More Highlights From The Med, Sholto Watt Included
My only photo of The Montreal Star's oft-quoted war correspondent.
So, you see, he actually does exist! (But, did he go to Reggio?)
Some readers will know that Mr. Watt not only exists but has been faithfully dispatching regular reports of the WW2 action on the Mediterranean Front back to Canada by under-sea cable.
One of these days I will know if he travelled on landing crafts with Canadians in Combined Operations from Messina, Sicily to Reggio, Italy (on 'the toe of the boot').
And until then I will comb issues of The Montreal Star - on microfilm, at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) - for pertinent news reports that provide information that relates in some way to Canadian Forces, particularly those with their feet on the ground, wings in the air, and significant crafts (from landing craft to destroyers) upon the sea.
In this entry, one will find three articles (!) by Mr. Watt, an ad for my grandmother's favourite cigarettes, and a particularly good story about weary sailors, with, unfortunately, the worst possible ending I could imagine.
The following entries are from Saturday's three-pound paper and from Monday's shorter edition, i.e., if you lived in Montreal in November, 1943:
Microfilm is located at University of Western Ontario (UWO)
After a peek at the headlines I found the following from Mr. S. Watt, following Canadian troops, likely somewhere near the front lines. The depth of his coverage is excellent, even the band "The Foo Fighters" would like this piece:
A crew of minesweepers receives "their first issue of comforts":
"Pop" Kendricks, 72, survives going to sea again, just barely. Then things get worse after he recoups from an injury... the worst ending ever, in my opinion:
I said earlier that "Pop" recovers from injury and then things got worse. The ending has nothing to do with another ship going down. I think the ending, a twist of fate, leaves me shaking my head...
"Pop" was told he was "a little too old, a little too brittle." After all he had gone through he likely did not want to hear those words. He wanted to throw coal into a boiler on a ship bound for the coast of France on D-Day.
We read, "So Pop went home."
And that's the last we read about "Pop" Kendricks.
The last few sentences are sheer speculation... the worst ending ever, in my opinion.
Did the old sailor get his wish? Did he shovel coal off the coast of France less than one year later?
I like coming upon news reports from a number of Canadian correspondents, one being Scott Young (see below):
Monday's headlines deserve a quick peek, and again they are followed up by an in-depth article by Sholto Watt, my way to start the day : )
While on leave, many Canadians attended events at nearby dancehalls, and one Canadian sailor I know, in Combined Ops, met his future wife at a hall in Glasgow... far from the unfortunate scene described below:
As a young boy growing up in Norwich, Ontario, I was occasionally asked by grandmother Ida Catton to fetch Black Cat cigarettes ("and be sure you ask for cork filters") from a store on Main Street. And I don't think I was allowed to spend the change!
Gee, I lied! I said "three articles by Sholto Watt". Here's number four!
The following headline was found at the bottom of the previous column, all by itself, no article attached. The article did not capture my interest, I guess, but the headline now leaves me with a few questions:
More news from The Med will soon follow.
Unattributed Photos GH
No comments:
Post a Comment