Motorcycle Miles - Brownsville, ONT

Small Towns Do It Right

"Empty streets"

"Empty sidewalk and park"

I had the main street of Brownsville almost to myself yesterday afternoon. One pedestrian walked by while I stopped to snap a photo or two, and a couple of trucks rumbled past. Peace and quiet was the order of the day. Fine by me.

I think small towns do it right when it comes to remembering the contribution of some of their community members to war efforts, whether it be WW1, WW2 and beyond, up to the current day. Nearly everyone in a small town feels the loss of a son, brother, cousin or neighbour ("the fella lived right over there"), because there are so few in its ranks, for starters.

Brownsville remembers the sacrifice of others in stone.

Well done, I say.

Link to more Motorcycle Miles

Photos GH

Dad's Navy Days - Authentic Photos, North Africa, 1942

Imperial War Museum Photographs

[Authentic caption: "American troops manning their landing craft assault from a doorway in the side of the liner REINA DEL PACIFICO. Two of the landing craft are numbered LCA 428 and LCA 447. Operation 'Torch', the Allied landings in North Africa, November 1942"]

I knew I had purchased a rare treasure (B. Lavery's book, Assault Landing Craft) after spotting a couple photos within that were taken during the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942. Yesterday I located the photographer's name (Royal Navy Lt. F. A. Hudson) and this morning I found a series of ten shots taken during the same week or so. One was of American troops climbing into assault landing crafts manned by Canadian members of RCNVR and Combined Operations (above).

Another was of American troops climbing ashore from a landing craft (428) at Arzeu and walking past my father, a member of RCNVR and Combined Ops, and dressed in his Navy blues. Pretty amazing, I say.

[Authentic caption: "Troops and ammunition for light guns being brought ashore from a landing craft assault (ramped) (LCA 428) on Arzeau beach, Algeria, North Africa, whilst another LCA (LCA 287) approaches the beach... during Operation 'Torch', November 1942.]

Q: Does my father appear in the first photo as well?

A: Very likely. I see one fellow who closely resembles him in build but again his head is turned, so I am only 95% certain.

After a 92-hour shift (moving men and supplies from ship to shore) my father was allowed to return to Reina Del Pacifico for much needed R&R. In his Navy memoirs he writes the following:

     After the 92 hours my officer said, “Well done. An excellent job, Harrison. Go to Reina Del Pacifico and rest.” But first the Americans brought in a half track (they found out snipers were in a train station) and shelled the building to the ground level. No more snipers. 

     I then had to climb hand over hand up a large hawser (braided rope) to reach the hand rail of Reina Del Pacifico and here my weakness showed itself. I got to the hand rail completely exhausted and couldn’t let one hand go to grab the rail or I would have fallen forty feet into an LCM bobbing below. I managed to nod my head at a cook in a Petty Officer’s uniform and he hauled me in. My throat was so dry I only managed to say, “Thanks, you saved my life.”

     The Reina was a ship purposely for fellows like me who were tired out, and I was fed everything good, given a big tot of rum and placed in a hammock. I slept the clock around twice - 24 hours - then went back to work.

     In seven days I went back aboard the Reina Del and headed for Gibraltar to regroup for the trip back to England. During the trip I noticed the ship carried an unexploded three inch shell in her side all the way back to England.

As one might expect, I am delighted - for various reasons - to have found a few photos concerning the invasion of North Africa that closely relate to stories from my father's Navy memoirs. First, when I rewrite his memoirs in the future I will be able to add authentic materials to the package. Second, I feel I must now visit North Africa one day to walk along a beach near Arzeu and look for faint footsteps in the sand. There are other reasons as well.

For now, I guess I'd better start saving up!

: )

Link to Dad's Navy Days

Photos from Imperial War Museum

Dad's Navy Days - Jack Dean, Toronto

A Good Detective

["I'm 96% certain the sailor (centre) in this IWM photo is my father"]

My Dad took part in the Allied invasion of North Africa in November, 1942 and mentioned a few words in his Navy memoirs about who was with him on his landing craft, i.e., Leading Seaman Jack Dean of Toronto and Lt. McDonald, RNR. Like a good detective I've been searching for more information about the Imperial War Museum photo above (found in Assault Landing Craft by B. Lavery) and have tracked down a story by LS Jack Dean, now deceased.

The story appears in From St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 45 Vol. I  and reveals Jack was a member of Combined Operations and trained for the Dieppe raid and invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Italy, as did my father. Some of my father's own stories re WW2 appear in the same book and together the stories make me think that the IWM photo may contain a glimpse of both men.

 Last night I found information about Jack Dean's family (he has a surviving son, John, in Brighton, Ontario) and if I can connect with him I will pass along this rare WW2 action photo. If he can spot his father then I will be 100% certain that a certain sailor up to his knees in the waters off the coast of Arzeu, N. Africa, is my own father.

Good find, I say.

And now that I have John's phone number I will just give him a call.

Link to more Dad's Navy Day's

Photos GH

Dad's Navy Days - D-Day North Africa

Details in B & W

["Norwich boys. Doug Harrison, left. Buryl McIntyre, right"]

If I study some of my Dad's black and white photos from WW2 long enough - and dig - I sometimes come up with interesting discoveries. Take the one above.

