Halifax and Another Hard Promise

Heart of the Matter

["Dad's impulse to volunteer led to adventure"]

Part 7 - In Conclusion 

- August 2014

My father's impulse to volunteer for new duties when he was in his early twenties led to unforgettable adventures.

In his navy memoirs he writes about his entry into a little known division of the armed forces called Combined Operations. The year was 1941. He was in Halifax, already involved in training with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve:

   One day we heard a mess deck buzz or rumour that
   the navy was looking for volunteers for special duties
   overseas, with nine days leave thrown in. Many from
   the Effingham Division, including myself, once again
   volunteered. (Will I ever quit volunteering?) 

He was soon on a ship bound for Scotland, then onto a train to southern England (e.g., Southampton), then at the helm of a barge during D-Day North Africa (November 1942), with the 80th Flotilla of ships and barges during D-Day Sicily (July 1943), off to Malta for rest and repair one month later, then on to D-Day Italy (September 1943). And finally he was shipped to a Combined Ops training centre in Comox, British Columbia (January 1944) where he was involved in all manner of duties and adventures. On the last page of his memoirs he says 'it would cost a small fortune today to retrace the places I had been to and seen under the White Ensign' and I surely agree.

[Photo June 2010: "Just home from Halifax. Am thinking about my next trip"]

My impulse to make promises has led to unforgettable adventures of my own. I have travelled to the east and west coast of Canada to learn more about Dad's Navy days in Combined Operations and trips to Scotland, southern England, Sicily, Malta and Italy are definitely on my mind. I am currently saving up my own 'small fortune' to make the next adventure possible.

When will I stop making promises that involve my father and his adventures? I think I'll know when the time is right, as did my father about his desire to volunteer.

In his memoirs (i.e. the hand-written notes) he writes the following about his last days on Vancouver Island:

["Canadian Navy baseball team, Comox, B.C.,

1945 - 45; Doug Harrison, back row, centre"]

   Then one day, the day we had been waiting for came - V.E. day -
   and what a celebration. They poured beer in my hair, there was
   no routine, everything went mad and uncontrolled, but nothing
   untoward happened. The fellows were just so glad, that it gave
   us time to think back and count our blessings... it had a sobering
   effect on most of us who had been in Combined Operations under
   the White Ensign. Soon we went to H.M.C.S. Naden (Esquimalt,
   B.C.) with none of us volunteering for the Japanese theatre of
   war, though we were all asked by a recruiting officer.

I think he and his closest buddies felt they were ready to call it quits and get back to their homes, families and jobs. Though war would only be waged in the Pacific for a few more months they felt they had done their fair share. And so they had. They were discharged on the same day, September 5, 1945 and my father was soon back to work at the Norwich Co-op.

['Discharged on the same day':

Back L - R. Don Westbrook, Chuck Rose, Joe Spencer

Front L - R. Joe Watson, Doug Harrison, A. Warrick

I am my father's son. I'll know when to call it quits.

Until then, however, I'll keep savin' up for Scotland because I feel in the mood for a good long walk about. And when I go, you'll be the first to know.

Link to Halifax and Another Hard Promise

Photos GH