By Pepper Parr
May 5th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
It is celebrated on the first Sunday in May; In remembrance of the longest campaign during the Second World War.
Battle of the Atlantic Sunday.
HMCS Burlinngton J250 – mine sweeper
Warships, many built in Canada, manned by Canadians who fought valiantly to protect the convoys that were taking material and supplies to Great Britain and Russia. The Murmansk Run was one of the most hazardous.
The Naval Memorial in Spencer Smith Park bears the name of every warship lost on one side the the names of every merchant ship lost on the other side.
HX 300 was the largest convoy to sail out of the Bedford Basin in Halifax with 166 merchant ships arranged in 19 parallel columns to produce a formation approximately 9 miles (14 km) wide and 4 miles (6.4 km) long. The average Atlantic crossing took between 14-17 days.
Twenty three of the ships that did convoy duty were built in Collingwood, corvettes and minesweepers.
HMCS Burlington, a minesweeper built in 1941, sailed into Burlington for a day and left for Halifax.
She had a crew of 83 people, could reach a speed of 16k nots and had Battle Honours for service in the Atlanta from 1942- 1944 and Gulf of St Lawrence, 1942
She was sold to a New Jersey business man in October 1945.
Wow! Just a few days ago, I came across a letter my Uncle Don wrote home during WWII, dated January 31, 1944. The letterhead was, “R.C.N.V.R.” which is an acronym for, The Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. And now, I see this article in the Burlington Gazette.
“By the war’s end, Canada had the third-largest navy in the world, with nearly 100,000 personnel—most of whom were members of the RCNVR.
Fun fact: RCNVR officers were affectionately nicknamed the “Wavy Navy” due to the distinctive wavy stripes on their uniform sleeves!”
Here’s a little more information on the R.C.N.V.R.
https://legionmagazine.com/how-canadian-volunteer-sailors-helped-win-the-battle-of-the-atlantic/
Very interesting.Do you have any other idea how many HX 300 ships made it across.
Editor’s note: HX was the identifier for convoys that sailed out of Halifax. The 300 is the number assigned to that convoy. There wasn’t time to learn exactly how many convoys there were other than they were forming up as late as early 1945.
Thank you for the history lesson and refreshing break from the regular news diet, and not a politician in sight. I can recall a time when you could see ships taking shape as you made your way to the Collingwood waterfront.