Details: 1941. Halifax. On the grounds of HMCS Stadacona (a Naval base my dad mentions in his WW2 memoirs). Outside Wellington barracks, Mess A (Mess B was a separate building for officers, and it still remains). Some of the details are written on the photo or in Dad's memoirs and some I discovered the hard way, e.g., after motorcycling to Halifax twice and digging deeper.

Side Bar: I can tell Dad is standing outside Mess A because of the round arch over the entrance. Mess B does not (and did not) have the same type of entrance according to many photos housed in a museum file on the grounds of HMCS Stadacona. Details, details.

 ["Wellington Barracks, Mess B (Officers), at HMCS Stadacona, Halifax"]

 ["Mess B has no curved arches over any doorways"]

["Mess A is now gone. Replaced by new quarters and Tim Hortons. Ugh"]

Yesterday I posted a rare photo (from Assault Landing Craft) of men in landing crafts on the beaches outside of Arzeu, North Africa. D-Day. November, 1942. At that time I said I was 95% sure the man in the dark navy uniform is my father.

["I am now 96% certain the man in Navy blue is my father"] 

In his memoirs he writes:

     On November 11, 1942 the Derwentdale dropped anchor off
     Arzew (sic) in North Africa... Our Coxswain was LS (Leading
     Seaman) Jack Dean of Toronto and our officer was Lt. McDonald
     RNR (Royal Navy Reserve). After the 92 hours (an afore-
     mentioned first shift) my officer said, Well done. An excellent
     job, Harrison. Go to Reina Del Pacific and rest."

His memoirs do not provide, of course, enough information to positively identify the sailor as my dad, so yesterday I checked with my sibs. One sister agreed, 100%, that the man is our dad. She mentioned many similarities, including the way he wore his hat. Another saw similarities in the side profile of the face. But three sibs also raised some questions about his stature, the ring on his right hand, the shape of his hand.

["Many details appear here to lead me on a fruitful search"]

The man seems too lean, said one. I replied that Dad's Navy records reveal he weighed under 130 pounds at entry. Did Dad wear a ring on his right hand? I don't know, but I did for many years, during my teens and twenties. And so on.

However, like any good detective I will follow the crumbs. I will look for a picture of the Derwentdale and compare it with the ship in the photo. I will look for links to the other members of Combined Operations aboard the landing craft. I will search for the roll of film that has the above photo upon it.

But thanks to what one sister said about his hat, I now stand at 96%. I mean, look at that jaunty angle!

["Dad didn't want to mess with his wavy red hair"]

Oh yeah, Dad was 'cock of the walk', all right.

Link to Recommended Reading

Photos GH

Dad's Navy Days

Deeper into Combined Operations

 ["Combined Ops shoulder patch. Am I thinking of a tattoo? Naw."]

Oh oh. I feel I am getting in pretty deep here. Not only am I a certified supporter of a website dedicated to veterans of and information related to Combined Operations, but I just sent 10 Great Britain Pounds (GBPs) off to Scotland to become a member of the Combined Operations Association.

["I found this Scottish cartoon via microfiche last October"] 

["By following Dad's footsteps, laid down during WW2, I see the world"]

Dad would get a kick out of the cartoon above. I don't know if he liked OXO cubes but he would fondly remember his rough training days in Irvine and Inveraray with British Commandos, 1942, in preparation for the raid on Dieppe and invasion of North Africa.

Link to Dad's Navy Days

Photos GH

Recommended Reading - re North Africa

The Campaign for North Africa

I purchased this book by Jack Coggins during a stop in Ottawa, June, 2014. Though the book is 34 years old it is pertinent to me as I try to read more WW2 books that relate to the raids, invasions or activities my father participated in as a member of RCNVR and Combined Operations. I paid a few dollars for this 195-pager at a used-book room in Ottawa's War Museum and after reading the first 50 pages this week I feel it is a good deal for two reasons.

First, Ports in Algiers are mentioned, i.e., Oran and Arzeu, places my father talks about in his Navy memoirs. For example, he brought supplies ashore on a beach at Arzeu, within sight of an outdoor cafe, and remarked, "Good reconn."

Second, while reading I was reminded of two other books I saw at the museum that I didn't buy, due to lack of space on my motorcycle. So, I contacted the museum yesterday and today with the hopes of tracking the books down. I have Volume 2 of The Naval Service of Canada already and know it is a useful text. It mentions the history of a Combined Operations base on Vancouver Island where my father served from January 1944 'til the late summer or early fall of 1945. Volume I will have details re Halifax, HMCS Stadacona, where father trained as well earlier in the war.

Money well spent if the books are still on an upper shelf where I left them. We shall see, we shall see.

Link to Recommended Reading

Photos GH

Recommended Reading - Hostilities Only

About Combined Operations, WW2

Yippee. A great looking book arrived recently, another online purchase via AbeBooks. Two more winners are expected as well. Yippee!

