Interview with Lieutenant Commander Edwin Falstrem

Narrator: Falstrem, Edwin Interviewer: Interviewed by Declan Smyth. Interview Date and Location 06 March 2024, Victoria BC. Synopsis: This interview covered the career up till the retirement of Lieutenant-Commander Edwin Falstrem. Mr. Falstrem commanded multiple Royal Canadian Navy submarines and possesses decades worth of experience. In the interview, we start with questions about the start of his service and how he ended up retiring, his first time on a submarine, his training, the missions he went on while deployed, and some technical information surrounding the operation of submarines are discussed. 0:00 – 24:25 - Introductory questions (start of service, end of service, responsibilities) 24:25 – 36:08 - General questions about the nature of service (training, working conditions, deployments) 36:08 - 1:08:35 – More technical questions about service (Missions, the different systems of the subs, problems that may have arisen during deployment) Suggested Clip(s) for Archive: At the very start of the interview, we go over Mr. Falstrem’s early experience in the military and how he became a lieutenant commander. Additionally, he briefly goes over some of his experience going through the Canadian Forces Staff College at which is interesting because he describes going through this course with officers of varying nationalities. (13:30)

In Collection:

• Canadian Military Oral Histories

Contributor

• Smyth, Declan
• Falstrem, Edwin

Subject

• Canada. Canadian Armed Forces
• Military education
• Soldiers
• Military history

Language

• eng

Identifier

• Interview #SC141_FE_914

Keyword

• HMCS Rainbow
• RIMPAC
• Canadian Forces Staff College
• HMCS Ojibwa
• HMCS Grilse
• Halifax
• Oberon-Class
• Junior Officer’s training course
• Perisher
• Hawaii
• HMS Aeneas
• Japan

Date created

• March 6, 2024

Relation

• Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews (HIST 426, 2024).

Resource type

• Moving Image

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 01:08:10

Alternative title

• Cold Warriors: The Royal Canadian Navy

Geographic Coverage

• Nova Scotia--Halifax
• Hawaii
• Japan

Coordinates

• 35.68536, 139.75309
• 20.78785, -156.38612
• 44.64269, -63.57688

Physical Repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Canadian Military Oral History Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• oral histories (literary genre)
• reminiscences
• interviews
• video recordings (physical artifacts)

Archival item identifier

• Accession Number: 2025-002; Series 4; Item: 914

Fonds title

• Military oral history collection

Fonds identifier

• SC141

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection

Technical note

• Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2024. Recorded in digital format by interviewer. Keywords supplied by interviewer. Metadata by KD.

Rights

• This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/vvws-ve34