Arrival in Edmonton was like stepping from summer into winter. As we stood shivering in our pea jackets and Stetsons we were met by a man in buffalo coat, fur cap and moccasins and were taken to the barracks where we were all lodged in one big dormitory. The more comfortable quarters on the second floor with one- and two-man cubicles had been claimed by another group that had just arrived from Regina after finishing their recruit training there. After we had been issued with winter outerwear and had a chance to settle in, we were paraded in front of the commanding officer. He told us we were being assigned to a mounted troop. This, we knew, meant continued drill and possibly riot duty. It was a terrible letdown. And to rub salt into a fresh wound the C.O. proceeded to lecture us on discipline and the dire consequences to follow in case of any breach. We decided there and then that his nickname Diarrhea Pete was quite well deserved.
The field work we had looked froward to was, we learned, conducted from the former provincial police administration building located in another part of town. It also housed division and subdivision headquarters. Our morale at this point was at low ebb, leading to a rebellious behavior in months to come. We were, I am sure, a pain in the neck to our sergeant major who showed a lot of patience with us. . . |
