Books re Combined Operations

SAILOR REMEMBER by William H. Pugsley

Pugsley's dedication to friends lost during WW2

William H. Pugsley wrote two fine books about his WW2 experiences as member of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve, Saints, Devils and Ordinary Seamen and the above. 

Pugsley is ex-R.C.N.V.R. and this book is his memoir concerning his life as a seaman during his RCNVR days in the early 1940s. He writes about his experiences in Corvettes in the North Atlantic, destroyer action, and training activities at Comox BC, HMCS Cornwallis NS, Greenock, Scotland, and more.

Though he did not volunteer for the Combined Operations organization he did train in some of the same places as did members of Combined Ops, perhaps about two years earlier than Doug Harrison and Lloyd Evans, two members of RCNVR and Combined OPs mentioned on this website.

Pugsley also writes in an informative fashion about day to day experiences related to training as a 'subbie' (young officer) and surviving dangerous wartime conditions, and in SAILOR REMEMBER includes countless photographs from his own collection. Though he was not a member of Combined Operations I include his book on this site because a few pages about his training in Comox, British Columbia and accompanying photos reveal a rare look at a camp that was soon to become a Combined Operations training school (HMCS Naden III, commissioned HMCS Givenchy III in 1943) during the latter stages of the Second World War. "Givenchy III" was home to expanded seamanship, gunnery and assault training (using landing craft built in the area) until the end of WW2.

1930s Photo of The Spit courtesy of Comox Museum

The following eight photographs are from pages 90 - 97 of SAILOR REMEMBER and reveal rare glimpses of "Naden III" (today known as HMCS Quadra, Sea Cadet training base, property of Canada's DND):

Copies of the book are available for sale/shipping at AbeBooks.

Please link to more Books re Combined Operations

Unattributed photos by GH

Passages: The 12 Hours Before D-Day Normandy

The Prose of War

Canadian Corvette officer James B. Lamb, aboard the sturdy, swift Minas, recalls - with remarkable clarity and feeling - a great deal of his experience on June 5 and 6, D-Day Normandy, 1944 in his book The Corvette Navy. And certain paragraphs in Chapter 11, The Channel War, pointedly caught my attention. I present them here accompanied by five photographs from H.M.C.S. by Royal Canadian Navy photographer G. A. Milne.

               5:30 PM June 5: The Sweep

   The sweep across for us, once we had got
   clear of the incredible traffic jam east and south
   of the Isle of Wight, was simple enough.

   We got out our sweeps at 5:30 in the afternoon,
   and two hours later we entered the enemy minefields,
   my knees shaking with patriotism as I kept close watch
   on Cowichan ahead for any mines she should cut.
   By midnight the show was on: the air force
   began to kick the stuffing out of the coast, and
   Port en Bessin ahead was a tremendous spectacle,
   with fires raging below and a fireworks show
   of flak and searchlights up above.

 West and south of the Isle of Wight: 'Passing the Needles'

Map from forecast-weather.com

               3:00 AM June 6: We Were Home Free

   At three in the morning we did our thing,
   a slow turn to starboard, with the ship almost stopped,
   and so close to the beach we could make out every detail
   in the pale light of a wan moon.

   When we finished our turn, without a glove
   laid on us, we knew we were home free; from
   here on it was downhill all the way,
   a piece of cake.

   Behind us stretched a great wide channel of swept
   water, lit up by lighted dan buoys at regular intervals;
   off to starboard were two other similar channels,
   like lighted streets leading to the beaches,
   cut by "the famous Fourth", a fine old bunch of
   First World War coal-burners, and the 14th,
   a flotilla of mixed British and Canadian ships.
   The roads well and duly cut and blazed,
   we stood to one side, as the Coxswain said,
   "to watch the Pongoes get on with the job".

The five photographs below are from H.M.C.S. by G. A. Milne

 'Every ship in the world' passed through swept channels

               Before 5:00 AM June 6: Heart-Stopping Intensity

   It was full daylight as we
   recovered our sweeps, right off the beach.
   To seaward was an unbelievable sight;
   every ship in the world seemed to be steaming
   over the horizon, heading for the beaches,
   now lying veiled under clouds of smoke
   from the night's bombing.

   Troop-carrying liners
   were headed for their anchorages,
   to off-load their men into assault boats;
   long lines of landing craft, infantry,
   and landing craft, tanks, were
   trundling along in close formation,
   while the big battleships and cruisers of
   the bombarding squadrons were taking up position
   and spitting in their palms, getting ready
   to buckle down to work.

   For a moment we in the sweepers were conscious
   of an instant of almost heart-stopping intensity;
   a moment of historical confrontation between
   what seemed to us to be the forces of
   freedom and tyranny, of good and evil.

               Past 5:00 AM June 6: Fur Began to Fly

   Behind us to seaward all was light,
   the pale flush of dawn on the light paint-work,
   the bright white ensigns of the ships;
   ashore all was dark and sombre and sullen,
   the squat grey concrete of the German batteries,
   with their black slits and deep embrasures,
   like so many malformed skulls.

