Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (2)

Joe McKenna's Navy Records from the

Library and Archives Canada (in Ottawa)

Found at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa

Introduction:

Truthfully, I don't know precisely where I found 'Epilogue' by John Masefield (above), but it is with a group of my photos of particular, meaningful pages from books found in the Resource Centre at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, taken in 2010. I was just starting to get interested in my father's World War II experiences at that time.

During the same trip my wife and I visited the Library and Archives Canada building on Wellington Street, not far west of the Parliament Buildings. We asked about the process to collect military or family records and were duly informed.

Many Canadians, like my own family, are linked to youngsters

who arrived by ship from the United Kingdom. 

Family and Military records and more are found behind

these neat rows of windows. 

Inside the Archives one will see a rare gift to Canada

from Great Britain, an art piece by Henry Moore

My recent search for Joe McKenna's Navy records followed a few easy steps, with the help of my personal computer. Trip to Ottawa not required:

Link - I accessed Family and Military records at Library and Archives, Canada

Link - I went to Military Heritage, then to Second World War: 1939 - 1945

Joe McKenna was killed in action during WWII so, under the heading 'Open records' I clicked on the following link - Service Files of the Second World War - War Dead, 1939-1947

Next, under the heading 'How to obtain copies or consult a file' I clicked on 'Option 1 - View digitized files on Ancestry' and then 'Check our database'

On that page I entered Joe McKenna's name and service number and received a one page document with details re Joe's identification, e.g., names of parents, place of birth, date of death, etc.

See below:

Also on the above page was a link to a PDF file, and it contained 19 pages from Joe McKenna's Navy records. I share them below with some commentary:

Joe as born in Pownal, PEI, not far east of Charlottetown, the son of Peter and Bridget Ann McKenna. He was 5 ft. 6 in. tall when accepted for RVNVR and weighed 134 pounds.

Joe's service number, V1540 (top right), known to my father, may have made my search for records easier.

Joe volunteered for RCNVR at Charlottetown Division on May 15, 1941 (4 - 5 weeks ahead of my father in Hamilton):

Joe was 18 and a half years old when he signed his name to the form below:

It looks like Joe went into fishing and farming after Grade 8; he played a bit of hockey and was interested in Gunnery in the Navy:

Though he was 'fair' at swimming (above), he failed at it below. The form below has HMCS Stadacona 1 typed in the lower left corner. Perhaps in Halifax the swimming aspect was held to a more rigorous standard than back in Charlottetown. 

The sheet below re training to move up (in rank, from Ordinary Seaman, O/S) to Able Seaman (A/B) is not signed. Joe is listed as O/S in some reports and A/B in others:

Below is Joe's Kit List dated 8/1/42 (Jan. 8, 1942), at Halifax. Joe may have been getting ready to ship out to the United Kingdom after volunteering for Combined Operations. 

Joe's Conduct Sheet below lists  the 'Name of Ship' (land establishments) he was associated with as his career progressed from initial training at HMCS Signal School to HMCS St. Hyacinthe (Quebec), to HMCS Stadacona (beginning in early October, 1941, about 3 weeks before my father arrived there from Hamilton Division), to HMS Quebec in Scotland.

Photo Credit - HMCS Signal School

Related to the fourth entry below, 'Quebec': Joe's records were 'signed in' at HMS Quebec on Jan 25, 1942 (one day earlier than my father's own records), so I can assume he trained on landing crafts with dozens of other Canadians in Combined Operations on Loch Fyne, just south of Inveraray, as did my father and about 100 other Canadians at that time More were to follow over the next year. Please note - Joe's records show he was signed off at 'Quebec' on Aug. 19, 1942, the day of his death at Dieppe.

The next four pages contain the full, detailed account, by Canadian 'Boat Officer' J. E. Boak, related to his experience at Dieppe. One can see the interview took place 5 days after the tragic raid, the boat was a Landing Craft, Personnel (Light) (LCPL) and Joe McKenna was on board a nearby, similar craft that stopped to rescue soldiers stranded off the coast of Dieppe. Someone has editted the report and a corrected version may exist, but I believe this item is still very rare.

This account was very likely the basis for an account in St. Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 1 that was mentioned in Part 1 of entries completed 'in memory of Joe McKenna', with a link to the book. I have made note of the other officers mentioned and hope to find more details about them - or stories by them - as well at some time:

In paragraph 8 of the third page (above) we read of Joe McKenna's fate. Below we find the notice that was sent to his parents. The bottom line of numbers includes the date of release, i.e., 24/8/42, five days after the raid. Peter is informed his son "has been killed on war service", and date and location are not given:

The letter to Peter McKenna below makes mention of the telegram above and adds the date of Joe's death. No location given for some reason:

Below is an item that Joe's father also had to deal with over a year after his son's death, something that is likely deemed 'official and correct' on the one hand, yet still tragic on the other:

Another 'official and correct' item appears below, posted on an earlier date than the $3.46 cheque/receipt, and refers to items belonging to Joe McKenna (likely found on his body after Officer Boak's LCPL returned to Newhaven, UK) that were forwarded to his father. Note that it says Joe was discharged "dead" on 15th of August (it should read the 19th), and that the item '1 Rosary on Chain' was not ticked off:

The administrative letter above prompted a response from Joe's father. Peter's handwritten reply is difficult but not impossible to make out in some cases (was it written with a pen dipped in an ink bottle?) and I offer my own translation:

Pownal, June 18, '43

Dear sirs,

I received the parcel containing my son's personal as it appeared to be on June 4. With all the personal affects was one key belonging to a grip and a snapshot of his mother, two school chums, and one of himself and one of the chums, also his identification bracelet, a chain with two medals which should have been left on him when he was buried. What happened to his watch and prayer book and beeds? He had a new suit uniform, under clothes and hip boots which was his own personal property...

Peter continues:

I don't mind the clothes (i.e., not receiving his clothes) but his watch should have been returned, also his book (i.e., prayer book).

Peter J. McKenna

Peter's letter of June 4, 1943 is acknowledged in this last piece of correspondence from the Estates Branch, and with the acknowledgement came a final cheque from Joe's estate, for the "balance of wages." Two items have been checked off... and Joe's file was likely closed.

There were other Options related to the route I could have chosen to obtain records, so there may be more information about Joe McKenna available.

I will add more details if and when they are found.

That being said, one story I happened to find years ago - written by another Canadian who crossed the English Channel aboard a landing craft - mentions Joe McKenna at its beginning and end.

More to follow.

Combined Operations insignia, as found on the front cover of

Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks

Please link to Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (1)

Unattributed Photos GH