Canada’s CF-100 jet fighters helped keep the Russians out of Cuba during the Cold War, but the planes wouldn’t have stayed in the air without the efforts of men like Herman Nuhn.
Nuhn, 96, joined the military in 1952 and trained in North Bay, Ont., as an aero-engine maintenance technician. He was later assigned to 419 Fighter Squadron, where his job was to fuel the planes, maintain them and prepare them for their next missions.
During the 1950s and ’60s, those missions usually involved responding to incursions by Russian fighter planes.
“We were on 24-hour standby,” said Nuhn. “The CF-100s were fully armed.”
The Russians regularly attempted to supply Cuba with war materials during this period since the island had turned Communist following a revolution. It was also close enough to North America to pose a problem if it had military weapons.
Military officials with the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) alerted the pilots that the Russians were coming, so the airmen jumped into their planes and took off “full blast.”
The CF-100 pilots would tail the Russians before driving them off. The pilots would then return to base in the evenings.
“Russia finally quit sending arms because of us … they couldn’t get to Cuba,” Nuhn said. “There wasn’t a shot fired, as far as I know.”
The Cold War veteran noted that contributing to Canada’s defence and maintaining the fighter planes was a good feeling.
“(The CF-100s) were good little aircraft. They could fly on one engine,” Nuhn added. “That little bird, she was pretty steady.”
A military life
Nuhn was born in 1925 in Ontario and, at age 18, took over the family farm with his brother after their father died.
The Second World War was still raging and Nuhn was eligible to enlist. However, the military told him to stay on the farm since the country needed more food than soldiers.
However, farm life was not enjoyable for the young man since it inflamed his asthma. So, in 1951, he and four friends travelled to Saskatchewan to help with the harvest. After driving on combines all day, Nuhn found that his asthma had virtually disappeared — the dry air made life easier.
Nuhn later returned to Ontario, and still suffering from asthma, entered the military in 1952 and was made a corporal. He was tasked with fixing engines, something in which he had always been interested.
The aero-engine maintenance technician served across the country during his 23-year career — he finished as a sergeant — but preferred Western Canada because the dry air made it easier to breathe.
Nuhn recalled working on Canada’s two Comet airplanes, the first pure military transport jet used to haul passengers to bases across the world. However, technical issues grounded the planes — a British Comet exploded over the Mediterranean Sea — until modifications could be made.
Even with upgrades, Nuhn still experienced a close call while accompanying an aircrew to Khartoum, Sudan, in 1957. The crew had landed at the airbase to refuel and planned to take off the next day. However, when they attempted to get aloft, the plane had no lift — and had a full gasoline load.
“Just at the end of the runway, the aircraft staggered into the air. And of course, we got airborne,” he said. “And from then on, we took off early in the morning when the air was damp in Africa … because this pure jet takes air into the engine, and if it’s hot, it doesn’t have the power (to lift off).”
On another occasion, Nuhn inspected a single-seater Lockheed T-33 jet fighter and found cracks in the tailpipe. He repaired the damage and ensured neither the pilot nor the plane was lost due to mechanical error.
A view of the world
Nuhn serviced all types of aircraft during the Cold War and felt he had a good life during this time. His career took him across the world, including Europe, where he saw Mount Matterhorn in the Alps and Vatican City and the Colosseum in Rome twice.
“You did your service to Canada. You fixed aircraft … ,” Nuhn added. “It was enjoyable.”
