1000 Men, 1000 Stories : Memoirs: The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (3)

Navy Memoirs by Roy Burt, Originally from Hamilton, Ontario

"I Became Interested in the Navy Between the Ages of 9 and 12"

From the Collection of Roy Burt, RCNVR and

Combined Operations, 1940 - 1945

Introduction:

Roy Burt travelled from Hamilton to the West Coast for Navy training in 1941, then from the West Coast to Halifax on the East Coast of Canada in order to catch a ride to Hayling Island and HMS Northney III (on the southern coast of England) for his introduction to Combined Operations (Comb. Ops or C.O.) and landing crafts in mid-1942. And later he journeyed from service in the Mediterranean Sea to Normandy, France, during 1943 - 44.

It's fair to say that some joined the Navy to see the world, and though Roy did not see the entire world he did experience a very busy, demanding and very memorable part of it during his World War II actions, along with about 1,000 other members of RCNVR who also volunteered for a British organization called Combined Ops.

Those 1,000 sailors are about 1% of the approximately 100,000 who joined the Canadian Navy - for a permanent role or for 'hostilities only' - during World War II. And of the 1% only a handful wrote very much if anything (!) related to their experiences, i.e., about where they trained in Canada or how they got to the theatre of war in the UK or Europe, specifically where they served, who with, what they did... and so on. Roy Burt is in that small handful (1% of the 1%?!) who not only wrote more than a few pages (e.g., memoirs, news articles, stories, poems) but collected several rare and informative photographs for posterity's sake.

How I stumbled upon 'The Roy Burt Collection' is a very interesting story, in my opinion (Navy research related), perhaps better served at another time, though it's fair to say I must now sincerely tip my hat to Roy's daughter Laurel P. for sending me a landing craft load of rare materials that cost her a boat load of time and energy.

I share in this entry two nicely typed pages of Roy's memoirs along with supporting material, some of which is also from Roy's files. Readers familiar with some of the travels of other Canadian sailors in Combined Ops will perhaps see a few familiar items, like names of training grounds or specific areas of service, but from a different, fresh perspective or angle.

As often stated, questions and comments can be addressed to GH at gordh7700@gmail.com

And now, something very rare from Roy Burt:

I have a few photos that relate to Roy's statements, so I have typed up his notes with different spacing so that photos, badges, links, related stories, etc. can be inserted.

Memoirs, by Roy Burt

The Autobiography of my Life since I have been in the Service

The first time I became interested in the Navy was between the ages of nine and twelve when my brother used to leave home in the winter and come back from a cruise to the West Indies. The souvenirs he brought back with him always fascinated and inspired my young and adventurous heart.

When I was fifteen the opportunity arose for me to make a start and learn something of this life. At this time I joined the Navy as a Sea Cadet. Here I learned all the fundamentals of the life I was to make my career, little dreaming what life had in store for me.

At the age of sixteen I sent in my application to Ottawa to join the permanent Navy and was informed that I would have to be seventeen before I could be accepted. This was a great disappointment to me for I had my heart so set on being a sailor, but was happy with the thought that the training I was taking was preparing me for my future career.

On July the first my hopes were finally fulfilled, for from Ottawa came my call just forty four days after my seventeenth birthday. However, my pleasure was short-lived, for a few days later came the tragic news that my brother had died. Torn between conflicting emotions of good and tragic news at the same time took all the joy out of life, and two days after the funeral I left a broken-hearted Mother to start my career.

Arriving in Toronto on the morning of the ninth I reported to the medical station where I met a group of fellows who like myself were on their way to Canada’s west coast to become sailors. The four days of travel to the coast were the happiest days of my life, the trip being my first time from home.

We arrived in Vancouver and merrily trooped aboard the Princess Marguerite*, a coastal pleasure liner. Believe me, I was quite proud, for this was to take me on my first sea voyage, the eighty-mile trip between Vancouver and Victoria.

[* likely the “Canadian Pacific Railway ship that began passenger service on Puget Sound in 1925.”

An ad from May 1926 promotes the original Princess Marguerite and sister

ship the Princess Kathleen; the original Marguerite was later torpedoed and sunk

by a Nazi sub in the Mediterranean while serving as a troop carrier during WWII

More details can be found at My Northwest; 1926 ad - Courtesy Feliks Banel

Roy Burt's Memoirs continue:

We were met on the other side by an R.C.N. truck into which we piled our baggage and began our journey to the barracks that is situated on Canada’s beautiful West Coast, H.M.C.S Naden.

Photo of HMCS Naden badge as found at Ready Aye Ready

Roy Burt's Memoirs continue:

We were greeted at the gate by cheers of encouragement such as, “Hi suckers,” and “It will be a long time before you see the outside of these gates again!” We did not realize at the time how true these remarks really were.

They piled us off the truck in front of a veranda of a long low brick structure which they called the quarter deck. Some rating who seemed like a little tin God to me at the time gave us the old line that we were in the greatest service in the world. After this short pep talk we were herded like a flock of sheep to our new quarters which was to be our home for the next two months.

During this period we underwent very strenuous training which made me often wonder why I had ever left home. After a time the life began to appeal to me and I was quite proud to wear the navy blue. After completion of our training we moved to another section of the barracks.