In 1941 my father volunteered first for duty with the RCNVR and later with CO, Combined Operations, and was soon training (on loan to the RN) for WW2 'assaults and landings' in Scotland (at Irvine and Inveraray) and Southern England (Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, etc.). In his memoirs he mentions he volunteered for two years of HO or 'hostilities only'. Not much has been written about Combined Operations but slowly I am piecing stories together that relate to actual times, places and events my father knew a fair bit about and mentioned briefly in his navy memoirs.

["Beaches and assault craft at Inveraray were familiar to my father"]

["RN Commandos practiced assaults and landings upon Navy barges.

Many of the barges were manned by young Canadians, 1941 - 45"]

["CO insignia was worn by my father. Above is a new one"]

If you know someone who was a member of RCNVR and CO, I recommend you look for a copy of the book by Brian Lavery. Lots of detail as far as I can see after a quick 'thumb through' and I'll tell more once I seriously pick it up this weekend or next week.

Link to more Recommended Reading

Photos GH

Recommended Reading

Drop Zone Sicily by William Breuer

I recently finished reading Breuer's book entitled Storming Hitler's Rhine (very good - link to details) and discovered - on the back fly leaf, thus proving the value of reading everything a book has to offer - the title of another book he'd written a year or two earlier, i.e., in 1983, forty years after D-Day Sicily, aka Operation Husky, an invasion in which my father participated.  I immediately ordered it via Abebooks.com and, voila (!), it arrived yesterday.

Breuer also participated in WW2, is a solid writer, and though he doesn't fully highlight the role of Canadian divisions in his books as much as American, he at least mentions them, more than can be said for other non-Canadian writers.

Link to Recommended Reading  

Photo GH

Scotland 2014 Photos: Faint Footsteps

October 19 - Train Ride to London, England

["I boarded a fine train in Glasgow and headed across the River Clyde"]

So, I lived frugally in Irvine, Scotland and had enough Great Britain Pounds (GBPs) left over to add on a wee trip to London. I said, I think I can do this. And I did.

My father wrote a few stories about going on leave in London during World War II ("you couldn't get me lost in London... I always slept at my relations or a Westminster Y") and I figured I could follow a few of his faint footsteps to my great-aunt's former house in Hammersmith and to a couple of pubs he mentioned. Well, I did that and more in the three full days I spent in that marvellous city.

Now, about that train ride and travel day.

Photos from along the way:

["Two tickets, 130.60 GBPs, to London,

and return to Edinburgh and Glasgow"]

["Top-rate transportation thru top-rate scenery to a top-rate city"]

 ["A good day to be indoors and travelling south"]

I arrived safely at Euston Station, London, purchased an Oyster Card (pre-loaded w GBPs) for the tube and found my way to my Airbnb accommodation. After amazing homemade soup I grabbed my notepad and pen and walked to a cozy local pub.

[My host tells me to walk toward The Shard to find The Ship"] 

 ["Look both ways, particularly in London"]

 ["Clean straw beds for Drunkin Sailors!" For their sons? No"]

["With help from Dad's memoirs I made easy plans for the next day"]

Link to Scotland 2014 Photos - October 18

Photos GH

Recommended Reading

The Last Great Victory by Stanley Weintraub

One of the facts stated in the prologue of this 700-page book re the conclusion of World War 2 deserves mention here:

The war did not conclude conveniently in a single place at a predetermined time. The signing of surrenders, the laying down of arms, the announcements from commanders and heads of state, all spread over global time zones, suggest a variety of dates for the ending of World War II. "V-E Day" (Victory in Europe) and "V-J Day" (Victory in Japan) depended upon the capitals from which they were proclaimed...

So Author Weintraub takes readers around the world, back and forth between events in Europe and Japan during a critical time in our world's history, i.e., the final stages of WW2, July and August 1945. At 700 pages, this book will cover many miles and after reading the first 60 I near the beginning of the end of a great war's story.

["Thousand Year Reich" falls short by approx. 988 years]

I recommend this lengthy, detailed book to all students of history related to WW2.

More to follow as I dig deeper.

Link to Recommended Reading

Photos GH

Recommended Reading

The King's Bishop by John R. Bishop

When I initially found this book at Goodwill Bookstore on Wellington Road S. I was reluctant to buy it because it was not about WW2, but about the Korean War. Then I recalled something I learned while reading books re WW1 and WW2, i.e., the great wars are related in many ways.

So, the Korean War is likely related to the great wars on a variety of levels, I thought, and bought the used copy. It wasn't long before the pages were turning back at home.

An excerpt follows:

   "A freezing rain fell that coated everything
   with an ice slick, turning our clothing stiff
   and threatening to freeze our rifle bolts closed.
   This would be the first of many days and nights
   that would merge into a blur of marching,
   digging, freezing and standing to... 
   what we were supposed to be doing would all
   come clear only in later years." Page 54 

The book is a quick read at 170 pages, written by a veteran of the Korean War (an infantry soldier (then Corporal) who ultimately made the armed forces his life's work), an eye-opener for me as my first dip into the Korean setting. And it is in fact related to the great wars on many levels.

Recommended to students of history interested in Canada's involvement in armed conflicts.

Link to War Anniversaries

Photos GH