THANKS, Deborah ............ I have an intimate connection with the Canadian Minesweeper Fleet, of 1944-45. By brother Jim, who was discharged, in 1946, as a Chief Petty Officer WRITER , ASSIGNED IN FEBRUARY 1944 , to the H.M.C.S.THUNDER, the flagship of the Canadian Minesweeper Fleet. We referred to Jim as the Captain's Private SECRETARY, BUT recently, I found out that it was his sole job to report the activities of the Canadian Minesweeper Fleet, which are now part of the Archives. They swept the Channel, prior to the 1944 Landings, were present on D-Day, and later swept the Harbour of BREST, France, before the American Battleships went in an levelled the German Defences. I saw a couple of decommissioned Minesweepers, at anchor, in KINGSTON, Ontario, in the 1960's. They were so small, I would have had reservations about going out on them, on LAKE SIMCOE !!!!!! Thanks, again, FOR YOUR INPUT ........... Paul Robins -------------------------------------------------- From: "Deborah Crawford" <deborahc8@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 5:22 PM To: <can-ont-simcoe@rootsweb.com> Subject: [CAN-ONT-SIMCOE] World War II articles > Good day listers. Quiet of late - guess everybody's laying low trying > desperately to stay cool. So, for your reading pleasure I thought I'd > present a few tales relevant to the Penetanguishene area during the years > of > 1939 - 1945 - World War II. I came upon these articles while sourcing out > some other relevant information and though these contain no specific > genealogical information, they do add to the picture of our world during a > memorable time in history. I will post a short story for now - a couple > others are a bit longer and if the readers don't wish to see them, let me > know and I'll not continue. Here is story #1 - from the Globe and Mail, > April 20 1944. "Midland April 19 - Six wooden minesweepers are to be > built > for the Canadian Government, two each in Midland, Penetanguishene and > Honey > Harbor. Contracts have been awarded to the Midland Boat Works, the Grew > Boat Co Penetanguishene and the Port Carling Boat Works Honey Harbor, the > biggest war contracts these firms have yet received. Skilled technicians > will be in charge of installation of the intricate electrical equipment > which minesweepers carry in time of war, as the job is a highly technical > one. The keels of British Columbia fir have already been laid and > progress > is being made on the framework. The ships will be launched as soon as the > hulls are completed and the finishing touches given the boats when in the > water. They should be completed before ice forms next fall. The > minesweepers are of such design that after the war they can be easily > converted into fishing trawlers." > > I wonder how many of our cousins, uncles and grandfathers worked in these > shipyards, or served on the ships? Or did the ships even make it into > service as a minesweeper seeing as how they weren't due to be completed > until the fall of 1945? Perhaps they served as fishing trawlers and never > saw service as a minesweeper. > > Anyway - hope you enjoy this peek into the past. Stay cool. > > Deborah > ***************** > Ten People All Genealogists Should Follow On Twitter: http://tr.im/hBAy > > Simcoe Co. GenWeb at http://www.waynecook.com/simcoe.shtml > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > CAN-ONT-SIMCOE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >