18 June 2008
A Lesson in Bomb Recognition
For many years, I gave lectures to police and fire service
personnel on the subject of bomb recognition.
At the beginning of each course, I invariably recalled my first experience dealing with a bomb threat. This incident occurred while I
was stationed at Brandon detachment in western Manitoba.
In 1951, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were travelling across Canada on a train pulled by the Royal Hudson. The CPR mainline
passed through Brandon and the train stopped briefly to take on water, before continuing westward. The Prince and Princess were to
remain onboard. Many people gathered on the platform, hoping to get a glimpse of the royal couple. Brandon police were looking after
security at the station.
Just as the train arrived in Brandon, a telephone call was received at the detachment claiming a bomb had been placed under the railway
tracks in an underpass or culvert west of Brandon. The caller said the explosion would derail the Royal Hudson. A sergeant and four
constables were immediately dispatched to search for the device and prevent the train from being wrecked.
At that time, the main highway passed through Brandon. The road and rail line were parallel in some places and as much as a mile apart
in others. There were many culverts, but only one underpass between Brandon and Regina. That was at Kemnay, eight miles west of Brandon.
The underpass was 30 feet deep with straight walls on both sides. The tracks crossed the two-lane highway at a
45-degree angle. I was detailed to check the underpass, while the other officers continued westward.
There are a number of factors needing explanation. In 1951, police vehicles in Manitoba had two-way radio, but officers on
foot had no means of communicating with the detachment or patrol cars. The nearest telephone was approximately 300 feet away in one of
the houses in the village. Bomb threats and explosive devices were rare, and instruction on identification or defusing explosives was
not part of our training. We were totally unprepared. My idea of a bomb was something about the size of a bowling ball with a fuse
sticking out of the top. I had seen cartoons or photos of these things as a youth.
I ran to the underpass and looked up. In the shadows, I could see four huge black spherical objects suspended directly under the
tracks. They were the size of very large beach balls. These devices were 25 feet over my head and could not be reached from where I was
standing. They were similar in appearance to road flares used at accident scenes and highway construction sites, but much bigger. These
huge devices looked very sinister to my already suspicious mind.
While pondering what to do next, I heard the whistle indicating the train had left Brandon. I could not contact the detachment.
Even if I could advise them of the circumstances, they would not be able to inform those in charge of security on the train. I gave
thought to running to the tracks and attempting to signal the engineer. The road angled away from the tracks and I knew I could not
possibly make it up the hill, climb through the fence and run at least 400 yards through a farmer's field to wave at the engineer. The
Royal Hudson was very fast and I doubted if it could stop in time, even if the engineer did see me.
Many thoughts went through my head, What should I do? I could see headlines describing how the RCMP had failed to protect members of
the Royal Family. Then it suddenly occurred to me that if these four devices were bombs, a very young police officer could end up with
the boiler and other parts of the Royal Hudson sitting on my chest. Which way should I go? The momentum of the train would be to the
west, so my best bet was to head east.
Just as I started to run, the Royal Hudson roared overhead without incident and continued westward. As we returned to the office, the
others explained they had been unable to locate any culverts and the train had passed, before anything could be done. The threat was
recorded as a hoax and the caller was never identified. I later determined that the four huge devices were in fact railway flares.
I never mentioned my hair-raising experience, but it became an excellent reason to teach bomb recognition to
others.
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