Monday, March 24, 2025

Memoirs: The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (4)

 Remembrance Day 2012 from the Osoyoos Times, B.C.

"Roy Burt took part in Historic D-Day raid at Normandy..."

Roy Burt, World War II veteran (RCNVR, Combined Operations)
Photo used with permission, Roy's daughter (LP)

Introduction:

In the news article we read below "Burt said November 11 always brings back a flood of memories, some tragic, but most of them good...". 

As a veteran of both the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve and the U.K.'s Combined Operations organization Roy's memories not only would include those from the "historic D-Day raid at Normandy (France)..." but the Dieppe Raid and invasion of North Africa in the latter half of 1942, as well as the invasion of Sicily (July 1943, not '42 as mentioned in news article) and Italy in the summer of 1943. His experiences are well documented and his collection of WWII stories and photographs will enrich the work already started on this website/blog.

The newspaper in which the following article was found (and collected) is from Osoyoos, British Columbia:



Aboard a Landing Craft (for) Infantry, Large (LCI(L)) at South
Shields, England, in preparation for D-Day (Normandy)
Art (Gash) Bailey was from London, Ontario 

Please link to my entry entitled Photographs: Aging Navy Vets Reconnect at Reunions (1) to see Art 'Gash' Bailey when involved with the creators of significant Navy memoirs and stories.

The article re "Local veteran..." continues:


* for clarity the sentence should say something like "900 - 1,000 Canadian sailors who initially worked with mainly British soldiers, and who had volunteered for Combined Operations - and for "especially hazardous duty" - while training in Canada in early 1942."

The article re "Local veteran..." continues:




Roy is far left in this 1945 photo taken in 'Diego'




Roy and Jean (center) "got married in the summer of 1944"
(The names of their two friends are not given with photo)
Used with permission (LP)

More offerings from The Roy Burt Collection to soon follow.

Questions or comments can be addressed to Gord H. @ gordh7700@gmail.com

Please click here to view The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (3)

Unattributed Photos GH

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Editor's Column: Faint Footsteps, World War II (16A)

Soon Amidships, Soon in Gibraltar

(Stories of "Dad's Navy Days" Continues)

My father wrote, "...Riena (sic) Del Pacifico served (us) well..."
Norwich Gazette, circa 1992 - 1993

Introduction:

"Dad's Navy Days" began in June, 1941, when he enlisted with the Canadian Navy's Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) in Hamilton, Ontario. They ended on September 5, 1945, when he was officially discharged in the same city one day before his 25th birthday. 

Note the last line in the photo of his Navy records below:

"Discharged, Demobilized to date 5 Sept. 1945" aka "I'm outta here!"
A few weeks later he was back at work at the Norwich Co-op

Doug H. 'holding up his truck' (loaded with fence posts) at the main
intersection in Norwich, Ontario (circa 1940s)

I continue to share his Canadian Navy and Combined Operations memoirs in short bursts, as seen below, this burst coming to you from amidships, off the coast of North Africa, 1942.

Soon Amidships, Soon in Gibraltar

“The clank of the anchor cable... in the hawse pipe” meant the anchor of the Reina Del Pacifico was being stowed deep inside the ship (to many sailors the sound also meant "we're on our way home!"), and the gang plank soon followed, with all sailors on board safe and dry. Such things my father recalled both in Navy memoirs, scribbly hand-written notes put down in the early- to mid-1970s (at the age of 50 - 55 years old), and in weekly, nicely typed newspaper columns for the Norwich Gazette in the early- to mid-1990s, when 20 years older, about the age that I am now. 

Excerpt from the Norwich Gazette, circa 1993

While hearing the distinctive sounds in his mind of anchor cable and gangplanks being moved about, and while sitting safely at a table inside his home in Norwich, Ontario - pen in hand, poised to write - he relived the scene of his first sustained Navy and wartime action during WWII, that is, Operation Torch.

Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, took place in the early days of November, 1942, when my father was a 22-year-old, and only ten months removed from his arrival in the United Kingdom to begin training in 'special duties' related to handling various types of landing craft. 'Special duties' that he and his close-knit mates in the Effingham Division (from HMCS Stadacona, Halifax) had only first learned about in theory - with just the use of discussion and diagrams - at HMS Northney on Hayling Island (southern England). Early class lessons were eventually followed by 'hands on' experience and the repeated, practical use of landing crafts in Irvine and Inveraray, Scotland, beginning (according to his records) in April of '42, six to seven months before the actual invasion.

The Effingham Division at HMCS Stadacona,  Halifax, N.S., 1941

A wartime photograph of a drawing of a 'landing craft, assault' or LCA, two views
mounted on card. One of a series of photographic reproductions of D. Moira
Cruickshank's landing craft. Photo Credit - The D-Day Story, Portsmouth

And though in just a matter of a few hours he and his mates were safe and sound “inside the submarine nets at Gibraltar” with "organized bridge and crib tournaments” on his agenda (the winners, Dad included, got to lay claim to "their opponents' tot of rum"), his mind turned to the many long hours and days and nights of training (aboard LCAs and LCMs) he'd undergone for Operation Torch (for the Dieppe Raid as well as), and the main 'lessons learned' related to his role as a Canadian sailor who had, for eleven long and tiring days and nights, transported soldiers and all materials of war to assigned beaches in sturdy landing crafts.

He writes: 

The job of the seaman on an ALC or LCM (Landing Craft, Mechanised) is to let the bow door down and wind it up by means of a winch situated in the stern of the barge. This winch is divided so you can drop a kedge (anchor) possibly about 100 or so feet from shore depending on the tide. If it is going out you can unload and then put motors full astern, wind in the kedge and pull yourself off of breach. 

"Pull yourself off of breach?" Did he mean "the beach?" No. Breach (and broach), when related to a landing craft, means it is turned at a bad angle related to the tide, and is getting into a position where it could be flipped over by strong tidal or wave action. In the photo below, from the invasion of North Africa, November 10, 1942, we see a sailor (far left, looks like my father!) who is handling a rope (an anti-broaching line) to keep the LCA in the direction of the tide, whether going in or out. He may have called for another line - a soldier seems to be bringing it to him. 

Caption: American troops landing on the beach at Arzeu, near Oran, from a
landing craft assault (LCA 426), some of them are carrying boxes of supplies. 
Photo Credit: RN photographer Lt. F.A. Hudson, A12649, IWM

Here is a definition I located that is useful: Anti-broaching lines are ropes rigged to a landing boat to prevent or correct a "broach," which is when a boat's bow or stern swings uncontrollably sideways, potentially leading to capsizing. 

Dad is perhaps recalling that he learned how to control the position of a landing craft by using only the motor and anchor cable. And he likely saw this safety measure in action as well as in training. And if the sailor holding the anti-broaching line is not my father, it is surely him who is sitting on 'what looks like a barrel' on the landing craft! A front row seat, I say.

He also uses the word 'breach' again below:

The tide is very important and constantly watched. If it is going out (on the ebb) and you are slow, you can be left high and dry, and if so, you stay with the barge. If the tide is on the make (flowing in) you use the kedge to keep you from swinging sideways on breach. In this case your kedge would be out only a short ways. After much practice, however, the kedge can be forgotten and everything done by engines and helm. Each barge has two engines.

I think Dad included these two paragraphs about his training because all of his practice paid off during his time near Arzeu in North Africa. No landing craft got flipped over. No officer chewed him out for slowing down the transport of troops and all of their supplies. In fact, he may have been thinking back and realizing he did a pretty fine job when needed, even though he didn't get fed for the first four days.

Another reason the two paragraphs stand out as somewhat special - at least in my humble opinion - is because his 'lessons learned' are very similar to those addressed in The Green Beret: The Story of the Commandos 1940 - 45 by Hilary St. George Saunders.

To be continued. 

More stories related to Dad's Navy Days will follow.

Please click here to read Editor's Column: FAINT FOOTSTEPS, World War II (15)

Unattributed Photos GH 

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Moderne Arte: "Brain at Play" (Again ; )

The Art with the Squiggly Lines

In the Frame with the Squiggly Lines

A perfect match? I think it will be pretty darn close : )

Introduction:

I don't do entries or posts here about every piece of 'moderne arte' that I complete in the 'arte room' overlooking my back yard, but when I do I like to share a goodly number of photos from a goodly number of angles.

As I've said in the past, the arte pieces go back to the 1960s, to my early years of doodling with ballpoint pens while sitting in high school classes. I may have picked up a few ideas from the doodles my mother completed on the front or inside cover of the family phonebook. I did a few of my first pieces on the inside front or back covers of high school notebooks and if I look hard enough I can still find them in '60s photo albums. Then, I did them for fun, to escape boredom, to put on paper what was an experiment with lines and shape and colours, following a few simple rules. 

One rule relates to how I still start many a design, i.e., with one or two focal points that have 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 branches, like the letter u or y or x, etc. In one of the photos below, that reveal the design from start to finish, I have circled my two focal points. From there, the rest is history. (I often say, "On sale now," or "Finished and ready for the annual Gathering on the Green (local crafters' sale)," but this time I say, "It's already sold!")


Six lines continue to grow. Occasionally I make modifications on the fly : )





Three tiny houses are within walking distance of a McDonalds!!

McDonalds?? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?



SOLD!!

FYI.  I noticed when finished that two little parts of the design could be featured in future drawings, i.e., a 'grinning, long-necked cartoon character,' and tiny houses. We'll see what happens next time.

Email gordh7700@gmail.com if you see something you like in earlier posts.

Please click here to view more 'Moderne Arte'

Photos and Colouring Inside the Lines by GH

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Video: Port Bruce - Time on My Hands

A Wee Port With a Long Memory

Go for the Views, Stay for the BLTs!

Still waters run deep

Introduction:

If you like great views, Key Lime ice cream, great BLTs and a car ride to the land that time forgot... then go!

Please click here to view "Time on My Hands" as found on YouTube

Pier closed?! Yes, to pedestrians. No, to gulls and photographers

$5.95 for a delicious BLT? I'm pretty sure that's correct. And in the future, thanks to me passing along the recipe for 'Gord's Sandwich' to the owner of The Corner View Cafe, you may be able to purchase a magnificent BLT Deluxe. And what's the diff? Peanut butter, and slices of sweet onion and dill pickle. That's the diff!!

More photos of Port Bruce will follow sometime this year ; )

Please click here to view Port Bruce: A Summer State of Mind

Please click here to view Port Bruce: Shiny as a New Dime

Photos and Video by GH

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Video: Even More Turtle Tours, 2025 (1 and 2)

Two Turtle Tours for the Price of One!

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You

I spotted this little guy - with a crusty attitude - on the walking path
just north of Blackfriars Bridge

Introduction:

The following two links will take you to 'turtle tour' videos on Gord's YouTube Channel:

1. Even More Turtle Tours, 2025 (1)



2. Even More Turtle Tours, 2025 (2)


More 'Turtle Tours' will soon follow, especially if London's turtles catch an early bus back from Florida, Texas, or Mexico, some of their favourite wintertime destinations ; )

Please visit YouTube (simply google @7GHarrison) to view more of Gord's highly-educational, occasionally humorous, timely and vastly interesting (and short!) videos.

Questions and/or comments can be addressed to Gord at gordh7700@gmail.com

Photos and Videos GH

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Memoirs: The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (3)

Navy Memoirs by Roy Burt, Originally from Hamilton, Ontario

"I Became Interested in the Navy Between the Ages of 9 and 12" 

From the Collection of Roy Burt, RCNVR and
Combined Operations, 1940 - 1945

Introduction:

Roy Burt travelled from Hamilton to the West Coast for Navy training in 1941, then from the West Coast to Halifax on the East Coast of Canada in order to catch a ride to Hayling Island and HMS Northney III (on the southern coast of England) for his introduction to Combined Operations (Comb. Ops or C.O.) and landing crafts in mid-1942. And later he journeyed from service in the Mediterranean Sea to Normandy, France, during 1943 - 44. 

It's fair to say that some joined the Navy to see the world, and though Roy did not see the entire world he did experience a very busy, demanding and very memorable part of it during his World War II actions, along with about 1,000 other members of RCNVR who also volunteered for a British organization called Combined Ops. 

Those 1,000 sailors are about 1% of the approximately 100,000 who joined the Canadian Navy - for a permanent role or for 'hostilities only' - during World War II. And of the 1% only a handful wrote very much if anything (!) related to their experiences, i.e., about where they trained in Canada or how they got to the theatre of war in the UK or Europe, specifically where they served, who with, what they did... and so on. Roy Burt is in that small handful (1% of the 1%?!) who not only wrote more than a few pages (e.g., memoirs, news articles, stories, poems) but collected several rare and informative photographs for posterity's sake.

How I stumbled upon 'The Roy Burt Collection' is a very interesting story, in my opinion (Navy research related), perhaps better served at another time, though it's fair to say I must now sincerely tip my hat to Roy's daughter Laurel P. for sending me a landing craft load of rare materials that cost her a boat load of time and energy. 

I share in this entry two nicely typed pages of Roy's memoirs along with supporting material, some of which is also from Roy's files. Readers familiar with some of the travels of other Canadian sailors in Combined Ops will perhaps see a few familiar items, like names of training grounds or specific areas of service, but from a different, fresh perspective or angle. 

As often stated, questions and comments can be addressed to GH at gordh7700@gmail.com

And now, something very rare from Roy Burt:



I have a few photos that relate to Roy's statements, so I have typed up his notes with different spacing so that photos, badges, links, related stories, etc. can be inserted.

Memoirs, by Roy Burt


The Autobiography of my Life since I have been in the Service


The first time I became interested in the Navy was between the ages of nine and twelve when my brother used to leave home in the winter and come back from a cruise to the West Indies. The souvenirs he brought back with him always fascinated and inspired my young and adventurous heart.


When I was fifteen the opportunity arose for me to make a start and learn something of this life. At this time I joined the Navy as a Sea Cadet. Here I learned all the fundamentals of the life I was to make my career, little dreaming what life had in store for me.


At the age of sixteen I sent in my application to Ottawa to join the permanent Navy and was informed that I would have to be seventeen before I could be accepted. This was a great disappointment to me for I had my heart so set on being a sailor, but was happy with the thought  that the training I was taking was preparing me for my future career.


On July the first my hopes were finally fulfilled, for from Ottawa came my call just forty four days after my seventeenth birthday. However, my pleasure was short-lived, for a few days later came the tragic news that my brother had died. Torn between conflicting emotions of good and tragic news at the same time took all the joy out of life, and two days after the funeral I left a broken-hearted Mother to start my career.


Arriving in Toronto on the morning of the ninth I reported to the medical station where I met a group of fellows who like myself were on their way to Canada’s west coast to become sailors. The four days of travel to the coast were the happiest days of my life, the trip being my first time from home.



We arrived in Vancouver and merrily trooped aboard the Princess Marguerite*, a coastal pleasure liner. Believe me, I was quite proud, for this was to take me on my first sea voyage, the eighty-mile trip between Vancouver and Victoria.


[* likely the “Canadian Pacific Railway ship that began passenger service on Puget Sound in 1925.” 


An ad from May 1926 promotes the original Princess Marguerite and sister

ship the Princess Kathleen; the original Marguerite was later torpedoed and sunk

by a Nazi sub in the Mediterranean while serving as a troop carrier during WWII

More details can be found at My Northwest; 1926 ad - Courtesy Feliks Banel


Roy Burt's Memoirs continue:


We were met on the other side by an R.C.N. truck into which we piled our baggage and began our journey to the barracks that is situated on Canada’s beautiful West Coast, H.M.C.S Naden.


Photo of HMCS Naden badge as found at Ready Aye Ready


Roy Burt's Memoirs continue:


We were greeted at the gate by cheers of encouragement such as, “Hi suckers,” and “It will be a long time before you see the outside of these gates again!” We did not realize at the time how true these remarks really were. 


They piled us off the truck in front of a veranda of a long low brick structure which they called the quarter deck. Some rating who seemed like a little tin God to me at the time gave us the old line that we were in the greatest service in the world. After this short pep talk we were herded like a flock of sheep to our new quarters which was to be our home for the next two months.


During this period we underwent very strenuous training which made me often wonder why I had ever left home. After a time the life began to appeal to me and I was quite proud to wear the navy blue. After completion of our training we moved to another section of the barracks. 


Due to the fact I was still a boy seaman I could not go aboard ship so my time was spent in taking advanced courses preparing me for the time when I could go to sea.



At this time a band was formed and I joined it as a drummer which helped to break the monotony of my barracks life. After spending a total of eight months here I got my first sea draft. To me, life seemed very interesting at this time for I was full of expectations of what lay ahead for me. 


I began my life as a proper sailor on a minesweeper. It was built in 1914 for the Royal Navy (R.N.) but was now a Canadian craft. On her I made my trip  to Prince Rupert, B.C. This was a wonderful little town and we spent many a happy time there. From the Armentieres*, for that was the name of the craft I was now on, I went back to Naden where I joined Combined Operations (C.O.), and on May 15th I started for the East Coast to go overseas. I was a very happy man for now all my dreams of the past two years were to be fulfilled.


