Old Fashioned Canadian Christmas at Sea (Part 1 of 2)

Heroes Remember

Old Fashioned Canadian Christmas at Sea (Part 1 of 2)

Transcript

We went to Akureyri in Iceland and we usually pooled there until a convoy came up to us and then we joined them and we had a battleship escort group far away from us but we were the convoy escorts. The particular thing that I would like to remark on most, highlight of the whole thing was that the convoy was shadowed by a Focke-Wulf and of course they thought that the convoy was not being escorted with battleships so therefore the German authorities called out the Scharnhorst and sent us after, sent them after the convoy. So but we had a whole background of battleships and two cruisers so we were well backed up in that sense. So they managed to intervene. During this period of time, we were still going on with the convoy and we were ordered to go and make a torpedo run on the Scharnhorst but then the, Burnett who was the admiral at the time realized that we only had four torpedos and he wanted a destroyer with eight and that could go faster than we could. So even though he ordered us we started off and headed towards it and then he cancelled it. But not before something obviously happened. It was really funny because as they altered course, we have depth charge rails at the stern end, you see, and they had emergency charge and if you saw a sub you could run at it, trip it and the things would go off at 50 feet. Well, as we altered course, one, one wiggled off and fell off and went off at 50 feet and someone screamed out, "They're shooting at us." Anyway, from there we went into Kola Bay and of course this was Christmas day this happened and we went in and into just, just around the corner from Murmansk in a place called Kola Inlet and we got in there and we had an old fashioned Canadian Christmas at sea.

Description

Mr. Hannam talks about the Haida being assigned to an escort group, and being a part of the sinking of the Scharnhorst. He also tells a story about having an old fashioned Canadian Christmas on the Murmansk run.

Jack Hannam

Mr. Hannam was born in Vancouver, BC on June 19, 1924. At the age of five, shortly after his father's death, he moved to Victoria. His father survived the sinking of the HMCS Charlottetown in the St. Lawrence River but was tragically run down by a drunk driver. He started with the Merchant Marine at the age of 15 and then went on to the navy when he was 17. He joined the reserves Sept. 9, 1941. He served first on the HMCS Camrose and later on the HMCS Haida in both the North Atlantic and off North Africa.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:16
Person Interviewed:: Jack Hannam
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Atlantic Ocean
Branch:: Navy
Rank:: Leading Seaman

Related Videos

Old Fashioned Canadian Christmas at Sea (Part 2 of 2)

Mr.Hannam talks about his time spent with Harry de Wolfe on that particular Christmas.

The Athabascan (Part 1 of 5)

Mr. Hannam talks about the Athabascan, and his experience with it (part 1 of 5). He talks about the Athabascan itself, and the battle that sank her.

The Athabascan (Part 2 of 5)

Mr. Hannam talks about the Athabascan, and his experience with it (part 2 of 5). He talks about helping rescue the survivors from the Athabascan, and how he ended up adrift searching for survivors, in a boat (from the Haida) with an engine that wouldn't work.

The Athabascan (Part 3 of 5)

Mr. Hannam talks about the Athabascan, and his experience with it (part 3 of 5). Adrift in the Atlantic, they keep working on getting the engine to run, with only partial success. Out of the fog and smoke, someone recognizes him.

The Athabascan (Part 4 of 5)

Mr. Hannam talks about the Athabascan, and his experience with it (part 4 of 5). They continue to drift, and hide from aircraft (never being sure whether they are German or Allied.)

The Athabascan (Part 5 of 5)

Mr. Hannam talks about the Athabascan, and his experience with it (part 5 of 5). They continue to hide from aircraft, but are finally rescued.

Date modified:: 2019-06-20