1939 Tour of the Instructional Building

CANADIAN SIGNAL TRAINING CENTRE

Instructional Building, Vimy Barracks.

Kingston Ont.

Enter ye without hope and ye shall be enlightened. You might expect to find the above enscribed over the portals of our shiney new building, but, not so - at least not yet. As exponents of military tactics, we use the element of surprise by throwing at the outside world, students filled with knowledge that has been gained behind the closed doors of this same building. Thus we have led outsiders to believe that here we have something of importance, something important enough to demand that information be given as to what we have installed in this building, to aid in training our personnel. What better way could he help these curious people than by taking them on a sight-seeing tour through the building. So---

We gaily trip on (I mean up) the steps of the Instructional Building, open the door and proceed across the hall and go down the basement of the building from whence we shall commence our tour.

On the left, at the bottom of the steps, we have our modern, up-to-date, fireproof Q.M. stores. It is a somewhat more cheery sort of Q.M. Stores than the general run of Q.M. Stores; that is if you know what the general run of Q.M. Stores is like. Now ours - ours has room for everything plus room to move, any number of windows for lighting, offices for the Quartermaster and the clerks, and, even modern up-to-date clerks in these offices.

Just outside the Q.M. Stores is the draughting-room. It is one of those offices that "mushroomed" up due to the continued construction around the barracks.

Proceeding toward the east end of the basement, we find on our left, the miniature rifle range and the gas-engine room; on our right, the electrical supply room, workshop and power room. However, this is to be more than a race down the hall, so we shall take you into each room and let you inspect it for yourselves.

First, the miniature rifle range. Walls of solid concrete and with steel-shuttered windows, the 25 yard range looks more like a pill-box. The raised firing-step is wide enough to accommodate five marksmen at one time, while the remainder are seated on tiered seats behind the firing step. The lighting and ventilation systems are controlled by switches at the rear. The little room just off the rear of the range is for storing ammunition and cleaning material.

Next door to the range; the gas-engine room, fireproof and equipped for the fitters course. It boasts of 2 Delcos, 2 Stewart-Turners, the power plant for the new No.3 set, expectant fitters and the W.O. i/c, S.M. Riddell.

The electrical supply room on the other side of the hall is nothing more than its name implies, so we shall inspect the workshop next.

Here in the Depot workshop everything not done by the Ordnance is completed, repaired or designed. With its machine and wood lathes, drill press, grinding head, metal shear, sheet metal break, combination buzz-saw, forge and smaller tools it is about the type of workshop a man dreams of but seldom sees. Pardon? No Ma'am, that piece of equipment with the mustache is Corpl. Royds. He's the man in charge of the shop and with the aid of his staff does everything from mounting No.1 Sets in vans to constructing dining room suites.

Adjoining it is the power room, something any station would be proud of. One room contains a tungar charger for charging all the wireless batteries and a 110 volt battery bank for supplying D.C. to the building. The other room contains the master control panel for controlling the supplied power and a number of generators for supplying A.C. for instructional purposes. More detailed information can be obtained from Corpl. Bond, who at present is in charge.

Arriving at the east end of the building, we stumble up the steps to the first floor. At the first door on the right we get our first real inkling of what this Corps trains men for. You've guessed it! It's the operating room. We boast of two and later on during the tour we promise to show you the other.

At the front of the room is the supervisor's desk and behind it his control panel by which he regulates the type of reading and the number of circuits connected together. In front of him are long benches and chairs for the operators. One half of the room is equipped with sounders and keys for 26 men, and, for purposes of instruction, 10 single current sets and 2 duplex sets. The other half of the room has one key and several sets of headphones placed at intervals along each bench. The sounders are connected, separately, to the control panel, so that the supervisor can put any pair or group of sounders on one circuit, or can put any pair or group in a circuit with his own key. The single current sets are connected to work in pairs. The headphones are connected up so the super- visor can connect any bench or number of benches together, or can send with his own key to any bench or group of benches. To these he connects the Creed, or an oscillator, and if interference is desired, a No.1 Set is plugged into the circuit. The power for the room is supplied through the panel; the D.C. from the battery room; the A.C. from the 110 volt line. Any operating room that can run 26 sounders and 45 pairs of phones at one time has something to be justly proud of, so claims the W.O. i/c - S,M. Loverock.

Directly across the hall we have the L/T laboratory. There isn't a much better way to learn about army field instruments than to see just what goes into the making of them and it is here we see just that.

Proceeding west down the hall we cover a rather zig-zaggy course to look into each of the stations on our miniature N.W.T. Station. Each is rather like the last but knowing human nature we know nothing should be missed. Although they use line instruments and metallic circuits, instead of wireless, experience is gained in station procedure, accounting, and traffic handling. It is for the operation of these that experienced men from the ~N.W.T. & Y. System are pressed into service enabling the new men to gain knowledge of the methods used on the actual system.

