Doyle, T.J.

On May 7, 1924 Theodore Joseph Doyle was born to Irene and William Doyle in Belleville, Ontario. He was the second of five children:  Bill Doyle, Ted Doyle, John Doyle, Sheila (Doyle) Jewson, Kevin Doyle.  Ted attended St. Michael’s Academy and then completed his high school education at the Belleville Collegiate Institute.   In 1942, he entered Queen’s University’s Bachelor of Science program, and in the spring of 1943, he went to the east coast as part of a University Naval contingent. There he joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve as an Ordinary Seaman.  After training at HMCS Cornwallis, he was assigned to HMCS St Francis. The St Francis was a WWI American destroyer, one of several given to England in 1941 in exchange for bases in Newfoundland and Labrador.  After a few months on the St Francis, Ted applied for and completed a course in Radar.  Upon completion, he was assigned to HMCS Iroquois, a new Tribal Class destroyer. Early in 1944, the Iroquois returned to England where it spent several months with a ‘striking force’ in the Bay of Biscay attacking convoys and their escorts.  In 28 days in August1944, the Iroquois steamed more than 10,000 miles, fired more than 3,500 rounds of heavy ammunition alone and assisted in the sinking of 23 ships.  In addition, the Iroquois was called upon to carry out anti-submarine duties, fast convoy escorts and Murmansk Convoy duties. On May 7, 1945, the Iroquois was in Scapa Flow, and on May 8, the European War ended. A few days later, the Iroquois was one of a group of ships assigned to escort the Crown Prince of Norway back to Oslo.  From there it went to Copenhagen to pick up two German Cruisers, the Prince Eugen and Gneisenau, and deliver them to Wilhelmshaven, Germany.   In July, the Iroquois returned to Canada.  Ted was discharged in October 1945. And in January 1946 he returned to Queen’s and graduated in 1949 with a degree in Civil Engineering.   In August of that year, he joined the Foundation Company of Canada as a construction field engineer in Toronto.  He served in that capacity until January 1955.  During that time, he met and married Betty Noble in 1952, and had their first son, Terrence Michael Doyle, born in 1954.  In November 1956, a second son was born, Kevin Joseph Doyle, and daughter Trish followed in April 1966.  Crestwood students were able to interview Ted about his experiences at the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing in December 2023.