Canadian soldiers
Canadian infantry were at a tremendous disadvantage through the entire war. They were outgunned, Canadian World War II rifles needed to be re-cocked after each round. The Chinese used automatic weapons that fired as long as the trigger was pressed
"Imagine you're going up a Chinese position at night, and there's only 12 of you. You're 12 abreast. You're going up this Chinese position. There's probably 1500 Chinese up there, all equipped with 8 and 900 rounds per minute burp gun. And they open fire and you're trying to give them return fire one bloody bullet at a time? I thought it was disgusting."
Enterprising soldiers at the front always have a knack getting things done.
Canadian beer
Our troops had beer, but no modern weapons.
American troops, had modern weapons but no beer.
So unofficial deals were made; a sort of early free trade agreement.
"A lieutenant, myself and another corporal went down to Pusan with our jeep to do some trading," Hibbs recalls. "What my colonel or my major wanted was a jeep trailer, and two walkie-talkies, that was what our project was. So we went downtown to Pusan and I had to look around, I found an American GHQ, general headquarters, and I went in there to the sergeant on duty. He asked me what have I got to trade and I got a bottle of rum out of the jeep. "I said, 'I need a trailer.'
"He says 'I'll get you one, I'll get you one.'
"So I gave him the bottle, I got the two walkie-talkies, the two 45's. And about ten minutes later he comes driving up with a two-and-a-half-ton truck with a two-and-a-half-ton trailer on the back, and says 'There's your trailer.'"
"And I said, 'I can't pull that. I have only got a jeep.'" "He said, 'Well take the truck.' So I did."
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