'We freemen looked for the first time on the dark forces'

   For a long moment,
   we freemen looked for the first time on the
   dark forces we had fought against for so long,
   brought to bay at last like some
   fearful monster of romance;
   and they, in their bunkers and casemates ashore,
   surely they looked out at us,
   and saw at last their doom.

   And then,
   sharp at ten minutes past five,
   our bombarding ships opened fire,
   and the fur began to fly.

'And the fur began to fly'

Please link to Passages: Heaven and Hell

Unattributed Photos by GH

Passages: Heaven and Hell

Comox and HMCS St. Croix

 Scene from The Spit, near HMCS Quadra and Comox, 2015

Similar view at Givenchy III behind 1940s Navy cutters:

Photo from Sailor Remember by W. Pugsley

During the Second World War, to some members of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR), many of whom were also members of Combined Operations, Comox (home to a Canadian Combined Operations training camp) was Heaven.

"Then I went to Givenchy III, known as Cowards Cove, at Comox on Vancouver Island. It was absolute heaven there. Just normal routine. I trained a few zombies on cutters, and played ball five or six times a week under a good coach," says Doug Harrison (RCNVR, Comb. Ops) in his Navy memoirs about his experience there in 1944 and '45. ("DAD, WELL DONE", page 45)

That being said, some of the stories Harrison heard while there related to the opposite spiritual sphere - Hell.

Harrison writes:

   Wm. Fischer (sic), a stoker (not of Combined Ops but of R.C.N.V.R.), was stationed

   there. He had, I believe, an unequalled experience. He was on an Atlantic convoy

   run, on H.M.C.S. St. Croix, and one night in rough seas the St. Croix was sunk

   and he was the lone survivor*. His life jacket had lights on and later he was picked

   up by the English ship H.M.S. Itchen. It in turn was torpedoed and Fischer was

   one of three survivors. They took him and his wife on saving bond tours, etc., but

   when he was asked to go to sea again, he said he would go to cells first.** With an 

   experience like that I would have too. He was lucky to be alive. (Pg. 46)

More information about William Fisher's hellish experiences are found in The Corvette Navy, a distinctive and informative book by James B. Lamb. The following excerpt is from page 123:

 Photo of excerpt from The Corvette Navy

Photo through German submarine periscope:

From U-BOAT WAR by Lothar G. Buchheim

As well, Fisher's own account survives to this day in more than one form. Please link to his own story at The Naval Museum of Manitoba.

That Fisher ended up in Comox - a bit of heaven - after his nightmare at sea seems like a fair shake.

*As it turns out Fisher was initially one of many survivors of the fatally damaged HMCS St. Croix rescued by HMS Itchen. But he was later 'the lone survivor' of the St. Croix rescued from the Itchen disaster.

** D. Harrison's story may be the only one which tells of Fisher's adamant refusal to return to sea and his placement closer to Heaven than Hell.

 'View from barracks beach' on The Spit, Comox:

Photo - Sailor Remember, pg. 92

Modern day photographs taken near barracks beach, on The Spit

Please link to Passages: Canadians and the Maple Leaf

Unattributed Photos by GH

Passages: Canadians and the Maple Leaf

Canadians Paint Maple Leaves with Pride, WW2

During the Second World War there were several instances in which Canadians, including those in Combined Operations, made their presence known by displaying the Maple Leaf in a prominent position.

In The Corvette Navy by James B. Lamb the following is found:

     The RN had tremendous elan,
     enormous confidence and morale,
     and we found that it rubbed off
     on the least of us who flew
     the white ensign. We were proud
     of being Canadian, of course, and

     painted maple leaves on our funnels
     to make sure we got the message across
     to the Limeys, but for all of that
     we were very proud to be a part of
     the big show, a Canadian branch
     of the old Grey Funnel Line,
     a member of the White Ensign club,
     and a sharer of all that marvellous
     mystique that went with it. (Pg. 99)

In The Canadians at War 1939/45 Vol. 2 we see a young Canadian at work with a paint brush and read the accompanying inscription:

"A swastika, symbol of a German submarine destroyed..."

     A swastika,

     symbol of a German submarine

     destroyed, is painted on the funnel

     of a Royal Canadian Navy ship -

     but top billing goes to a maple leaf.

     Canadian warships flew the White Ensign

     used in the Royal Navy and could be

     mistaken for British ships until the

     maple leaf marking was adopted.

     (Life with the Giants, pg. 536)

The Canadian Maple Leaf may also have appeared on some landing crafts used during the invasion of Sicily and operated by members of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) and Combined Operations as evidenced by this brief passage from D. Harrison's Navy memoirs (RCNVR and Comb. Ops., 1941 - 45):

Will 'Maple Leaves' appear from the mist off Sicily's coast?

Photo from Imperial War Museum, UK

     The convoy formed for Sicily at Alexandria

     and ran into heavy submarine attacks and mines.

     I actually saw one torpedo miss us.

