I was a member of the second draft, on the SS Columbia. We left Quebec City on October 16, 1952 and arrived in Cherbourg , France on 25 October 1952.
We departed Cherbourg by train and arrived in Paris in the evening. We were met by Air Division staff and assigned our billets. I do not remember how we were transported to the various hotels, however I assume it was by bus. I was the NCO i/c of the segment of the draft which was billetted at the Hotel Royale Pigalle in Paris. I am identified as RL Johnson (sic), my surname is misspelled on the draft order, of which you have a copy on the web site. To my recollection we spent a very pleasant week end in Paris before departing by train for Grostenquin - arriving there on either the 27th or 28th of October, 1952.
I was married at the time, however I was unaccompanied by my wife and family who had remained in Canada. The majority of our draft fell into this category and we were all living in barracks.
My memories of the station, are much as described by Norm Avery in his excellent "Get Some Mud on Your Boots" article. When we arrived in October the station most cerainly was not completed. Hangars were still under construction. Any amenities were rudimentary, at best. Mud was a constant hazard which we all had to live with. The Heating Plant which was to pump heat through the overhed pipes, shown in many photos, was not completed nor functional until the spring of 1953.
I was one of two AIEM Supervisors on this draft, the other being "Dinty" Moores. He was put in charge of the Wing Instrument and Electrical Sections. I was given the job of heating the station with Herman Nelson heaters, with a crew of airmen and local civilians. My recollections are that we did this until April 1953. We used approximately 96,000 gallons of gasoline, 600 gallons of Oil and and a number of new Briggs Stratton Engines - the source of which I found in Luxembourg. We also converted some of the heaters to electricity. My most vivid recollection of this time was when one of my crews managed to blow up a heater in the middle of the Roman Catholic Church service, filling the interior of the chapel with soot.
When serious flying commenced in the Spring of 1953 we had many accidents with the Sabres. During this period I was NCO i/c of the Salvage Section in Hangar 2 - a post I held until I was repatriated in the Fall of 1953. My most vivid recollection of this period is of a salvage operation in Germany to pick up an Expeditor aircraft which had crashed with most of the Air Division Brass aboard.