In 1950, during the annual six-week summer camp for the
Royal Canadian Army Cadets, cadets are chosen from cadet corps throughout Canada, for a variety of training programs.
Camp Ipperwash, the
Canadian Army training facility located in
Lambton County, near
Kettle Point, Ontario, serves as a cadet summer training centre (CSTC), one of five similar camps in Canada. Cadet Ron Williams is one of 20 cadets from the Springfield High Army Cadet Corps in Hamilton, Ontario, chosen for a motor mechanic's course at Camp Ipperwash. For the 1,000 cadets in the summer camp, the first days are taken up in drawing the "kit" (bedding, boots and coveralls), settling into barrack life and checking out the various pieces of army equipment at the base, including
25-pounders and
Sherman M4A2 (76)W HVSS tanks. Course work on machinery, communications, weapons, motor transport and infantry tactics, are interspersed with field exercises that teach the cadets about camouflage, scouting and weapons handling. Due to its proximity to
Lake Huron, cadets at Camp Ipperwash also receive a regular 45-minute swimming and life-saving lesson each day, and are always paired up with a partner for safety. For Cadet Williams, after completion of his initial training, he was placed in charge of 30
CMP trucks moved cross-country in convoy. An error in map-reading, however, led to his re-routing the convoy into Lake Huron. Despite this mishap, Williams successfully completed his advanced training and graduated. In showing off his prowess with mechanized vehicles, his misplaced bravado leads him to start up a Sherman tank, but after a brief overland run, the
sergeant major in charge of the summer camp, puts an end to the unauthorized excursion. When his family comes to pick him up, Cadet Williams redeems himself by using his new found knowledge of mechanics to start their balky car. He ends his repair with a declaration, "Carry on, driver!" ==Production==