George Kearney says he remembers his fallen friends each May, when Thunder Bay gathers to commemorate the Battle of the Atlantic.
The 89-year-old, who joined the Second World War on June 2, 1944, said the threat of German attack was a constant as the Royal Canadian Navy helped escort ships across the ocean.
His memories are particularly poignant as the fallen ships are read out during the ceremony, which takes place on the first Sunday of May each year.
“When they’re naming the ships, there are several of my friends in the navy were lost on the ships,” Kearney said.
“HMCS Valleyfield was one of them, that a fellow I trained with was lost. There were others. One other fellow was lost in an accident on HMCS Strathadam. So I think of those people, plus the people I went to school with who joined the navy that didn’t make it.”
Still sharp, some 69 years after his first trip overseas, Kearney counts himself as one of the lucky ones. In the early days of the war, with only the United Kingdom standing up to the German nemesis, the latter’s plan was a simple one – cut off the food supply to Great Britain and starve out their opponent.
The single longest battle of the war, lasting from 1939 until the 1945 defeat of Germany, but it was a costly one.
More than 3,500 merchant ships were lost and 175 warships sunk in the fighting, which also destroyed 783 U-boats. Casualties were also high, with 32,600 sailors and 36,000 merchant seamen killed on the Allied side and an estimated 30,000 German sailors paying the ultimate price.
“Fortunately, by the time I got on convoy work, we weren’t under attack at any time, although the Germans had a lot of U-boats at sea. There must have at least 100 or more that late. But all their top commanders were lost,” Kearney said.
“You had junior people in charge of the u-boats, and they weren’t quite as aggressive.”
On top of that, there were support groups in place as added protection.
“As soon as you got the hint that there might be an attack, you had a support group that was sent out so you had double protection at the time.”
Reviewing officer and honorary Capt. Pat Lang said it’s still important to remember those who sacrificed themselves for their fellow countrymen.
Life wouldn’t be the same today in Canada if they hadn’t, she added.
“The privilege we have living in Canada today, with the freedoms that we have, in what I think is the best country in the world, came about because of the role the Royal Canadian Navy played in the Battle of the Atlantic,” Lang said.
“That was over 70 years ago today, and we’re still remembering it.”
Many Canadians don’t remember, or have never learned, how important a role their country played in the ongoing skirmish.
“Germany was using a form of economic warfare, if you will, to get Britain under their control. That`s why that particular battle was so important, ” she said.
The Navy also used Sunday’s ceremony to unveil a new ensign, which features a white backing with the Canadian flag in the upper left-hand corner and the Royal Canadian Navy seal centred on the right-hand side of the flag.
Sunday's ceremony, originally scheduled the anchorage at Marina Park, was moved indoors to HMSC Griffon because of inclement weather forecasts issued Saturday.
