Battle of the Atlantic remembered

I didn't know the Sackville was in running condition.

Should reactivate it. We're in need of ships.

She lost one of her boilers during the war. Even if you could put it all together, it would be dangerous for her to steam any further than the Bedford Basin. Somebody gave her a tow.

BTW, I'm so old that I remember her tied up at Jetty 5. She was still an "active" fleet auxiliary in 1974, reconfigured as an oceanographic research vessel of some sort.

Also, that big anchor in the Pleasant Park memorial shown at the top of the article post-dates the Battle of the Atlantic. For anyone interested, that is one of the anchors from HMCS Bonaventure and that particular memorial is dedicated to all of those who have died in the peacetime navy since WWII.

Some years ago I read a book written by a guy who had served some time doing convoy escort aboard a corvette. That had to be one of the absolute shittiest postings, crossing half way across the North Atlantic on a friggin' cork. God bless every last one of those crazy bastards that did it!

An old family friend of ours (since deceased) was an Asdic operator on the Wetaskawin (Corvette) and the Sioux (Destroyer)during the war. He ended up on the Murmansk run and he received a medal from the Russians for his service in latter years.

Gun shield art from the "Wet-ass Queen" ... HMCS Wetaskawin:

I just remembered the authour's name of the book I mentioned. It was titled, "A Bloody War", by Hal Lawrence. He also served on the Wetaskawin before moving up to the tribal class destroyers.

Yes, our friend knew him. Lawrence was a Jimmy and our friend was "lower deck". Lawrence also served on HMCS Oakville (where I live) when she sank a U-boat in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After ramming her, Lawrence and some of Oakville's crew boarded the U-boat and they fought it out with the Germans using side arms util they surrendered. It was like an action from the Napoleonic Wars.

There was funny story about boarding a U-boat in his book. I can't remember the particulars but as Lawrence described it, the boarding party were near naked and the Germans had a look on their faces like they were coming to bugger them all

That's the one!

Man, I gotta dig that book out and read it again. It is actually one of the few books about WW2 that has given me a belly laugh at certain points.

Notice how they are bare chested with pants on for this daring-do publication. The real truth is, ...