THE LOG A Quarterly Publication of the KITCHENER-WATERLOO NAVAL ASSOCIATION 315 Weber St. N., Waterloo, Ontario N2J 3H8

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1 K-W NAVAL ASSOCIATION 2017/2018 ADMINISTRATION OFFICERS President Past President Exec. V. P. Vice-President Exec. Treasurer Secretary Master At Arms Padre RCNA Rep. Service Officer Mike Edwards DIRECTORS Membership Mike Turos Sports Gord Moore Social/Ways Means Dale Appleton House Ken Pot Grounds Rick O Drowsky Sick & Visiting Open Publicity Cam Fraser Nevada Doug Singbeil Norm Coureyea Germaine Fitzgerald Open Open John S. Coxon Rev. Paul Ellingham Mike Edwards Jack Gough Special Events Co-ordinator Terri-Leigh Saunders Monthly General Meetings are on the Second Tuesday of the month With the exception that there are 3 Sunday Meetings Which occur on the Sunday before the Second Tuesday of the month in November, January and March Ladies General Meetings are on the Wednesdays Following Men s Meetings There are no meetings in July or August For clarity, please check the calendar. THE LOG A Quarterly Publication of the KITCHENER-WATERLOO NAVAL ASSOCIATION 315 Weber St. N., Waterloo, Ontario N2J 3H8 (519) (519) Website: A Royal Canadian Naval Association Affiliate Editors: Denise Misner & Mike Turos 1

2 K-W NAVAL ASSOCIATION SUMMER 2017 Shipmates, welcome to summer and we hope you are having a great one. A number of changes have taken place over the past couple of months which I will touch on in this log. First off I would like to thank Don Balcarras for his sick and visiting report since we do not have a director for that position at present, thank you very much Don. If you have not been into the club lately the sign up sheets for Sports Day, September 16, 2017 are posted on a large board in the club room. It is being held in Woodstock this year and is always a fun day. The $20 registration fee is in effect because we have to pay in advance for the meals and it is included in the registration fee. Please pay the fee to the bartender upon signing and make sure there is a cash register receipt printed that they PUT YOUR NAME ON, that is the only way a refund will be made at dinner time in Woodstock! Enjoy the day and lets bring home the hardware! Overall the club is doing well, managing the day to day expenses and some extra ordinary expenses. Things are a bit slower throughout the summer months but we are holding up well, don t forget to stop in on your way by! RCNA AGM will be held in Sarnia this year, September 22 through 24 and is a full meeting this year which includes the National Elections. I have expressed an interest in the National VP position which is the highest position I can hold. Looking forward to the Elections! Other things on the table will include the National Website and its new webmaster, which is from this area and has been in the club for meetings with myself and another Divisional VP and a new fundraiser for the RCNA in a tagging day (s) for the Naval Flower. A report will follow the meeting. 2

3 Last but not least is the Retiring of the KWNA Ladies Aux. A lot of issues have been knawing away at the ladies over the past couple of years and things were not getting better. Meetings were held over the period to try and get things positive but the direction things were going were not conducive to a positive club environment. As of June 30, 2017 the KWNA Ladies Aux. ceased to exist. The club has taken over the running of the Kitchen under the Directorship of VP Germaine Fitzgerald, with Joan Petrie looking after the Kitchen staffing, ordering, new idea cooking sessions etc., Irene Bricker is in charge of the outside of the Kitchen Hall Related Functions and the regular assistants Dorothy, Dale, Eunice and other volunteers have continued on to make things work. The club and me in particular thank all of you for hanging in and making this work, THANK YOU. There are still a few bumps to work out but mostly things are working well. Denise Misner has taken some time off from Sandwich Making, well deserved, and we thank her for feeding us those awesome sandwiches, Cathy Glover has taken over until her time takes her elsewhere and we hope that Denise will resume the program. The Ladies have sent a letter to all Ladies Aux members outlining membership continuance, your Ladies membership is in effect until expiration, Social, Non-Voting memberships are available through the Membership Director Mike Turos. The Ladies Aux has been a strong arm of the KW Naval Association for many years and has done a great job in assisting the club, we thank all members for your support to the KWNA for DECADES. The Kids Christmas Party Registration form is in this log, get it in early so the organizers can get their work done in a timely fashion! Last minute registrations cause some grief to the organizers mainly because the orders have gone in already! SUPPORT OUR CLUB, Enjoy the summer Yours Aye PRESIDENT MIKE EDWARDS 3

