one of them ...

 

Arranged for the web from personal correspondence with Eric Shea - January 2009

 

Walter, a half-brother to Eric Shea was borne in Saskatchewan .

 

During the dirty thirties, he attended the Sprott Shaw Radio School in Vancouver and obtained his Second Class Radio Operator Certificate.

 

In 1941, he got employment with the Department of Transport in Ottawa and was in no time assigned to the Port Harrison radio station call sign VAL, on the eastern coast of Hudson's Bay, for one year in isolation. Other operators with him at the time were possibly Freddie Woodrow , John Fraser, Jim Mercer, Harvey Jones and John Melvin.

 

It was during that time that he loaned enough money to his half brother Eric for him to also get radio training.

 

Walter was taken in with the supplies ship in mid-summer and came back down south at the same time the next summer.

Click on photo to enlarge

 

He was then assigned to Ottawa Monitoring Station until 1945 when again, he was transferred to the Lulu Island Monitoring to copy Japanese code . He is shown on this picture of a change of shift at the Ottawa MS.(click on the photo to enlarge)

 

Following wartime, Walter was relocated to the Swift Current Radio Range and later transferred to Dorval - shortly thereafter, Walter was promoted to Headquarters and worked in licensing until retirement in 1975.

 

Walter passed away in March 2008

 

Laval Desbiens

January 2009