 PETER BLACK German subs attack Canada
Have a look at the North Atlantic Ocean in an atlas or on a globe, or from an east coast shore, for that matter. See how far Germany is from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. See how narrow Cabot Strait is between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island.
Now imagine Nazi submarines propelling silently across the vastness of the Atlantic, slipping through the strait undetected and undeterred, entering the Gulf and penetrating the mouth of the St. Lawrence at least as far as Rimouski, a mere 300 km east of Quebec City.
Once within the St. Lawrence estuary, rampaging over two summers, 1942 and 1944, Nazi U-boats destroyed 23 ships, including four Canadian warships, and killed some 300 people, many of whom were civilians. Imagine that. Deep within what Premier Bouchard would call Quebec territory, in the thick of the Battle of the Atlantic, Hitler's sea-wolves were wreaking deadly havoc, allowed an almost free rein by domestic defenses stretched thin by the European war effort.
There are at least two major historic milestones to the so-called Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence -- so-called because Canadian defenders, though they tried mightily, were unable to disable, sink or capture a single one of the tormenting subs.
The Nazi incursions marked the first time since the War of 1812 that a foreign enemy force had cause fatalities on Canadian soil (disregarding the assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, probably by an American Fenian).
It was also the only actual fighting between Allies and Nazis to take place within Canada, and, if I'm not mistaken, even within North America. But because it was such a shocking, alarming, and potentially panic-inducing development, most of what actually happened in the Gulf during the war was kept from the public. Most, but obviously, not all.
The Oct. 14, 1942, sinking of the ferry Caribou, steaming between Sydney and Port Aux Basques, made the papers, since the death toll included five mothers and 10 children, as well as 121 military personnel, including Agnes Wilkie, the only navy nurse to die due to enemy action. Wilkie's fellow nurse, Margaret Brooke, survived the nightmare and was made a member of the Order of the British Empire for her efforts to save her friend.
Historians may wish to debate whether Canada could have done better in defending its own territory. As unlikely as it may have been, the possibility of Nazi naval operations in the Gulf had been considered by military planners. After all, in the First World War, German subs had managed to mine Halifax harbour and sink 11 ships in the vicinity. To cover themselves, the Ottawa brass established a small naval base in the town of Gaspé, called HMCS Fort Ramsay. Shortly after the ribbon was snipped in May, 1942, the U-boat attacks in the Gulf began.
That deadly summer of '42, six U-boats, let loose like sharks in a tank of tuna, torpedoed and sank 21 ships in the Gulf and up the river. One, the Carolus, was brought down off the ritzy resort town of Metis Beach, a mere couple hours train chug from Quebec City.
The majority of the quarry were merchant ships, carrying supplies for the British war effort or construction materials for the Goose Bay air base being built in Labrador. But two warships went down that season as well, the HMCS Raccoon on Sept. 7 and the HMCS Charlottetown, four days later. Both ships were trying to protect convoys from the U-boat attacks.
Canadian forces scored no kills in their maddening efforts to protect St. Lawrence shipping from the sea-wolves. But, despite the loss of lives and ships, the U-boats' effectiveness in choking off shipping was limited. Indeed, despite the attacks, the vast majority of goods shipped through the St. Lawrence made it safely to their destination.
The Battle of the St. Lawrence is one of those true stories of Canadian military history that somehow hasn't really registered in the public mind. With official Ottawa now coming forward with honors, while there are still some veterans among us, the story may now get bigger play.
(If you want to read more about the Battle, check the Veterans' Affairs website. Some of the information for this piece came from there.)
Copyright © 1999 Peter Black/Log Cabin Chronicles/11.99 |