4 Pomp and Circumstances The Battle of Britain Parade and Ceremonies will occur on Sunday September 17th at the Waterloo Cenotaph The Parade form-up will be in the Waterloo City Hall back parking lot at 1:00 pm. The ceremonies at the cenotaph will commence at 2:00 pm. MASTER-AT-ARMS JOHN COXON SICK AND VISITING It has been a while since the last Log so I have to catch up on things. I have visited with Bob Jorden on several occasions. I can get him in the morning before he has his daily nap. We had a good visit. It s awful hard to hear him as he is down to a whisper. He knows who I am and always thanks me for the visit. I was down to see Brian Miller at Freeport and he s doing O.K. He has been to the General Meetings here at the club for the last two months. It s good to see him at his old post. I have been to New Hamburg a couple of times to visit Bert Thiel and Jan Miller. Bert has settled in pretty good, he says he likes the accommodations. I last seen Jan about a month ago after a visit with Bert. I was getting off the elevator and she was getting on. She is doing O.K. There is always something going on with Jan. We haven t had a really good visit yet. Last time she said that she is happy at Nithview. I ve been up to see Rick Hall a couple of times since the last Log. The last time was just last week. He was in good spirits and talking it up a lot. I know he is still in a lot of pain but he is a fighter. I heard that he is now on a pain pump which will help him a lot with the pain. We had a very good visit and I hope that things will improve for him. 4

5 I ve been to see Jack Petrie on a couple of occasions and he is now a resident at Pinehaven Extended Care. He says he is O.K. I saw him at the club on Saturday. John Dreyer (a.k.a. Johnny Love ) picks him up and brings him to the club on Saturday afternoons, which is a good thing. Jack says he s doing O.K. but he s playing his T.V. too loud, just kidding! Well, this will be my last report. As you know by now, I am giving this directorship up. It s time for some younger member to take over, I hope it will not take too long. I have said it before that I enjoy visiting with our sick members. It does not seem right to say that I have enjoyed visiting sick people, but over the last 16 or 17 years that I have been doing this, I have met and made many new friends. We have lost a great many friends in that time, some who were too young to have been taken from us. I think of Jim Logel and Brad Misner. I had many visits with Jim and his dog (I think it was Syd) always looking for treats. When Jack Misner was in Freeport I always listened to his piano playing down in the hall. He was pretty good. He and Herb Habel should have gotten together as Herbie was always crooning songs from the Big Band era. Then there was Warren Huff with his corny jokes, right up to the end. John Fraser When I first started to go to the club, John would wander from table to table with microphone in hand to get you to sing a few lines from the good old days. He s the one who talked me into this position by asking me to consider running for the job. I said O.K., I ll try it and the rest is history. Different names come to mind... Joe Doerner Joe Illig John Dahman Chickie Schnarr I knew them from other places. Some from school, some from church. I delivered meat to the Doerners many years ago on Fischer Street (now Belmont Ave.) Anyway, enough said. I could go on and on but it s time to draw the line. Thank you for your accolades at many meetings. It has been a pleasure to have been your director these many years. SICK & VISITING DIRECTOR DON BALCARRAS 5

6 SERVICE OFFICER Our Condolences to to the Horner family on the passing of Gerald on May His memorial service was held at the K. W. N. A. which I attended. nd R. C. L. Branch 50 held a service for Maureen Dodds on Saturday May 13th There was a good number of people there. John Coxon and I were at the Decoration Day service at Parkview Cemetery. There were not too many out to attended. Warspite Sea Cadets held their 75th Anniversary at the Albert McCormick Arena and put on a good display of photos. The band and drill teams did a great job of precision marching and drills. Later they held a dinner at the Holiday Inn which was hosted by the Navy League of Canada. I felt a little out of place since I was the only rating there with 10 to 12 officers. SERVICE OFFICER JACK GOUGH MEMBERSHIP The new 2018 membership cards will be available at the bar after the Labour Day weekend. The prices have not changed. The first Early Bird draw will be held November 1st and will include one winner from those who paid their membership before November 1st. The second Early Bird draw will be held December 1st and will include one winner from those who paid their membership before December 1st. Membership dues are due before January 1st! If you do not pay your dues before January 1st you will be required to pay a $5.00 late fee. Pay your dues on time before January 1st before your Membership Director has to look for you and we ll all be happier. MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR MIKE TUROS 6

7 SPORTS DIRECTOR Fellow Shipmates, The Oxford Naval Association will be hosting the Annual Sports Day on SEPTEMBER 16th, 2017, with registration at AM for the majority of the sports except for Snooker, Shuffleboard and Golf. The Oxford Club has only 1 Snooker Table, so the teams from Oxford will start playing at 9.00 AM and Shuffleboard will begin at 9.00 AM with the Host teams playing first. For Golf, the Host Club is trying to book a AM Tee off, Competitive Golf will be playing Stroke Play, Seniors and Ladies golf will be playing Scramble or what I call Best Ball. More information will be available as we get the forms from our Host. We should be getting the paper work for the Sports Day in the next couple of weeks. Please sign up early. There will be a $20.00 fee for each member playing, you will receive your money back at the banquet. Will have information for the Hotels in Woodstock so you are able to book a room for 1 or 2 nights as required. Have a Safe and Wonderful summer, hope to see you at the club over the next couple of months. SPORTS DIRECTOR GORDON MOORE 7