At the end of the system we barge into the Assistant Instructors' room and across the hall from it the Engineers' room, bringing us back to where we came in. Unlike the show, we don't leave at this point.

On the contrary, we proceed on our zig-zaggy course past our well equipped Medical Inspection Room and dispensary to view the regimental library with its loaded tables groaning under the weight of the musty volumes they support. Once the promised shelving has been installed it will be on a par with the best of regimental libraries. If military knowledge is your prime essential, here is where it is to be found.

Directly across from it is the sand-table room, with enough toy cars, trains, tanks, soldiers and aeroplanes to make it look like a child's play room at Christmas time. Sections of a map are constructed in sand and tactical schemes are planned by studying the sand table.

From the sand table room to the end of the hall we have a few of our lecture rooms. It is in these very rooms that knowledge is literally hammered into the intelligent brains of the signalmen attending classes.

Continuing on up the steps at the west end of the building, two more lecture rooms are to be found at the top of the stairs. Here the unique Room 213, the combined church and grievance room, is to be found. It looks very much like any other lecture room but it's surprising what a change in atmosphere it undergoes.

Continuing down the corridor we find the offices of the administration staff; On the right, the R.S.M.'s, the Officer i/c Accounts, the accounts branch, the Royal Schools; on the left, the central registry, the Orderly room, the Adjutant's, the Commandant's and the Second in Command's.

The door facing the Commandant's office opens into the radio station and telephone exchange. Here the communication system of Vimy Barracks is located.

In a room off the radio station, the telephone exchange is situated. Besides handling 40 odd lines in the S.T.C., it has four trunk lines connected with the Kingston Exchange to allow for outside calls. It also handles the fire alarm system, the public address system to all barrack rooms, and when completed the central clock of the clock system. The buzzer system between offices has its terminal board in the telephone exchange from where it obtains its power.

The radio station is one of the interesting points of the Instructional Building, taking the eye of both hams and non-technically inclined individuals. At a specially constructed desk, holding his typewriter, stationery, key or "bug" receiver and remote control panel for the transmitter sits the operator. Behind him sits the booking clerk, who handles the routing and booking of traffic.

For the benefit of those who want detail, the receiver is a National H.R.O. covering from 175 kc. to 30 megs. The transmitter is a P.T.200 having three crystal controlled channels, 4500 kcs. 5795 kc. and 5865 kc. and handling either phone or C.W. The station has regular half hour "skeds" with Ottawa, but tests have been carried on with Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg, with excellent results. The average traffic handled in a month runs around 15,000 words.

Next door to the radio station is the meteorological room, which plays a very important part in the training of our operators. Each operator must be a meteorologist and thus we find the room stocked with the necessary instruments to teach him his trade. With the aid of these and the knowledge he acquires, he must be able to make up his weather report to send to the Weather Bureau in Toronto, each morning.

Continuing on down the hall past the Instructors' room, the Subalterns' room and Company offices, we come to the W/T laboratory where the Signals learn the practical side of radio. Midst a clutter of meters, valves, wire and "book larnin" we find the interested students assembling oscillators, test circuits and one tube sets in the "bread-board" fashion. Some have remarkable results, some are just plain remarkable.

Remember us promising to show you the second telegraph room later on during the tour? Here it is and it was worth waiting for. The room will accommodate thirty students at the one time. Each place is equipped with D key, sounder, pair of headphones and a mill or to the uninitiated, a typewriter. In the front of the room is the supervisor's desk and key, from where he can send to the whole room or any part of the room. Behind him is the control panel by means of which he can control the room. He can put any two or more on one circuit and can pair off the whole room if he so wishes. Having two master oscillators and 15 separate oscillators he has the equipment necessary to maintain this group working. For the purpose of increasing speed in the receiving he has two automatic senders he can plug in on the line, or he can, by use of the panel downstairs, plug in the creed in the lower room to send to the upper room. The power for the board is supplied in the same way as for the lower telegraph room.

So far we have shown you nothing but things pertaining to the technical side of our training, but if you will be so kind as to follow us down stairs to the drill hall, well ?

The drill hall opens off the steps leading down to the basement and leads us into a huge room whose ceiling is supported by steel girders. Immediately above us, as we enter the hall, is a small projection room, unequipped at present, but still a projection room. At the opposite end we have a stage flanked on either side by dressing rooms. The intervening rectangle, measuring about 140' by 751 is unoccupied. This is where the parades are held when it is too cold outside to permit them being held on the square. But more important is its use as a sports centre. The floor is criss-crossed with lines for basketball, volleyball and badminton courts. In the unoccupied corners, the apparatus and mats are stored and as a gymnasium the hall is very well equipped. This is the room in which the exuberant spirits of the quiet studious gentlemen of Vimy Barracks come to the surface. Here is the one place where rank is forgotten, as all take part in the various sports in progress.

In this hall we take our leave of you and say "Thank you for accompanying us on a tour of our Instructional Building."