Many local naval veterans joined the Royal Canadian Navy before they were even old enough to vote.
Fresh-faced, ready to serve their country and perhaps get a pay increase to join, they left their landlocked part of the country in some cases for the high seas.
Leading up to the Canadian navy celebrating its centennial in May, many naval veterans are remembering their time in the navy fondly.
Al Taylor, 85, was just 17 when he joined in February 1943.
“I was young and I wanted to get into what was going on,” said Taylor, who served as an able seaman and has lived in Red Deer since 1967 with his wife Mary and family.
One of the highlights for Taylor occurred on Christmas in 1944. He was the youngest on the ship and he wound up being captain of the day, which allowed him to give goofy orders to others and also to “splice the mainbrace,” which was an order given to naval vessels to issue the crew a drink. Of course it meant Taylor had more than his fair share as he drank with many of his crewmates and he had to be taken back to his hammock, missing Christmas dinner.
Space was tight on the ships.
“You had to change your thinking completely. You had to get along with people and go with the flow,” said Earl Chadwick, 83. “If you were obnoxious, you would pay for it.”
Chadwick wanted to join as a way to make a little more money. He worked as a ship’s cook.
“I was working on a farm for a dollar a day and I heard in the navy they were getting a dollar and a quarter,” said Chadwick, who was living in Ontario at the time and now lives in Sylvan Lake. Just 17 in early 1944, he practised his mother’s signature until he could do it perfectly, so that if she wouldn’t sign the forms, he told her he would do it on his own. In the end, she agreed to sign them.
“I liked the discipline. You had your perimeters and you didn’t step out of line,” Chadwick said.
He would travel from St. John’s, Nfld., to Londonderry, Ireland, and for the first three days of every trip he would be sick, but would still have to work through it.
Seasickness wasn’t an issue for Alma Goodwin, 87, of Red Deer, who served on land during the Second World War. The men would sail off to war and the women would do the jobs that needed to be done at home. Goodwin worked all over Canada from Victoria, B.C., to Cornwallis, N.S.
She had five brothers in the Canadian Army and one who served with the U.S. Army. “I had to be perverse,” she said about joining the navy instead of the army and serving with the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Services.
She said she also became interested in the navy because she met a “nice sailor boy,” James Goodwin, who she has been married to for close to 50 years.
For Vern Glover of Red Deer, it allowed him to see a bit of the world and he was able to serve his time in Halifax. The 83-year-old said he also made some lasting friendships.
He remembers having to undergo inspection and if they weren’t dressed the way they were supposed to be, they weren’t allowed to go on shore.
They all have memories of “make and mend,” which was an afternoon off for sailors. If they finished patching their clothes they could go on shore.
Elmer Baltimore, who was a chief petty officer 2nd class, joined the Calgary Tanks militia at 14. He then worked on the Alaska Hwy for a while in the mechanic shop as an apprentice with the army before he saw a poster recruiting for the Korean War at age 22 in February 1953.
The 80-year-old was based at sea for 12 years as a young man, but served more than two decades with the navy, based mostly at Esquimalt, B.C. He and his wife eventually returned to Red Deer to live.
The first ship he served on was the HMCS Ontario, travelling to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and then a few weeks later to Europe. During his time in the navy, he served on six different ships.
On his first trip on the HMCS Ontario, they were stopped in Fiji when a bad storm rolled in. The harbour dockyard was so old and rickety they had to take the ship out to sea to ride out the storm. It was so rough, the hammocks they slept in would hit the bulkheads as the ship rocked back and forth. Baltimore had to copy Morse code throughout the storm and he had to tie his chair to the desk so he wouldn’t go flying.
Leading up to the centennial of the Canadian Navy in May, a number of navy veterans were honoured at a ceremony held at the Memorial Centre a couple of weeks ago by the City of Red Deer, the navy and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 35. Naval veterans were honoured with a plaque from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 35 and a certificate from the city. Those recognized include: Roy Busby, Earl Chadwick, John Dugan, Vernon Glover, Alma Goodwin, Leonard Nash, Roy McGregor, Hank Robillard and Al Taylor.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com