Praise for Corvettes and Crews

Heroes Remember

Praise for Corvettes and Crews

Transcript

And one of the bravest men I’ve seen is our Canadian sailors on the corvettes. The ships used to go down in the trough of the waves. People don’t realize how big the ocean is and the action that it causes. And we hit a wave 30 and 40 feet high, and hits a small boat like a corvette and all you would see is the “T” in the mast and every time I see a navy man, Veterans, I shake his hand. So they were very brave. When they went down in the water all you seen was the top of their mast. My ship we would ride on top and plunge down into it, but the corvettes would ride on top and go down and up and down. It’s very, very frightening.

Description

Mr. Tanner discusses the admiration he has for the seaworthiness of Canada’s Naval Corvettes, and the bravery of their crews.

Allen Tanner

Allen Tanner was born on December 1, 1925 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After finishing Grade Nine, he went to work for a Norwegian shipping firm on the Halifax dockyard. As a member of the Navy League, he served in an Honour Guard for the Queen when she visited Halifax in 1939. Too young to join the Canadian Merchant Navy, he joined a Norwegian ship, whose crew shortage made him a welcome addition. Mr. Tanner worked on board a freighter, but was lured to work on tankers due to the higher pay they offered.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 0:57
Person Interviewed:: Allen Tanner
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Atlantic Ocean
Battle/Campaign:: Battle of the Atlantic
Branch:: Merchant Navy
Units/Ship:: D/S Sirehei
Occupation:: Steward

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Date modified:: 2019-04-03