Dad's Navy Days: 1944 - Comox, Vancouver Island (26)

["Navy boys take the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria"]

I begin the telling of this part of my father's WW2 adventures with RCNVR and Combined Ops (1941 - 45) by taking a small liberty.

W. R. Sinclair, LT, RCNVR, writes the following:

     "We crossed from Vancouver to Victoria in the CPR
     ferry, Princess Kathleen. It was warm enough to stand
     outside on the deck as we entered the harbour of the
     capital. I met several girls from Edmonton who were
     returning to Vancouver island to begin the fall term at
     Strathcona Lodge..."
     [page 21, St. Nazaire to Singapore Vol. 1]

The small liberty: If that's how Lieut. Sinclair made his way to the island in September, 1941 then I bet my father and his buddies did just the same in January, 1944. And if there were girls from Strathcona Lodge walking about they likely received several cheerful smiles and hellos from the boys in Navy blue.

My father didn't likely know quite what to expect on Vancouver Island but what he encountered was - according to his two written accounts - mostly very positive, especially when compared to the previous two years of hostilities in Europe.

A few opening sentences from his accounts follow:

     Then I went to Givenchy III, known as Cowards Cove,
     at Comox on Vancouver island. It was absolute heaven
     there. Just normal routine; I trained a few zombies on
     cutters, and played ball five or six times a week under
     a good coach. I also looked after Captain Windyers
     sailboat and prepared it when he wished to go for a sail.
     [Memoirs, 1975]

["At Givenchy III from Jan. '44 to July '45"]

["Navy boys played ball under a good coach"]

     In 1944 I was stationed in barracks on a piece of land
     called "The Spit" at Comox on Vancouver Island, B.C.
     About a half mile of water separated the spit from Comox
     and to get ashore we had to be inspected and travel to
     Comox on a real Liberty ship. Fishing for salmon was
     great there. [Newspaper article, The Norwich Gazette,
     circa 1992]

[The Spit, circa 1930, courtesy of Comox library"]

I visited the spit (now called Goose Spit) in 2012 and travelled out to the Navy base (HMCS Quadra, designated as off-limits) by car. I walked the beach near the edge of the base, watched a few men try their hand at wind-sailing, and realized that on a sunny day in summer a swim in the surf would be A1. Because I spotted what I thought were old out-buildings (barracks?) still on the navy grounds I will likely return to Comox in the future. I think there's still more to learn about my Dad's Navy days in that lovely town and nearby base.

More about zombies, baseball, salmon and delicious oysters to follow.

[Doug with holstered gun at the second golf hole"]

Photos by GH

More Dad's Navy Days: January 1944 (25)