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
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
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