     I was now on the American Liberty ship Pio Pico 

     because the Silver Walnut was abandoned with all

     the barges we worked so hard to clean and paint,

     including painted Maple Leaves.

     ("Dad, Well Done", pg. 29) 

The Canadian Maple Leaf may have adorned items besides ships and landing craft during WW2 as well. A hammock that once belonged to Stoker W. N. Katanna (also a member of RCNVR and Combined Operations), and borrowed by a 'merchant officer' during the trip aboard the Silver Walnut (on its way around Africa to D-Day Sicily), was returned many years later bearing names of members of the 80th Flotilla and the Combined Ops insignia. Again, it appears top billing went to the Maple Leaf.

The Navy hammock is housed in the Esquimalt Navy Museum, BC

In Doug Harrison's memoirs we read the following about the hammock's adventure:

One of the merchant officers, James Robertson, had borrowed a hammock during the trip. It reappeared 43 years later in Melbourne, Australia. During Navy Week October 1986, Canada sent a warship - the HMCS Yukon - to represent the country. After a naval exercise at the Shrine of Remembrance, Officer Robertson made a presentation to Commander K.A. Nason; it was the hammock upon which the officer had painted his version of the Combined Operations Insignia and the names of the Canadian sailors who had served aboard the Walnut many years ago.

17 names appear: W. N. Katanna and D. Harrison among them 

D. Harrison continues: In making the presentation of the commemorative gift, Mr. Robertson expressed hope that it might be of some historical significance and that it be turned over to the curator of a maritime museum in Canada. The hammock was returned to Canada aboard the Yukon to be left in the care of the museum at Esquimalt, B.C. where it may be seen upon request. Some residents of Norwich have seen the hammock and supplied me with photos.

L/S Coxswain Harrison only saw the hammock in photographs

Final notes from the blog's author: I saw the hammock in April, 2012. I was asked to wear white gloves and assist in unrolling it upon a fine wooden table. Before standing upon nearby chairs to take several photos I gave the hammock a good sniff. The smell of gasoline or diesel fuel was unmistakeable, from almost seventy years before.

Also, Canada's flag bears the lovely Maple Leaf. Could one of the reasons be that the leaf was a much-used symbol during WW2?

Please link to more Passages from WW2 books

Unattributed photos by GH

Books re Combined Operations

Land of Plenty: A History of the Comox District

Published by Ptarmigan Press, Campbell River 1987

The Comox district is rich in British and Canadian military history and this book reveals some of it in very good detail, going back to early Royal Navy interests and establishments in the 19th century and progressing to Royal Canadian Navy interests during WW2 (re Combined Operations) and to the present day.

Royal Navy sailors at The Spit: Courtesy of the Courtenay Museum

The book reveals early purposes of the combined operations camp, how the activities outgrew allotted space in Courtenay and eventually moved, in part, a short distance down the road and river to Goose Spit in Comox, where Navy operations base was known as Givenchy III beginning in October 1943.

Rare photo of landing craft in Canadian waters

Activities ranged from practicing some basic routines (new ratings or soldiers learning seamanship skills in Navy cutters) to highly organized assault landings incorporating large numbers of landing craft, some manufactured in the area.

Combined Ops training, Courtenay BC, Jan. 1944: Courtesy of National Film Board 

I tracked down this book after reading online articles that provided information from it about Combined Operations activities that took place in Canada. I leafed through it while doing research in Comox, British Columbia and bought it via AbeBooks website. That being said, the online articles are a rich resource, less expensive and easier to obtain.

Please link to the online articles about Comox Valley military history, including those specifically related to Combined Operations, as they appeared in the Comox Valley Record in 2013:

ISSUU May 28, 2013

ISSUU May 30, 2013

ISSUU June 06, 2013

ISSUU June 13, 2013

Link to more Books re Combined Operations

Photos GH

Memorials Dedicated to Combined Operations

Courtenay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

On the grounds of Simms Millennium Park, within a kilometre NE of the centre of downtown Courtenay, one will find two items that reveal the significance of the area related to Combined Operations training in Canada during World War II.

The first and easiest to find is an informative display board sitting next to a parking lot east of the 5th Street Bridge:

Part of the slough is still a parking lot for boats of many types

The second and most significant item, in a garden beside the entrance to Simms Millennium Park, is a bronze plaque and memorial commemorating the site (a slough) where many of Canada's assault craft were moored "in preparation for defence... and operations in Europe during WWII."

At this point in my travels and research I have not come across any other plaque or memorial on Canadian soil dedicated to Canadians who served in Combined Operations in WW2. If there are others, please let me know.

Barracks were nearby in 1942. Later the Navy inhabited The Spit, Comox 

Excerpt from commemorative address by Lawrence Burns, Courtenay

The commemoration took place in May, 2004 and was mentioned in the Courtenay Record. Lawrence Burns, local historian, involved in the event, helpfully directed me toward the plaque.

To read one Canadian's account - as a member of RCNVR and Comb. Ops - of time spent on The Spit, at the Combined Operations Training School (near the slough), please link to Memoirs re Combined Operations

Photos GH