Battle of the Atlantic Remembered

[Kyt]

Belleville Intelligencer - Ontario, CA

On May 8, 1945 I was at sea in that area of the North Atlantic which is known as "Iceberg Alley" at that time of the year. More specifically I was a junior officer aboard Canada's No. 1 Hospital Ship "Lady Nelson" en route from Avonmouth, England, to Halifax, N.S., with a human cargo of 516 patients in various stages of convalescence.

They were, for the most part, members of the military who were injured in the service of our country on the battlefields of North Africa and Italy or during their stint of combat duty as members of the Navy and Airforce.

What is the significance of the date May 8, 2008? For the benefit of those among your readers who may not know the answer to that question, I offer this reminder that the date, as mentioned, will mark the 63rd anniversary of the end of the war in Europe and also the anniversary of the winning of the Battle of the Atlantic.

On May 8, 1945, the German U-boats surfaced and flew black flags of surrender. It was not known for sure whether some would continue to fight, so conveys held their structured ranks, until finally, on May 28 all ships at sea switched on their running lights to signal the end of the longest battle of the war. The Battle of the Atlantic was over; it had lasted 2,075 days.

Sir Winston Churchill, who is arguably identified as the greatest statesman of the 20th century, was First Lord of the Admiralty when war was declared in 1939. During the heat of the battle at sea he recognized, in full measure, the intestinal fortitude of merchant seamen who kept ships moving. In late 1942, he saw the gravest threat of war - that they would crack under the strain and that the merchant service would collapse.

The Battle of the Atlantic carried a huge price tag. Two thousand ships were lost to surface raiders, aircraft, and above all, U-boats; 22,000 British merchant seamen and 10,000 naval personnel lost their lives.

The Royal Commonwealth Navies lost 76 ships in the North Atlantic ranging in size from fleet minesweepers to the battle cruiser HMS Hood. Ten Royal Navy and three Royal Canadian ships participated during every year of the war.

When war began there were 37 ships and 1,400 personnel in Canada's Merchant Navy. By the end of the war, these numbers had grown to over 180 ships and 12,500 personnel.

Indeed it is a matter of record that Canada's merchant fleet was engaged from day one of the war and soon suffered staggering losses in men and ships. By war's end, as many as 72 Canadian merchant ships would be lost to enemy action - torpedoed, bombed, mined, or shelled.

The records show that approximately 50 per cent of merchant crews went down with their ships and, sadly, all too often drowning sailors had to be abandoned as a grim alternative to the creation of a situation where a rescue attempt would have placed greater number of sailors at the mercy of the U-boat kapitans. The number of ships lost included 23 that were torpedoed and sunk in the St. Lawrence River.

The records also show that the Merchant Navy suffered the highest death rate of Canada's four fighting services - fully 13 per cent of those who served or, to put it another way, a ratio of approximately one in eight.

On Nov. 11, 1994, a Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance was unveiled in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. It contains the names of known Merchant Navy war dead as an addition to the roll of those who gave their lives in the cause of Canada and it completes a symmetry in the chamber, the fifth point on a pentagon formed with four other books that surround the original First World War altar.

In summary, Battle of Atlantic Sunday, which is scheduled to take place on May 4, 2008, commemorates the sacrifice of sailors, merchant seamen, RCAF and Canadian Army personnel who gave their lives in the North Atlantic. The elements were often as vicious as the foe, with raging storms, pack ice, bitter cold, fog and the dense blackness of North Atlantic nights. The RCN and the Merchant Navy made nearly 26,000 safe crossings, carrying over 181 million tons of supplies to Great Britain and Russia.

To mark the anniversary, Veterans Affairs Canada will be conducting an in-Canada pilgrimage over the period of May 2-5, 2008, with remembrance ceremonies and events to be held in Halifax, N.S. In addition to the above a National "Battle of the Atlantic" Commemoration Ceremony will be held in Ottawa on Sunday, May 4, 2008.

The following tribute to the wartime veterans of Canada's Navy and Merchant Navy is inscribed on the memorial that graces the park at the lakefront at Burlington, Ont., where the ship's bell of HMCS Burlington is on display, quote:

In Memoriam

ON ALL THE OCEANS

WHITE CAPS FLOW

WE DO NOT SEE CROSSES

ROW ON ROW.

