As a member of the Canadian Merchant Navy in the Second World War, Robert Hughes worked as a gunner on merchant ships.
He would teach merchant men how to use and look after the armament and any other defense needed on the ship.
“I spent the first year of the war in Africa up and down the coast on a small troop transport carrying nurses…guns and soldiers and so on back and forth up and down the coast,” he said.
The rest of his time was spent on cargo ships travelling to places like Alaska, South America, Holland, Belgium and of course, England.
To commemorate the service of the Canadian Merchant Navy, Hughes and fellow Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans Association representative Thornley Christiansen decided to ask for a plaque next to the CMNVA flagpole in the Kam River Heritage Park.
The plaque was dedicated Friday morning despite the rain and chilly weather.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” Hughes said. “They never publicized the merchant navy at all, particularly during the war … it took a long time for people to recognize the merchant navy and what they did. A lot of people didn’t realize how much they did do.”
“It takes a lot of guts for a guy to go out and maybe get torpedoed and come back and go home on leave and come back and go on another ship of his own accord,” he added.
Both Hughes and Christiansen are in their late 80s and thought the plaque would ensure the merchant navy is never forgotten in Thunder Bay.
“This is a very memorable occasion for us and I’m so happy,” Christiansen said.
He spent his time during the war on the North Atlantic, keeping as close to Great Britain as he could.
“My wife lived in England and if I didn’t come home, she would have killed me,” he said with a laugh.
