First Voyage

Heroes Remember

First Voyage

Transcript

There in Halifax we went to the manning pool there and they had requirements for personnel aboard a ship that was going on the North Atlantic and another ship that was going to the West Indies. And we drew a card for who was going where and I got the North Atlantic run. The ship I was on called the Elk Island Park was named after Elk Island which is an Island out here I believe in Lake Winnipeg. On the bridge, I'll never forget it, there was the head and the antlers of an elk. Somebody must have shot it or donated it or whatever, but it was always, it was up on the bridge. We were mustered up in Bedford Basin which you're probably familiar with and the convoy proceeded out through the Halifax gate and I can always recall an old timer standing on deck with me saying, “Well, anything can happen now!” and I really didn't know what he meant and it was going through the steel gate which was in the water to protect submarines from entering into Bedford Basin. So we were on our way and that first night there was lots of noise and activity being below decks as a trimmer and the stoke hold. You could hear the vibrations and the sound and the noise and after my watch was over, I was on the 12 to 4 watch, when I came up on deck at first light much to my surprise there was an aircraft carrier right along side of us and he hadn't been there the night before and this aircraft carrier was a, it was called a, we called them “Baby flat tops.” They were ten thousand cargo vessel that was stripped of the upper deck and then they put a flight deck on board so it carried three aircraft, I believe. There were a ferry sword fish and as I was looking, it was first light and as I'm looking out at this ship, they were taking on board these ferry sword fish which were just sort of hovering over the deck. They had a top speed of I think about 95 miles an hour so they weren't very fast. Obviously they were out on patrol because of all, you know, what I was hearing during the watch. People talk about the Battle of the North Atlantic being the longest battle of the war and obviously I experienced that because here it was, I think it was March or February, March, the latter stages of the war, there's still all this activity going on and this is six years later after September the 3rd,‘39.

Description

Mr. Colcomb describes joining the SS Oak Island Park in Halifax harbour as part of a convoy. He describes seeing a freighter converted to a miniature aircraft carrier, a late edition to the Allies effort to thwart German U-boats.

Ross Colcomb

Ross Colcomb was born in Montreal, Quebec on July 2, 1926. After being an Air Cadet in his early teens, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at age seventeen, and took air crew training. The demand for air crew was low near the end of the war, so Mr. Colcomb was discharged after nine months. He immediately joined the Merchant Navy. After a short period of engineering and gunnery training, Mr. Colcomb went to sea as a fireman aboard the SS Elk Island Park, which ferried war materials to England for the duration of the Second World War.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:57
Person Interviewed:: Ross Colcomb
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Battle/Campaign:: Battle of the Atlantic
Branch:: Merchant Navy
Units/Ship:: Royal Canadian Electrical Mechanical Engineers
Occupation:: Fireman

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Enlistment and Training Profile

Mr. Colcomb describes receiving gunnery instruction and boiler theory, but no practical instruction, before qualifying for engine room duty.

Foul Weather and Risks

Mr. Colcomb describes forming up a convoy in the fog-shrouded St. Lawrence River and being nervous because his ship was loaded with munitions. He also describes an incident during that crossing in which a tank lashed to the deck breaks loose and is re-secured without any damage occurring.

Firing the Boilers

Mr. Colcomb describes in detail the make up of an engine room watch, and goes on to describe synchronism required among the crew to keep the boilers properly fired.

London Rubble and Pubs

Mr. Colcomb describes shore leave in London and seeing St. Paul's Cathedral standing unscathed and surrounded by rubble. He also describes visiting a pub nearby and being surprised to see a clergyman sharing a pint with the locals.

Reliving the Past

Mr. Colcomb recalls visiting Halifax and showing his wife and friends exactly where his ship had positioned itself for a convoy leaving the Bedford Basin. He also recalls that the weather conditions were remarkably similar.

Date modified:: 2019-06-20