It Strikes Me Funny by G. Harrison: Editor's Research: Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (10)

News and Views and the Whereabouts of Men Who Were There

The Winnipeg Tribune Covers Italy. I Cover "Going Out West"

Chuck "Comox" Levett (RCNVR, Combined Ops) trains US troops to get in

synch with the oars on a navy cutter. August 1944, The Spit, Comox BC

Introduction:

The majority of the news items displayed below are from the digitized version of The Winnipeg Tribune, i.e., issues published on February 1 - 2, 1944. We read about Allied progress on various war fronts, pub profits in the United Kingdom, the launching of the U.S.S. Missouri, 'Jap Atrocities', and the value of a good coupon ("Make it a D, Honey!").

The part I add connects with the theme of this series, i.e., that some Canadians have returned home from Europe (e.g., after two years service, incl. my father and mates from RCNVR and Combined Operations). A few of the returnees were interviewed by their local papers and I am looking for such (rare) items, including photos that reveal new duties and assignments once back home.

The top photo is one of several excellent photos from Rob Levett, Campbell River, BC. His father, Chuck "Comox" Levett served aboard landing crafts (the 55th Canadian flotilla) in Sicily in 1943, and upon his return he either volunteered for duties at HMCS Givenchy III or was re-assigned there- at least in 1942 - because he had been there before going overseas. While there he met his future wife, Dorothy Roberts, and I the privilege of meeting her when I visited Comox, Courtenay and the navy base (known as HMCS Quadra at present) a few years ago.

Rob Levett's photographs, organized and labelled to some extent by his mother Dorothy (aka 'Dot', now deceased), touch on a variety of themes, e.g., duties at Comox, comradeship, meeting future wives, and more.

In the next photo one sees the top one repeated alongside one I've displayed here before, i.e., of the Navy No 1 baseball team that played in Campbell River, Cumberland, Powell River, Comox and Courtenay (at Lewis Park*, still an active sports field).

Top Photo. Back row L - R: J. Ivison, Joe Malone, B. Grycan, G. Hobson, D. Arney,

D. Zink. ( Bill Grycan and George Hodson married women from the Comox area)

Front row L - R: Vic Mauro, Chuck Rose, Doug Harrison, Budd Kidd, Joe Spencer

(Ivison, Malone, Grycan, Rose, Harrison (my father) and Spencer are all known vets of the Mediterranean Theatre of war, Chuck Rose may have considered getting engaged to a local woman - "one of the Hanson sisters," said Dorothy Levett in 2015 - before my father stepped in to remind Chuck he had a girlfriend back in Chippewa, near Niagara Falls).

*Lewis Park, still an active sports field:

As found, posted at "You Know You're From Comox Valley When..." Facebook

Lewis Park, 2012, Photo GH, during trip to Courtenay/Comox 2012

"Aug. 1944. 'Comox' Levett and his crew," reads the caption connected to the photo beneath the ball team. I scanned each face carefully of 'Comox's' crew, looking for my father. Besides 'Comox' Levett, however (front, right), only one other could be a Canadian because all the helmets look like U.S. issue. And the only person without a helmet is not my father.

That being said, there is a good chance that 'Comox' and 'Cactus' (one of my father's Navy nicknames) worked side by each at times. In his memoirs my father writes the following about duties at HMCS Givenchy III:

I acted as Coxswain on large navy cutters as soldiers worked the oars. The cutters were 27 feet long and wide enough (except at the bows) to seat four men, two men to an oar. This was fun, getting the proper stroke amongst 18 green oarsmen.

Editor's Note - "Count the helmets!" Dad's close.

If the rhythm was wrong and an oar 'caught a crab' (got stuck in the water), the effect was that nearly every thwart was cleared of oarsmen and bedlam prevailed. “Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!” I hollered, bursting from laughter. The oars are about 12 feet long and are they ever heavy. To give the soldiers a well-earned rest I would give the order “Rest oars.” Then the oars would be pulled in, rested on each side of the cutter, and the soldiers could rest their weary arms on the looms for awhile.

