations barracks. Yes It’s A REAL Bunker You may think this is just for show, but we really are streaming live from a 64,000 sq/ft ex-military underground cold war nuclear bunker called the ‘Debert Diefenbunker‘. No one recognized me until I walked across the room. There were contests to see who could stay underground the longest. Did they know about it? Also be sure to scroll to the very end for another little surprise! The nearest legion hall was about 20 km away. Every serviceman was drafted and if he was married, his spouse would join his team. The bunker would house key military and government personnel in the event of a nuclear attack on Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. I’ve been reading stories from the Diefenbunker Alumni. Another bunker was built near Nelson, British Columbia and designated as a fallout shelter for local officials. Not in the cafeteria but there were different messes, depending on rank. Source: virtualmuseum.ca. And CFS Carp was was rural. It stands for Signal Transmission and Receiving Distribution system. If you lost, you still had to report to work the next day clean-shaven. Paul Vaillancourt. At the other end, the message would be received, translated, and printed as page copy. Well, I think you have to look at the psychology of us. We also did cross-country skiing, races on sleighs, and toboggan races. Some say that working at CFS Carp was the best time of their military career. Wikipedia: Emergency Government Headquarters. Personnel from Emergency Preparedness Canada would be assessing the damage and needs of civil infrastructure and civilian population after a nuclear attack in Canada. Retired CWO Vaillancourt worked in the Diefenbunker when it was an active Canadian Forces Station (CFS), CFS Carp. Did you ever find it psychologically difficult to work in an underground bunker? A “Pipe in the Ground”. I’ve read the food was good. Circa 1977. No, it was interesting as heck! There was no phone number to the bunker listed in any telephone directory. CANEX was a place where personnel could buy snacks, toiletries, magazines, and even cigarettes. For some it was their first time away from home. Where you are ‘virtually’ right now. Good working conditions, good people and about the best food to be had anywhere. As this message was sent, a T33 plane flew overhead. How did it feel to walk down the long dark blast tunnel for the first time? Egg Toss. There were also six smaller bunkers built that were spread throughout Canada. That’s why they eventually made it mandatory for people to be checked out of the bunker, at least once a week, I believe. This was time-consuming and there were scads of operators. It kicked-off with a torch relay. Mostly it was the young bucks who were single. This tape (about 1″ wide) would be put into a transmission distributor, which sent the message down the line. The first time I paid it was 35 cents for a full course meal. It’s one of more than 50 Cold War-era bunkers built across Canada. It was A1. We made a rink and had hockey games, curling, and broomball. SUP-Kettle’s Lake, Awenda Provincial Park, Want to visit a government nuclear bunker? Hi Dave! REGHQ Borden ON: Destroyed in 2004. So a multiple series of perforations would be coded letters and numbers. Since the late 1950s, the world had trembled on the brink of … You had to wear ear-defenders because of the clack, clack, clack, and if you wanted to talk to someone you had to take them out into the hallway. Plus it was a noisy bedlam of a room! It’s like if you type an email and it comes out as something else. No fuzz. I also read it was free? To ensure that everyone at home can play and have a blast, there are 3 levels of difficulty: There are 3 eggs per picture. There was a team captain and one or two assistants who would then draft players. Military Police checked your car at the outer gate. For the last several years of operation, this room was inhabited by the Communications Security Establishment (CSE). Besides acting as the Central Emergency Government Headquarters, the Diefenbunker was also a military communications base known as Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Carp. We were invincible. Circa 1962. It was kind of hard to be out there. It is rumoured that the government demolished this bunker after the Hells Angels motorcyle gang expressed an interest in purchasing it from a private seller. It is sincerely appreciated. Coffee Urns—CFS Carp. And back then, it wasn’t like it is today with the museum. My first time in the tunnel I wondered, ‘Where is this leading?’ and, ‘What am I getting into?’ When you walk into the tunnel, you turn right to go inside. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign. There were other contests—ice sculpting and a beard-growing contest. No I wouldn’t say so. REGHQ Shiloh AB: Destroyed; REGHQ Penhold MB: Destroyed summer 2002, also once purchased by the Hell’s Angels. From that shop, under the command of Sergeant Don Dutton, I helped carry equipment out to CFS Carp. There was a big tele-type machine set up outside. He kindly agreed to be interviewed for this post—an inside perspective on what it was like to work in a nuclear bunker during the cold war era. The bunker would house key military and government personnel in the event of a nuclear attack on Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. Later the floors were colour-coordinated so you could tell which floor you were on. It was a non-event really. I had to ring and have my clothes passed out to me. I flew with two army officers from Ottawa to Colorado Springs in an RCAF DC-3, all the way at 3000 to 5000 feet, a 14 hour flight. VirtualMuseum.ca—Top Secret: The Lives of Employees at CFS Carp. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Not myself. It was automated. No. I’m the engineer from CAE Montreal who designed the Iconorama display control computer. For the last couple of weeks of January 1962 when we were installing the Iconorama system, the building was not officially open, so we got to stay in the women’s quarters because the men’s were not complete. It was three glorious days culminating in a beauty pageant. You couldn’t really whistle because you had no more saliva! I also got to go to Norad HQ at Colorado Springs in October 1962 to install the “message generator”, a device I had designed which would allow a Canadian Army officer to send “special target” messages to Carp, outside of the normal target message stream. Before Crypto went operational, I did go in that area. CEGHQ Carp: This is the Diefenbunker! Its formal name was the Central Emergency Government Headquarters, although it was nicknamed ‘Diefenbunker’. The Easter Bunny came early to the Bunker!!! This was one of the most highly secured areas in the bunker. Responsibilities included communicating with allies such as NATO, NORAD, and the United States, and installing, running, and maintaining the machines found within the facility. The alarms of the system were going off and after I shut it off and the noise stopped, I said, “STRAD is dead.” I don’t remember saying this but it’s in a magazine article from the time. And if the cook was no good, he was gone. Experience a piece of Canadian Cold War history! But then sometime while I was away from working at CFS Carp (’67-’71), they began charging for meals. From there, we installed it in preparation for the communications base’s opening. If I had told someone I worked in a bunker they’d probably say, “That fellow’s crazy!” But later when I moved to Carp, the people there knew about it and knew I worked there. Yes. Runners would run about a mile each and pass the torch baton-style. CFS Carp was the happiest family-oriented group of roughly 200 service-people you could imagine. It was active as Canadian Forces Station Carp until 1994. Thanks for commenting . We would go in on Monday mornings, having driven from Montreal, and leave on Friday afternoons, to return home.