Convoys
Heroes Remember
Convoys
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Transcript
Well the convoy set out, normally they set up a convoy and it
usually ran at the speed of the slowest ship. So the slowest
ships were actually put at the back so that was considered the
most dangerous spot was the last row on the outside because the
submarines just come along and picked off the back end and by
the time the escort ships got to them they'd be long gone again.
So uh. And usually that speed was somewhere between 8 - 10
knots which is very slow in today's world. But it took about
anywhere from 12 to14 days to go from North America to England
and vise versa, the same thing coming back again.
Interviewer: The first convoy you were on, do you remember the
month and the year?
It was in the winter of '44 uh, January I think, in that time
slot. I remember it took us two weeks to get across and we were
in England for about three weeks I guess and during that time the
last, the last V-bomb hit in to London when we were there. So, I
don't remember what the date was but that's the time frame.
Interviewer: It was the winter of '44 - '45? Yeah. Yep.
Interviewer: Your impression then, the first time you were at
the, uh with that convoy. Were you aware of the dangers?
Well it was instilled in you, you know. Things like don't smoke,
don't open anything at night time that might let any light out to
the side. They woke. It was so dark, they couldn't put any
lights outside so they, they would run a rope along the from
one entrance way to the next entrance way across the decks of
the ship. And you couldn't take a light so if you let go of that
rope and if it wasn't a clear night if it was dark you'd go
right off the edge of the ship and not know it. So they, they
tried to impress on us. As I say the younger fellas really until
we saw that one ship go down I don't think we really appreciated
what they were talking about. But we did certainly after that.
Interviewer: On this first convoy were there any vessels lost to
your knowledge. As far as I know there was one lost. I don't
know of any more. But on a thousand ship convoy you couldn't see
the otherside. So uh, I only saw the light from one and we were
told that one ofthe ships had been sunk. But they didn't
advertise things like l that around too much during war time,
they wouldn't uh.. Because you know somebody would say some
thing wrong and that was more propaganda for the other side. We
really weren't informed too much. We uh, we learned a lot more
than the general public was told. We knew that there were
submarines up in the St. Lawrence River long before they
told anybody elsethathere was to be anything. Matter of fact
it's, it's only been the last few years that they even
mentioned that there were ships there submarines up that far.
But uh they were. You have to give them that credit. They uh,
although dangerous as shipping was it was dangerous to be in
a submarine so uh. And the only submarine we saw was when
we came back from England there was uh, we were in an enviable
position of being 7 days from England, 7 days from Canada
and Germany surrendered. Big heartedly they gave us one extra
shot of rum. And uh, one of the German submarines came up
the next day and surrendered. And one of the escort ships
went out and picked it up and escorted it back to North America.
Interviewer: What was your impression when you
first saw that submarine?
Well it was a very small silhouette over on the other side.
But we really did, we didn't think the war was over because
Japan was still operationed and most of us expected that as
soon as we got back to Canada we would just ship out to the
West coast and start sailing in that direction. So uh, it was a
great celebration, the one thing that sticks in my mind as we go
back to Halifax was all of the store fronts on the river or on
the, on the harbour side were covered with plywood and uh we
almost thought there was another huge explosion in Halifax.
Well it was but it was a celebration more so than anything
else. A lot of windows got broken in that bit if a celebration
Interviewer: So seven days after the end of the war you arrive
back in Halifax. Interview: So the Halifax riots had..
Had, they ceased since then. So we were not involved in it.
Interviewer: Did you spend time ashore in Halifax?
No as a matter of fact, I reported in to Halifax, signed
off the ship, signed off the ship and went right strait back to
Montreal where the manning depot point was as I say expecting to
be shipped back out to the East Coast someplace. They gave us a
little time off, said go home for a little holiday. And uh, I
think I got ten days or something like that and uh, expect me to
come back when I came to be assigned to a ship to the West
Coast and I found when I got back they wanted somebody to go back
out to, in the North Atlantic again and uh. So we took a ship
or went back to Halifax and got assigned on a ship for, that made
a tour up to Greenland. It was a provisioning ship, it was uh a
little smaller than the ten thousand ton, I think it was
probably around the eight ton or uh eight thousand ton and it was
used to supply all the bases up uh, up on the Greenland on the
coast, on there, yeah on the West Coast of Greenland. The
Americans set up a lot of observation points there and uh,
we took all there food and stuff up. Including one quarter
of a ship full of Johnnie Walker rye. And uh, which they kept
very well secured.
Interviewer: This would be, they would be concerned about ...
Yes if we could have got in to it we probably would have been
part of tha pilfering.
On the first trip across if I, I would of swore that when I got
to England if they would have taken me and guaranteed
they'd flown me home I would have joined the Army, if
they'd have taken me because I was so sea sick on that trip
going over. I lived on soda crackers I think for the ten days
of the two weeks it took us to go across. I had a couple of
good friends on board that forced me to eat these soda
crackers otherwise I wouldn't have. I at one time brought up
blood from being so sick. But after a couple of days on shore
you forgot how sick you were. And uh you went around and saw
what England was and saw what had happened to England at that
point and time but it was, it was pretty bad it had a lot of hole
in the ground and a lot of the, a lot of buildings down and uh.
And yet talking to the people there they, they, they seemed so,
they were so sure that they were going to win, and the war was
going good at that time and they were starting to win. You could
you could, you could feel that the people there thought during
all the bombings and uh and they were at that time they, although
it was the last time that one of their B2 bombs fell, they didn't
know it was going to be the last one. So uh, it uh. You had to
have a lot of pride in what they were doing there.
Description
Mr. Downing explains how a convoy was formed and moved across the Atlantic. He recalls precautions used on board during the ocean voyage and relates some his experiences on board ship during his service.
Robert Downing
Mr. Downing was born in Leamington, Ontario on August 24, 1927. He did all his schooling there. His father, a Veteran of the First World War, owned and operated a factory in Leamington that manufactured crates and baskets for farmers. As a teenager, Robert Downing spent a lot of time working for his father in that factory. Mr. Downing had a younger brother and an older sister. Mr. Downing remembered learning about the war in Europe from the newsreels he would see when he went to the movies.
In 1944, just before he turned 17, he enlisted in the Merchant Marine. He was anxious to join the war effort, but was too young to sign up with the regular forces. He began his training in Prescott, Ontario where he learned to be a ship's engineer. A few weeks after that training, he was sent to Montreal to work aboard his first ship.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 08:33
- Person Interviewed:
- Robert Downing
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- Second World War
- Branch:
- Merchant Navy
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