BUT THEY WHO SLEEP

BENEATH THE SEA

REST IN PEACE

BECAUSE OUR COUNTRY

IS FREE.

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD

AS WE ARE THAT ARE LEFT TO GROW OLD

AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM

NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN.

AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN

AND IN THE MORNING

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

- Author anonymous

Here on the local scene Belleville Veterans Council will be holding their Annual Vimy and Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Service at the cenotaph on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 2 p.m. The parade with colour party will form up on Reid Street for the short march to the cenotaph and all members of the public are encouraged to attend.

P.H. (Phil) Etter is Director-Ontario (Easter Region) of the Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans' Association Inc.

[Antipodean Andy]

We will remember them but too many have forgotten already.

[Hugh]

Originally Posted by Andy in West Oz

We will remember them but too many have forgotten already.

I think the importance of the Battle of the Atlantic cannot be understated. This was a battle that started on the first day of the war and a heavy price was paid in blood, ships and raw materials. When you think about it, this was the battle we couldn't afford to lose. If we had lost it, we would have without any doubt have lost the war.

It is also the battle that had in its forefront the men and women of the Merchant Navy and I keep harping on about it but they were never properly recognised. Churchill knew about the importance of this battle and also the importance of the Merchant Navy's role in it

As an ex member of HM forces, I am delighted that our armed forces, especially our Naval and Air forces, got the credit they surely deserved for their part in winning this battle but I am disappointed in the recognition given to our allied merchant service.

I am the proud son of a merchant seaman who fought in the Battle of the Atlantic. My father never complained, never talked much about it. Maybe too many of our generation feel that there is no point in dragging up the past especially the part of true recognition for the Merchant Navy.

Wherever I am I will always speak up for the men and women of the wartime generation but particularly for the men and women of the Merchant Navy. It is the least I can do.

Regards
Hugh

[Antipodean Andy]

We talk about the men of Bomber Command not being recognised with a medal and yet they get much more recognition than the Merchant Navy.

[Hugh]

Hi Andy,

I think that the armed services do get recognition for what they did and they do wholeheartedly deserve it.

You could argue that some small units didn’t. I am thinking of the DEMS gunners who fought on MN ships, the trawlers that went to war (Harry Tates Navy). You could also argue that they are recognised by the fact they were Royal Navy, RNR or RNVR servicemen and received collective recognition. The same could be said of other units in the military.

The Merchant Navy, however, seem to be forgotten purely because they were seen as a civilian service but as I have already stated we would have lost the war without them. What little recognition they are getting now is too little too late and has taken years of campaigning.

Regards
Hugh

[barnsey]

Thank you all for the sentiments for the Merchant Navy's contribution to both WW I & II and the Battle of the Atlantic in particular.

Did you realise that at the start their pay was stopped from the day the vessel sank ... even if they were not picked up after a long time in the lifeboats ...!!

[Hugh]

Originally Posted by barnsey

Did you realise that at the start their pay was stopped from the day the vessel sank ... even if they were not picked up after a long time in the lifeboats ...!!

Yes, and it truly beggars belief.

Welcome aboard, Barnsey. I think we are members of another forum, aren't we?

Regards
Hugh

[barnsey]

Yup, we sure are Hugh, I hoped it was you Hugh when I saw the name ..... how are you?

I caught on to this site through the Obituary of Kryle-Pope ..... which think I have great problems with ... Rear Admiral or not .....!!!!

Was I right about the pay being stopped in the early part of the war after their ship was sunk? Stan May wrote extensively ....I'll get the details off him again.

My very best regards

[Hugh]

Hello Barnsey, yes doing ok thanks.
Certainly it was true that seamen had their pay stopped before their ships hit the bottom, this was the case at least until June 1941. Those employed by the better companies did get paid although they lost any overtime and War Risk monies. In some cases seamen could be weeks and months in open boats and those lucky enough to get picked up or made landfall would not get a pittance until they signed on Articles again. How unjust was that!

It is very difficult to imagine how families of Merchant seamen coped at this time.
Best wishes
Hugh

[barnsey]

It is very difficult to imagine how families of Merchant seamen coped at this time.
Best wishes
Hugh[/quote]

I just cannot even imagine how they coped Hugh .... there were the wartime jobs but that would not have paid a lot Then there were the ships of course .... and crews accommodation food and conditions to start with......but it was ever the lot of the Merchant Navy pre war and during it.

David.