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11 RELAY FOR LIFE Final report for 2017 First and foremost I would thank each and every one of you for your contribution to my success in this year s Relay. The following are the final statistics for the Relay held on June 16th. Total Raised to Date $156, with an expected $50,000 to still come in Number of participants 326 Number of survivors 44 Number of Volunteers approximately 54 I personally, of course along with all your help, raised $2, towards cancer research and our fight against cancer. Again THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT. MARY ANNE JANTZI PARTICIPANT AND VOLUNTEER S. S. Caribou A number of members asked me to look into the story of S. S. Caribou so I went to my favorite source, Wikipedia to investigate. A search on wikipedia.org revealed the following article. -Mikie SS Caribou was a Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry that ran between Port aux Basques, in the Dominion of Newfoundland, and North Sydney, Nova Scotia between 1928 and During the Battle of the St. Lawrence the ferry was attacked and sunk by the Nazi German submarine U-69 in October 1942, while traversing the Cabot Strait as part of her three weekly SPAB convoys. As a civilian vessel, she had women and children on board, and many of them were among the 137 who died. Her sinking, and large death toll, made it clear that the war had really arrived on Canada's and Newfoundland's home front, and is cited by many historians as the most significant sinking in Canadian-controlled waters during the Second World War. 11

12 S. S. Caribou Sinks On 13 October 1942, Caribou was part of the Sydney-Port aux Basque (SPAB) convoy, organized by the Royal Canadian Navy base HMCS Protector. The SPAB series of convoys usually occurred three-times a week, and was carried out in darkness. HMCS Grandmère, a Bangor-class minesweeper was the naval escort vessel on this illfated voyage. Unfortunately for the convoy, German submarine U-69 was patrolling the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was a dark evening, and the heavy smoke from Caribou's coal-fired steam boilers silhouetted her against the nighttime horizon. At 3:51 a.m. Newfoundland Summer Time, on 14 October 1942, she was torpedoed approximately 37 km (20 nmi) southwest of Port aux Basques and sunk five minutes later. Grandmère spotted the submarine and tried to ram her, but, U-69 quickly submerged. Over the next two-hours, the minesweeper launched six depth charges, but did not damage the submarine, and U-69 crept away into the Atlantic undetected. Following procedure, Grandmère then went back for survivors. In the days after the sinking, the Canadian naval vessel was criticized in the Sydney Post-Record and The Globe and Mail as well as other media outlets for not immediately stopping and helping save survivors; but that was against operating procedures, and would have placed her in immediate danger of being sunk as well. After picking up survivors, Grandmère sailed for Sydney because it had better hospital facilities than Port aux Basques. Caribou was carrying 46 crew members and 191 civilian and military passengers. The ship's longtime Captain, Benjamin Taverner, was commanding the boat as she was struck, and perished along with his sons Stanley and Harold, who served as first and third officers respectively. Of the deceased, two were rescued at first, but they later died from exposure to the cold water. 137 people died that morning, and the passenger and crew totals were broken down as follows: of 118 military personnel, 57 died; of 73 civilians, 49 died; of the 46 crew members, 31 died. 34 bodies were found and brought to Port aux Basques by fishing schooners chartered by the Newfoundland Railway Company. To prevent rumours, the Royal Canadian Navy allowed the Sydney Post-Record and other media outlets to report the sinking, almost as soon as it happened, one of the few times that war censorship was temporarily lifted in this period. The sinking made front page news in both the The Toronto Daily Star and The Globe and Mail newspapers later that week. 12

13 S. S. Caribou Memorialized In 1986, the CN Marine/Marine Atlantic ferry MV Caribou was named after SS Caribou. She plied the same route as the original ferry, travelling between North Sydney and Port aux Basques. On her maiden voyage, 12 May 1986, the ship stopped at the location where its predecessor sank. At approximately 5:30 a.m., survivor Mack Piercey, one of 13 survivors on board for the occasion, tossed a poppy-laden memorial wreath into the ocean and then the ship continued on to Port aux Basques to complete the voyage. In 2014, as part of a special dedication service in the town of Port Hawkesbury's Veterans Memorial Park, SS Caribou's passengers and crew were honoured. Part of the dedication service included the unveiling of the anchor from the decommissioned MV Caribou as a new feature for the memorial. SS Caribou was featured on a 2 cent Newfoundland postage stamp in

14 Why do sailors in the Royal Canadian Navy salute Palm down? Knights in armor raised their visors with the right hand when meeting a comrade. The Naval salute differs from this open hand British Army salute in that the palm of the hand faces downward toward the shoulder. This dates back to the days of the sailing ships, when tar and pitch were used to seal the timber from seawater. The British Army developed a salute with the palm facing outwards, also used by the Royal Air Force. The Royal Navy, and subsequently, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, adopted a version with the palm facing downward. This is thought to be because many men working on those sailing ships had dirty hands, and to display them would be disrespectful. Thank you Jack Gough for this interesting story. 14

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16 K-W Naval Association Kids Christmas Party Application Sunday, December 3rd, 2017 Complete this form and mail it or return it to the Navy Club no later than SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1ST 2017 Please Print, Members Name Child s Name Age Gender (M/F) Grandchild s Name Age Gender (M/F)