[* HMCS Armentieres, a minesweeper. See photo below]


The photo and more details can be found on Wikipedia


Roy Burt's Memoirs continue:


So, on the 3rd of June, 1942, I left Halifax on the S.S. Batory, a Polish trooper. This carried us to Scotland where we disembarked and piled into trucks to be taken to H.M.C.S. Niobe. We stayed there a couple of weeks and then were drafted to H.M.S. Northney III. 


Here began our preliminary training, such as signals, buoyage (a system of buoys and beacons used to mark channels and indicate safe navigation areas), and other subjects that were to be very helpful to us at a future date. From here we went to Northney I where we were shown the type of craft we were to handle. These were LCMs (Landing Craft, Mechanised), and LCAs (Landing Craft, Assault). The only types that were being used at the time. We finished our training here, as qualified boatmen.



Three Canadians, raw Combined Ops recruits, at HMS Northney on
Hayling Island, early 1942. Roy Burt, centre. Clayton Marks, right
(Clayton later lived in London, Ont., wrote Combined Operations)


We now made our way to H.M.S. Roseneath. Here we went on the usual night manoeuvres and daylight exercises, until we were in the best possible state for any day or night raid.


We now moved up to Scotland to H.M.S. Quebec where once more we went through manoeuvres  of every description. It was here we were taught to handle every craft that floated, and we did; e.g., LCVs (Landing Craft, Vehicles), LCP(R)s (Landing Craft, Personnel, Ramped), LCPs (Landing Craft, Personnel), and LCP(L)s (Landing Craft, Personnel, Large).  


It was now that the Dieppe raid was due to come off, though of course no one knew about it. We were roused out of bed one night and told to pack - we were going. But this was not to be. For no sooner had we got our bags ready than a signal came that we were not going. That was the closest we came to being  in the Dieppe raid.


We left Quebec and taking our craft (I had an LCV) we headed south to Roseneath. Upon our arrival we went aboard the H.M.S. Queen Emma, an LCA and LCM carrier. We spent several weeks aboard this ship and then went to Roseneath Barracks again.


From here we went to the SS Clan MacTaggart. And from there we went to the M.V. Salasia on which we were to go to North Africa. We left for ‘the Med’ on October the 23rd and landed in North Africa on November 8th, 1942. We spent some time down there and eventually got on board the SS Ocean Merchant on which we steamed north to Liverpool, landing there on December 19th. Then we proceeded on 14 days leave.


We reported back from our leave to HMS Foliot III on January, 1943. From here we went to the HMS Glengyle, where we did a couple of weeks of manoeuvres in LCMs. From there we once more went to Roseneath.


A week later we were sent to the HMS Keren. On her we sailed from Scotland on March 16, 1943, making our way around Africa, stopping at Freetown and Durban. We left her on the 8th of May, 1943, and went into HMS Saunders in the Egyptian desert. We were there about two months and then sent to the SS Ennerdale, an LCM carrier. On her we pulled into Alexandria on July 1st and left on July 3rd, steaming up the Med to Sicily where we disembarked and stayed for 30 days.


On August 7th we left here and made our way - in our LCMs - to Malta, where we stayed for a month. We left here on the 5th of September, and arrived in England on September 11th, 1943, and were sent to HMS Westcliff. From here we were drafted to Niobe and sent home on foreign service leave. We were recalled from this on January 16, 1944, and sent back to the U.K. where we picked up LCI(L)s (Landing Craft, Infantry, Large), and on the 6th of June landed in France.


Combined Operations insignia

 

Some readers, myself included, might feel that Roy's memoirs ended rather abruptly. Where did he go, what did he do after his service was required aboard LCI(L)s (Landing Craft for Infantry (Large)) during the invasion of France? Maybe Roy's notes about the Navy ended suddenly because he was a little miffed that "they didn't need us anymore(!)," i.e., after Operation Neptune - and his work for Combined Operations - ended on the shores of France.

Hopefully more information (post-Normandy) will be located as I peruse the 1,000+ separate items in Roy's files.

Below readers will find a letter and photo related to Roy's experience as a drummer. Move over, Ringo!



One of the items that Roy clipped out of his (later) hometown newspaper reveals another look at parts of his Navy career, including a few words about what happened after D-Day Normandy in 1944.




Roy Burt enjoyed retirement after years of service as Post Master

More from The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations, to follow.

Unattributed Photos GH