Due to the fact I was still a boy seaman I could not go aboard ship so my time was spent in taking advanced courses preparing me for the time when I could go to sea.

At this time a band was formed and I joined it as a drummer which helped to break the monotony of my barracks life. After spending a total of eight months here I got my first sea draft. To me, life seemed very interesting at this time for I was full of expectations of what lay ahead for me.

I began my life as a proper sailor on a minesweeper. It was built in 1914 for the Royal Navy (R.N.) but was now a Canadian craft. On her I made my trip to Prince Rupert, B.C. This was a wonderful little town and we spent many a happy time there. From the Armentieres*, for that was the name of the craft I was now on, I went back to Naden where I joined Combined Operations (C.O.), and on May 15th I started for the East Coast to go overseas. I was a very happy man for now all my dreams of the past two years were to be fulfilled.

[* HMCS Armentieres, a minesweeper. See photo below]

The photo and more details can be found on Wikipedia

Roy Burt's Memoirs continue:

So, on the 3rd of June, 1942, I left Halifax on the S.S. Batory, a Polish trooper. This carried us to Scotland where we disembarked and piled into trucks to be taken to H.M.C.S. Niobe. We stayed there a couple of weeks and then were drafted to H.M.S. Northney III.

Here began our preliminary training, such as signals, buoyage (a system of buoys and beacons used to mark channels and indicate safe navigation areas), and other subjects that were to be very helpful to us at a future date. From here we went to Northney I where we were shown the type of craft we were to handle. These were LCMs (Landing Craft, Mechanised), and LCAs (Landing Craft, Assault). The only types that were being used at the time. We finished our training here, as qualified boatmen.

Three Canadians, raw Combined Ops recruits, at HMS Northney on
Hayling Island, early 1942. Roy Burt, centre. Clayton Marks, right

(Clayton later lived in London, Ont., wrote Combined Operations)

We now made our way to H.M.S. Roseneath. Here we went on the usual night manoeuvres and daylight exercises, until we were in the best possible state for any day or night raid.

We now moved up to Scotland to H.M.S. Quebec where once more we went through manoeuvres of every description. It was here we were taught to handle every craft that floated, and we did; e.g., LCVs (Landing Craft, Vehicles), LCP(R)s (Landing Craft, Personnel, Ramped), LCPs (Landing Craft, Personnel), and LCP(L)s (Landing Craft, Personnel, Large).

It was now that the Dieppe raid was due to come off, though of course no one knew about it. We were roused out of bed one night and told to pack - we were going. But this was not to be. For no sooner had we got our bags ready than a signal came that we were not going. That was the closest we came to being in the Dieppe raid.

We left Quebec and taking our craft (I had an LCV) we headed south to Roseneath. Upon our arrival we went aboard the H.M.S. Queen Emma, an LCA and LCM carrier. We spent several weeks aboard this ship and then went to Roseneath Barracks again.

From here we went to the SS Clan MacTaggart. And from there we went to the M.V. Salasia on which we were to go to North Africa. We left for ‘the Med’ on October the 23rd and landed in North Africa on November 8th, 1942. We spent some time down there and eventually got on board the SS Ocean Merchant on which we steamed north to Liverpool, landing there on December 19th. Then we proceeded on 14 days leave.

We reported back from our leave to HMS Foliot III on January, 1943. From here we went to the HMS Glengyle, where we did a couple of weeks of manoeuvres in LCMs. From there we once more went to Roseneath.

A week later we were sent to the HMS Keren. On her we sailed from Scotland on March 16, 1943, making our way around Africa, stopping at Freetown and Durban. We left her on the 8th of May, 1943, and went into HMS Saunders in the Egyptian desert. We were there about two months and then sent to the SS Ennerdale, an LCM carrier. On her we pulled into Alexandria on July 1st and left on July 3rd, steaming up the Med to Sicily where we disembarked and stayed for 30 days.

On August 7th we left here and made our way - in our LCMs - to Malta, where we stayed for a month. We left here on the 5th of September, and arrived in England on September 11th, 1943, and were sent to HMS Westcliff. From here we were drafted to Niobe and sent home on foreign service leave. We were recalled from this on January 16, 1944, and sent back to the U.K. where we picked up LCI(L)s (Landing Craft, Infantry, Large), and on the 6th of June landed in France.

. . . . .

Combined Operations insignia

Some readers, myself included, might feel that Roy's memoirs ended rather abruptly. Where did he go, what did he do after his service was required aboard LCI(L)s (Landing Craft for Infantry (Large)) during the invasion of France? Maybe Roy's notes about the Navy ended suddenly because he was a little miffed that "they didn't need us anymore(!)," i.e., after Operation Neptune - and his work for Combined Operations - ended on the shores of France.

Hopefully more information (post-Normandy) will be located as I peruse the 1,000+ separate items in Roy's files.

Below readers will find a letter and photo related to Roy's experience as a drummer. Move over, Ringo!

One of the items that Roy clipped out of his (later) hometown newspaper reveals another look at parts of his Navy career, including a few words about what happened after D-Day Normandy in 1944.