107 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca LAMBERT, Evert Walter WWII Evert Walter Lambert, RCAF enlisted in the wireless section of the Royal Canadian Air Force at Winnipeg, MB on September 29, 1942. He passed the IQ test required to train as a wireless operator and was posted to No. 2 Manning Depot in Brandon where he took basic training for regimental drill, review of electricity, geometry, algebra, science, etc. He recalled those were long and hard days of drill and study. One day he was detailed to meet some new recruits at the train station and march them back to barracks. His good buddy from Hodgson, Albert Hamrlik, was at the station all dressed up in his civies, suit, hat, tie, with long winter coat and a suitcase in his hand. After a day spent issuing him air force apparel, he looked just like the rest of them. They were happy to be together for the short stay at Manning. Evert did well studying the basics in wireless and passed in the area of ninety percent. After that he was posted to #3 Wireless School in Winnipeg, MB. His training began at #3 Wireless School on February 20, 1943 where he learned how radio receivers and transmitters worked, dismantling and assembling the oldest and newest types until they knew all about them. They learned the Morse code until they could take and send no less than thirty words per minute, five letters or numbers making a word. They learned the use of flags (semaphore) and Aldus lamps for signalling. Physical training was strenuous, and Evert fractured his right clavicle on the PT floor resulting in a month’s stay at Deer Lodge Hospital. The last two weeks at #3 Wireless School were spent going to and from Stevenson Airport where they became familiarized with aircraft and flying. The aircraft they flew in were the Fleet Forts which were small jobs with two cockpits, one behind the other. Only ninety of them were ever manufactured. They also flew in the Norseman, a one engine, nine passenger, very stable craft. They practiced air to ground radio communications. These were Evert’s first experiences in aircraft and it took a couple of days before he could sit up straight in the cockpit without hanging on with both hands. The pilots were also trainees and they had a lot of accidents. Evert received his Certificate of Qualification as wireless operator from #3 Wireless School on October 29, 1943. On November 10, 1943, he transferred to #8 Bombing and Gunnery School in Lethbridge, Alberta. This is where they practiced with Browning machine guns and different types of bombs from the air. They used the old four-motor Boling Brock bombers for bomb practice and for machine gunnery by shooting at a drogue pulled by a long cable attached to a Tiger Moth plane. Rifle and pistol practice on the range was part of the training and night familiarization flying was done in two-engine Ansons. These were so quiet and peaceful that he once wrote a letter to his wife, Drew, whilst flying. Evert received his Certificate of Qualification as Wireless Operator Air Gunner from #8 Bombing and Gunnery School on December 13, 1943 and a promotion to rank of Sergeant. In January 1944, he was posted to #3 Operational Training Unit, Patricia Bay, BC where they formed an aircraft crew consisting of personnel from various parts of Canada and were assigned to “Canso A” flying boats. They were 63 feet long from nose to tail and 104 feet from wing tip to wing tip. They had two Pratt & Whitney motors circular, each thirteen cylinders, developing 1200 H.P. Their crew were: Sgt. Bert Lahey, Pilot; Sgt. Albert Smith, co-pilot; F/O Loyd Monroe, Navigator; Sgt. Evert Lambert, 1st Wireless Air Gunner; Sgt. Warren Taillefer, 2nd Wireless Air Gunner; Sgt. Bob Sugden, 3rd Wireless Air Gunner; (continued)
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