“I enjoyed giving the order to 'toss oars'” at The Spit, Comox BC

Photo credit - Sailor Remember by W. H. Pugsley

I enjoyed giving the order to ‘toss oars’. With this the huge oars were brought from the water and as quickly as possible tossed up in the air, and of course the water came pouring down from the blades in a regular storm for a minute and everyone got soaked to the hide, including me, but on a hot day it was refreshing. I was longing for a swim anyway. There were several cutters with soldiers* and with experience we began to have races. The competition was a good thing and a real esprit de corp developed within the teams. The races were close, the blisters were soon forgotten and the training became enjoyable as some fun was injected into it.

*Editor's Note - U.S. troops may have been learning a few seamanship skills prior to involvement in the Pacific theatre of war

My father also wrote about duties in the dining room, and below we see 'Comox' Levett about to ring a bell. Lunch time?

Caption continues: "Before marriage. At Kye Bay, BC., near Comox Spit"

The caption is helpful to me, w photos of my father at (maybe) Kye Bay

Dorothy also mentioned to me that the sailors transported (on landing

crafts) friends and dates to Tree Island for, "You know." Wink. Wink.

Dorothy 'Dot' Levett, always ready to smile and laugh. 2015, Courtenay Museum

Lovely, lovely! More names surely equals more research. HELP WANTED, please!

"Bird, Levett, Thompson, Graham (looks so familiar!), Lowes, Masson, Coates"

Questions and comments are always welcome in the comment section or @ gordh7700@gmail.com

If I am given or find more information concerning the above sailors I will include it here.

Clippings from The Trib follow:

In my search for a cleaner copy of the above photo I came across a very interesting online site. It contains a large number of significant photographs and one from Italy related to the same theme, i.e., HUNT FOR NAZI SNIPERS. See below:

From "The Last Farewell - A Journey of the Heart"

Posted Nov. 20. 2020, by Burke and Tina Calamai

Caption attached to the above photo:

Fifth Army, Pistoia, Italy - Italian partisan men and women hunt German snipers in Pistoia. (U.S. Army Signal Corps photo – 163d Signal Photo Co.) This photo was also published as U.S. Army postcard #178-17. Credit: NARA.

Meanwhile, Allied forces in other theatres of war make headlines in the informative Tribune:

Two small clippings caught my eye, especially the second one!

So, when was the best time to open a pub in the U.K? 1943 maybe?

For those interested in keeping track of well-known Canadian war correspondents during WW@, here is the latest from Ross Munro:

In my search for a cleaner image of the above photograph I was somewhat successful. Though unable to find the exact image, I did find one taken from almost the same angle, perhaps by the same photographer (see second image below):

Entering the water for the first time, during her launching at the New York

Navy Yard, 29 January 1944. Note anchors and launching drag chains.

Photo Credit - U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

The 45,000-ton Missouri, world’s largest battleship, slides into the East River at

Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City on March 15, 1944, following her launching

by Mary Margaret Truman, daughter of U.S. Senator Harry S. Truman. (AP Photo)

Photo Credit - A Look Back at the Battleship Missouri

Some of the actions introduced on February 1 continued on February 2. And a new news reel appeared in local theatres that I think you can link to, to this day. Coming up!

A news reel related to most of the features listed above can be found today by searching an archive offered freely by the University of South Carolina. I include a 'gateway page' that includes an active link to Fox Movietone News and from there a goodly supply of news reels are available to the patient searcher.

An individual news reel covers a variety of topics or visits a number of theatres of war. Please click here to see an update of the Allied progress in Ortona, including a peek at Canadian troops in action, and the world's largest plane, i.e., "Flying Boat Mars", the frustration connected with rations and coupons, and the danger of attending an "Australian Rodeo", and more.

A Manitoban (Renaud, below) mentioned in an earlier entry in this series is mentioned again: