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When did the Examination Unit expand?
When did the Examination Unit expand?
The staff increased, and the home of 345 Laurier Avenue was a big enough place to accommodate for the growing staff in signal intelligence. This new office was luxury compared to the Montreal Road location. For a rent of three hundred dollars a month, the Examination Unit had an office of 5,500 square-foot mansion.[1] Huge rooms, a kitchen with all the necessities for tea and a back-yard garden were just a few things that the employees grew accustomed to at this location. The house was located next door to Canada’s Prime Minister Mackenzie King. It was noted that King would have been aware of this. There is an account where members of the Examination Unit recall that “…King always courteously tipped his hat to the staff he encountered while out strolling with his dog.”[2]
What was work life like?
What was work life like?
The home for the Examination Unit was a beautiful 5,500 square foot Victorian house with big 'airy' rooms. This new location of the unit at 345 Laurier Avenue was ideal for both the work and the growing staff that the unit had developed. An account made in Diane Pepall's publication Canada's Bletchley Park: The Examination Unit in Ottawa's Sandy Hill, had interviewed a Susie Gellman who had worked there formerly under a different name. She remarked on the comforts of working at the Examination Unit and having 'all the necessities for tea'.[1] There were also occasional staff parties and dinners with square-dancing to follow. It was easy to get stuck in the niceties of life, but in the background of it all the war was happening.
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