Search Results for: Navy

Bill Wilson was born in Winnipeg on November 5, 1924 to Scottish parents Thomas and Marion Wilson. Bill was 14 when the Second World War began and he planned to follow in his father‘s footsteps as he had served in the First World War. When Bill couldn’t get  a place with the Highlanders cadet corps

Tyler Smith was born in Calgary, Alberta, a city that had a very deep tradition for the navy, in spite of its inland location.  One of the first steps he took in order to achieve his goal of joining the military was to join the sea cadets, a program that the navy sets up in

Fraser McKee was born on Feb. 22, 1925 in Toronto, a city where he has lived most of his life. He grew up in the city’s north end, attending UCC and living a fairly good life, even against the backdrop of the Great Depression. Fraser’s father had a significant military pedigree; he was a major

Wib Back was born May 11, 1926 in Toronto. Wib’s early life had its difficulties:  his mother died when Wib was just 11, and his father was unable to care for Wib and his siblings, so they ended up going into foster care through the Children’s Aid Society.  Wib was consequently moved around, going to

Gerry Gerrard was in the reserve artillery as of 1938. The day before the war broke out, he was called up and reported to the colonel, who told Gerry he needed a dozen men to go to Victoria.  Since Gerry waswas 17, he didn’t have to go, but he went anyway.  In Victoria, he joined

Carl was born in 1925 in Brighton, Ontario.  He grew up on a farm during the Depression, and some of his earliest memories include seeing classmates in tattered clothing.  His family relocated to Belleville when it was time for Carl to attend high school, and it was after graduation that he made the decision to

Selena Aral joined the reserves to help pay for post-secondary studies after she graduated high school in 1997.  She started off in the navy as a boatswain and remained one for 7 years.  She then decided to change tracks and try out logistics; she was accepted in 2004, which allowed her to go back to

Bill Martin was born in 1925 in Toronto, into a family of four brothers.  He attended Northern High School, where he played sports and developed an interest in geography.  When the war came, Bill chose the navy, and he was assigned to the minesweeper HMCS Burlington, where he was a stoker.  He spent the war

LCdr Amber Comisso is a member of Canada’s present day forces, serving her nation in the navy.  She visited Crestwood in April 2019, at which time she shared her experiences with Mr. Birrell’s Geography 9 class. She is originally from the GTA, and the military was not in her sights until the time for university

Clayton Hayes was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and he grew up in the Prairies, first in Saskatchewan and later in Brandon, Manitoba.  The Depression was a difficult time for the family; his father’s business went bankrupt, and the family moved to improve their prospects.  When the war came, Clayton’s older brother joined the navy,

Garfield Harris was born in Newfoundland in 1923, at a time when Newfoundland was still a British colony.  But just as the Great War did so much damage to a generation of young Newfoundlanders, it also hurt Garfield’s father, who’d run a prosperous fishing fleet before the war.  He made the decision to head west

Suzie Stohn was born in Toronto, growing up in the “Village”, not too far from Russell Hill Road in the city’s north end.  Her family was well off, fortunately insulated from the effects of the Depression.  Suzie lived a good life, enjoying school at BSS and in a boarding school in Quebec’s Eastern Townships.   From

Andy Barber is from Montreal, where he grew up during World War Two.  Not one for school, he left to find employment in the CN rail yards of Point St-Charles, where he found work as a carman’s apprentice.  But the lure of the navy proved strong, and Andy joined up just as the Korean War

Mike Vencel served in the Canadian Navy during the Cold War era.  He joined up in the 1950s, fresh out of high school in southern Ontario, with the goal of pursuing a trade.  Mike set his sights on becoming an electrician’s mate, and he served in this capacity on several ships, notably the HMCS Assiniboine

Jim Warford was in the Canadian army during World War Two. Born in England in 1922, Jim grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, against the backdrop of the Great Depression, attending school and very active in sports. Jim and a friend joined the militia before the war, knowing that war was on the way. When his

Paul Murphy served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War.  Paul served aboard several ships, notably the Cobalt and the Wallaceburg, and he was involved in the RCN’s convoy system in the western Atlantic, working the triangle between New York City and Newfoundland.  Paul’s ships would escort convoys in that zone, both

Ron Kirk served in the Canadian Forces in the post-WW2 period, when Canada’s peacekeeping reputation was being established. Ron served in the navy, and he spent time in Korea during that nation’s 1950-53 war. Ron and his shipmates patrolled the Korean west coast, doing their part to counter North Korea’s efforts to export communism. He

L Cdr Bill Sanson is a member of the present-day Canadian Forces, serving in the Canadian Navy, where he helps to respond to the many crises where intervention is necessary.  As L Cdr Sanson notes, Canada is a maritime nation, and the nature of the interconnected maritime world makes the Canadian Navy very relevant, from

Carl Boggild was born November 3, 1922; he originally came from Denmark, but his parents moved to Canada when he was only one year old, so his real formative experiences took place in Nova Scotia, where his parents settled.  Carl grew up in the southern part of the province, where he and his family lived

George Kerr hails from Glasgow, Scotland.  He grew up in a working class neighbourhood between the war, when he remembers a life playing football and enjoying his friendships against the backdrop of the Great Depression.  When the war came, George chose the Royal Navy, where he was trained as an engineer and became an officer. 

Richard Ratcliffe was born on the 16th of June 1928, in Haileybury, Ontario. After his father died in 1938 his family moved to St.Catharines, Ontario. He joined the Navy in 1945 when he was 17 years old. He went to Naval College in Royal Rhodes in BC and graduated as a midshipman. He went to

“Digger” Gorman served in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War.  Originally from New Brunswick, the future geology student – that’s where the name “Digger” came from – Digger was deep in his studies when the war approached.  As a science/engineering student, Digger’s enlistment was originally deferred, but like many in his generation, he

Janet Watt was one of so many women who entered the armed forces during the Second World War.  Janet chose to go in the navy, and she became one of the WRENs.  As Janet entered the services at the end of the war, her time in the military was limited, though her experiences are very

Gord Casey was born July 20, 1923 in Toronto, Ontario. While working in many different capacities during his life such as a cab owner, bus driver, transport truck driver, scuba diver and bar manager at O’Malley’s Tavern, Casey is best known as a Navy man. In 1941, Gordon Casey proudly joined the Canadian War effort

Craig Kingsley is an active member of the Canadian Forces.  He served aboard the HMCS Athabaskan in a 2000 action called Operation Megaphone, where crew from the Canadian destroyer boarded the Katie, a freighter returning Canadian military supplies to Canada after the Kosovo mission.  Craig was a member of the boarding party, and he helped

Ray Cameron is a veteran of the Merchant Navy.  When the war came he was living in Lindsay, Ontario, where he had been on the farm and had worked on the Great Lakes as a seaman.  When Norway was pulled into the war, the Norwegian merchant marine made the decision to recruit in Canada, and