Adamson, Dave: my armed forces recollections (November 17, 2008)

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An interview/narrative of Dave Adamson's experiences whilst serving in the armed forces. Interview took place on November 17, 2008.

Interviewer: Sawatsky, Kristen

ABSTRACT: Lieutenant-General Dave Adamson Adamson_D_0589_01.mp3 Background - Father was a veteran of WWI, got settlement property but eventually lots it - Born 1923, grew up in Lloydminster Saskatchewan - Joined Air Force in 1941 after brother and Father joined up - After returning, flew testing weapons and got invited to stay on - Began flying with 412 VIP Squadron, then got sent to Headquarters of Air Transport (1954) to organize transport missions - Had to organize Air Force to support multi-national unit in Middle East (6: 15) - Flew with Squadron in flights to Palestine - Posted to training command in Winnipeg (1957) - Sent out to be Air Staff Officer in Gaza (1960) for one year - Living with Palestinians, amidst tensions between Palestinians and Israelis - In charge of investigating UN crafts shot down - 1961, came back and returned to Air Transport Command as Senior Staff Operations (11:35) - In charge of SAR and Transport missions - Experienced many promotions Humanitarian Aid Operations (13:00) - Involved also in Kashmir, New Guinea, Vietnam and taking University Students overseas - Tells story of dropping aid to small community in Arctic (17:15-24:00) - Crews often had to fly long hours, such as Korean Airlift, 150 hours in 17 days - Huge differences in policies and equipment from then to now - Everything initiated by government: would give problem to military who would then decide what their capability was (27:30) - Amazed at co-operation between government and military then, in-line with Canadian foreign policy - Those involved had a lot of experience and a fair amount of training in nature of situation abroad - UN was able to organize operations well. - Things began to fall apart once UN decided to "peace-make" (36:00) - Began to happen in Congo, now in Afghanistan - Tells story of how he managed to get a Swedish battalion through Egypt to the Congo with the help of "baksheesh" -shows me the note that authorized the transport (38-47) - Tells story of how an Egyptian General acquaintance lived in Victoria - Cultural differences great in countries like the Congo - Lots of governments corrupt and exploit people - Makes intervention and aid difficult Perceptions - Canadians there to do a good job and support the aims of the UN - Other countries did not always have such high aims: story of Indian battalion (53:40-57:20) - Canadians were very competent in organizational and administration roles - Indians as "bureaucracy wild" - Tells story of difficulties of getting through customs in Delhi (102-105:00) - Describes living situation in Gaza and interactions with local people - Shows me a picture that was painted in Gaza - Problem of misunderstanding history and thus current situation: such as Afghanistan - Tells story of going up near the Khyber Pass and getting spied on (1:14-1:20) - Discusses how Afghanistan situation got out of hand, partly because of U.S. pressure - Root causes of problems in M.E. stems from colonialism and arbitrary division of borders - Humanitarian aid restricted by root causes of situations - "hell of a lot of naiveté" (1:31:20) that we can change everything to our way of life - In order to put "Canada first," there needs to be more action that prioritizes Canada's interests, and supply the military accordingly. - Allowing our territorial integrity to be compromised by mission in Afghanistan - Cannot rely on U.S.-they are only interested in how they can exploit us

Rank: Lieutenant-General.

Interviewee: Adamson, Dave

In Collection:
Contributor Subject Language Keyword Date created Relation
  • Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews.
Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 1 sound recording (MP3)
Geographic coverage Coordinates
  • 54.75844, -2.69531
  • 60.10867, -113.64258
Additional physical characteristics
  • Original sound recording (MP3) also available.
Physical repository Collection
  • Canadian Military Oral History Collection
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • AD_589
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • September 28, 2009
Technical note
  • Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 24 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2009. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
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

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