3-BLIZZARD

At the armouries we clamoured out of the truck and inside the building. A sergeant met us and led us to the quartermaster. We were issued winter parkas and large mitts with cuffs that came part way up our forearms, and toques. We assembled in the junior ranks mess to await instructions.

When our orders came, five men were assigned to get jeeps ready. They were to go to the police headquarters and would act as drivers for policemen and be on patrol and call in the city. Another two men were assigned to take the deuce and a half and go to the Talbotville area on the way to Lambeth. Many cars were stranded on the highway there and there was a report of a fatality. They were to recover the body. I was assigned to ‘on call’ with three others for anything that came up.

It got dark early and the wind and blowing snow had taken on an eerie quality. There were still whiteouts when the wind gusted and the snow drifts were even deeper. A call came in for us. Someone, stranded in their home east of the city, was out of insulin and in desperate need. A major and the three of us on call got our gear on. We took the 1-and-a-1/4-ton command truck. It was four-wheel drive and had a large box on the back for personnel. Myself and my partner also took shovels in the back with us. We knew we’d need them.

I sat on a folding chair looking out the door to the cab to see where we were going as we headed east along the main street out of town. Except for the billowing edges of the snowdrifts, the road was unbroken snow. There was no sign that any vehicle had passed in either direction for some time. We travelled slowly. The ditches on either side of the road were level with accumulated snow. In the lights of the street and our own headlights we could see how heavily it was snowing. We slowed even more each time there was a whiteout.

At the side road, we carefully turned right. The snow was deep enough and drifted enough that you could not see the edges of the road so we proceeded slowly. Part way down the truck began to bottom out and we were in danger of getting stuck. The major ordered us out with our shovels to clear a path in front of the truck.

It was cold in the wind when I first stepped down into knee-deep snow. I had the fur-lined parka hood pulled up but the coldness bit my face. Once in front of the truck, we began to scoop shovel-fulls of snow to either side. It did not take long to build up body heat and the cold did not bother me much after that. The road was dark except for the area lit up by the command truck’s headlights. I found I got into a rhythm with scooping snow to the side and my stamina surprised me. Further down the road, the wind had blown the snow in such a way that it was not so deep so we climbed back into the truck and closed the door.