Editor's Research: Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (1)

One News Item Leads to a Few Rewards. But I Want One More

(This Project is Not The Wildest of Wild Goose Chases... I Hope)

Thanks to a WWII Navy vet and Mr. Google, this news item led me on very

rewarding searches. Above article from the collection of Lloyd Evans 

Introduction:

I have thought several times over the years that some of the best WWII photos are still hiding in a shoe box under someone's Grandma's back stairs. And a few of the best WWII stories will not be told until somebody trips over that pile of old letters next to the shoe box. 

Those thoughts returned to my mind recently, shortly after I completed a project that included the above photo.

I'd read the above caption a couple of times (along with a different one under the same photo, attached to a second article in the collection of Lloyd Evans, now deceased) and once I put my pen down - i.e., leaned back from the keyboard - I wondered, "How many Fawdrys could there be in Harrow, Ont?" 

As it turns out, just one, a nephew of the Thomas Fawdry mentioned in the caption.

When I spoke to the nephew on the phone the other day he patiently read me a WWII news article re 'Uncle Tommy' (aka 'Smokey'). While I listened my mind turned to Grandma, her back stairs, a dusty shoe box. 

(FYI - The article now appears on "1,000 Men, 1,000 Stories"; it is included in the introduction to Part 3 of this series of posts).

Apart from asking readers to go check under the stairs asap, I embark on this new research project because the bulk of the second article (given me by the son of Lloyd Evans) was not attached.

Below is the first 'full' article I was given, linked to the top photograph:

Not only is it a well-written piece, it is particularly enlightening for those (like myself) who are interested in the experiences of Canadians in Combined Operations.

I met Lloyd Evans (first sailor on the left) several years ago and learned he volunteered for Combined Operations at about the same time as my father did, i.e., in the late fall of 1941. 

Back row L - R: Unknown, P. Bowers, Lloyd Evans, Don Westbrook

Front row L - R: Don Linder, Unknown, Doug Harrison. 1942 - 1943

Since information in the caption of the top photo lead me to rewards, I'd like to find the full second article for the same reason. I could add it to Lloyd's collection of material, pass it along to Thomas Fawdry's nephew, and perhaps follow other leads to other new information as well. 

The second 'partial' article, below, has a great headline, relates to my father's own experiences in Sicily (beginning July 10, 1943; "36 raids by the Luftwaffe in the first three days"), but it is cut off in the middle of a sentence by Thomas Fawdry.

Pretty good clue - there is another news article out there... somewhere

On the plus side, the first clipping has a date written atop it and we can see it is from The Ottawa Citizen. As well, I know where one can find microfilm of past issues of the Ottawa newspaper here in London ONT - i.e., at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). But - unfortunately - the cache of microfilm at UWO (1000s of reels) is not presently available for public use due to COVID - 19.

Q: So, what's a person to do?

A: I will check The Winnipeg Tribune, an online, digitized newspaper housed at the University of Manitoba.

My goals will be to look at newspapers from the beginning of January to the end of February, 1944, hoping to find the second article. At the same time I may be able to find news articles or interviews related to other Canadians in Combined Operations who also returned to Canada at the end of 1943, after two years of service overseas. Plus, one never knows what also might appear in The Trib, a very readable, 1944 newspaper.

And so, the search begins!

From The Winnipeg Tribune - January 1 - 4, 1944:

Canadian war correspondent Dick Sanburn interviewed Lloyd Evans and several other Canadians who manned landing crafts during Operation Baytown (the Allied invasion of the toe of Italy's boot at Reggio, beginning September 3, 1943). His lengthy stream of news articles could fill a book (and perhaps they do!?).

Four months later - still following the progress of Canadian troops - he writes about winter fashions:

 

Lloyd Evans (volunteer member of RCNVR and Combined Operations) and my father were part of the Canadian 80th Flotilla of Landing Crafts and toiled in Italy for 4 - 5 weeks during Operation Baytown. Once a regular schedule was established for "days on" and days off", Canadian sailors could do some sight-seeing, make memorable purchases and do a bit of souvenir scrounging.

Lloyd writes the following in memoirs:

Three of us decided to do a little sightseeing when the other crew were on duty on our craft. We visited Reggio di Calabria and called in on a police station with a letter requisitioning any guns we wanted. Under the occupation rules and regulations, locals had to turn in any weapons they held.

To make the letter look authentic, we stamped it with an official looking mark... the stamp having been made out of a potato. As we suspected, the local police couldn’t read English and they fell for it. Most of the weapons looked like antiques from the Boer war but I managed to get a lovely little Baretta (sic) ladies gun, that I later sold to an American sailor in Gibraltar.

My Navy Chronicles, page 33 - 34

Doug Harrison (RCNVR, Combined Ops) enjoyed similar experiences. He writes:

We had some days off and we travelled, did some sight seeing, e.g., visiting German graves. We met Sicilian prisoners walking home disconsolately, stopped them, and took sidearms from any officer. We saw oxen still being used as draft animals when we were there.

Sometimes we went to Italy and to Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory depots (AMGOT). (They later changed that name because in Italian it meant shi-!)

While a couple of ratings kept the man in charge of all the revolvers busy, we picked out a lot of dandies. If he caught us we were ready. We had chits made out, i.e., “Please supply this rating with sidearms,” signed Captain P.T. Gear or Captain B.M. Lever, after the Breech Mechanism Lever on a large gun.

"Dad, Well Done", page 36

And now, back to the news:

A 'sea attack' at the beginning of 1944 was perhaps a precursor to a later, more significant, January attack at Anzio:

Canadian war correspondent Doug Amaron is also following the progress of Canadian troops, and we learn many interesting details about the stiff German resistance that turned any progress northward into a very "long, slow slog":

Though the war in the air was seemingly going in a positive direction for the Allies, the war on the ground in Italy was terribly slow - and very cold and wet:

"Couldn't be wetter," says Sanburn. And the photographer below agrees. Our troops are "Mopping Up!":

As we know, the "thunderbolt invasion" (mentioned below) was five months away:

The battle for Ortona is chronicled by writers and one photographer (formerly) associated with The Winnipeg Tribune:

Canadian war correspondent Ross Munro also contributes to our understanding of how the war is progressing at the beginning of the new year, 1944:

Three articles appear below - all in a row - by Canadian writers. I think there were war correspondents in Italy from other countries... yes, I'm pretty sure, but I am aware that readers may not get that impression sometimes : )

This last short piece "By The Canadian Press" will encourage me to check out my father's collection of medals to see if he received a particular star. He and his mates landed in the U.K. in January 1942 and returned home on leave in December 1943, so the 1939-43 Service Star should be a part of his WWII decorations: 

The 1939-1945 Service Star is first on the left. Photo GH

For more information about a few of the Canadian sailors in Combined Operations who returned home on leave in December, 1943 (and were subsequently interviewed by their local newspapers), please link to "Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines, Parts 1 - 6".

Questions, comments and suggestions can be addressed to me at gordh7700@gmail.com

Unattributed Photos GH