Prairie farmers made much better sailors than some people might have thought, says the retired Canadian naval officer in charge of centennial celebration to take place at the Red Deer Memorial Centre on Sunday.
The Central Alberta men recruited to sail Canada’s warships were actually superb seamen, mainly because they were farmers, says Red Deer veterinarian John Dugan. They were used to hard work and they had a knack for looking after machinery and engines, which is why so many of them ended up working in the engine rooms of Canada’s vessels during the Second World War, says Dugan.
Among the warships on which they served was the HMCS Red Deer, a Bangor-class minesweeper commissioned in 1941 as one of 320 vessels named for towns, cities and First Nations communities across the country as Canada ramped up its armed for battle at sea.
Those ships and the communities for which they were named are being honoured in the weeks leading up to May 4, when Canada’s armed forces celebrate the establishment in 1910 of the Royal Canadian Navy, renamed when the nation’s forces were unified in 1968. Officially named Canadian Forces Maritime Command (MARCOM), the former RCN is now commonly called the Canadian Navy.
About all that remains of the HMCS Red Deer, which was scrapped at the end of the war, is its bell, permanently stored at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery.
The bell and two or three navy veterans will be on hand for the namesake ceremony commemorating the HMCS Red Deer and its crew on Sunday.
The ceremony is a central part of local celebrations of the RCN’s 100th anniversary, which will also include a presentation by local historian Michael Dawe, and guest appearances by the Red Deer Royals, the Red Deer Legion Pipe Band and the Canadian Navy band.
Celebrations begin at 7 p.m. There is no charge to attend the event, which is a collaboration between the Canadian Navy, Branch 35 of the Royal Canadian Legion and the City of Red Deer. The event celebrates the role of the navy within the Canadian Forces over the past century.
“There are 700 seats in the Memorial Centre. I hope to fill them all,” says Dugan.
