Walter Charles Barss was born in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, on March 19, 1918, to Walter Dinsmore and Edna Evelyn (Horton) Barss. Both of Walter Charles’ parents had family connections to Guysborough County. Walter Dinsmore was the son of Robert Barss, Canso, who was chief cook at the Commercial Cable Company, Hazel Hill. Edna was the daughter of Hiram Horton, Canso, and Henrietta Worth, North Ogden.
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| Engine Room Artificer Walter Charles Barss |
Walter Dinsmore Barss, marine engineer, and Edna Horton married in Canso on March 9, 1915. The couple’s first child, Shirley Roberta, was born in Hazel Hill on June 6, 1916. At the time of Walter Charles’ birth, his father’s line of work had taken the family to Louisbourg. The family later returned to the Canso area, where a third child, Margaret Alaire, was born in Hazel Hill on May 4, 1919.
At the time of the 1921 Canadian census, Walter Sr., Edna and their three children had returned to Louisbourg, where Walter Sr. was employed as an “engineer on [a] steamer.” Three more children joined the household over the following decade—Frances Eugenia, born in Louisbourg on October 22, 1921; Edna Aurora, born around 1926; and Murray Sedley, born around 1930.
Some time after 1931, the Barss family relocated to Sydney River. Walter Jr. graduated from Sydney Academy in June 1935 and went on to study Marine Engineering at Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, for two years. He then went to work in the merchant marine with his father.
At the time of Walter Jr.’s military enlistment, he was employed as an “oiler” in the engine room of the SS Belle Isle, Halifax. Built in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, for Newfoundland-Canada Steamships Ltd., the passenger-cargo steamship provided service from Montreal to St. Johns, Newfoundland, in summer, and from Halifax to St. Johns in winter.
On August 17, 1940, Walter Charles Barss enlisted with the Royal Canadian Volunteer Naval Reserve at Halifax. He was initially assigned to HMCS Stadacona, the Navy’s Halifax base, where he “completed new entry training” prior to commencing service as an “Engineman.”
On September 24, Walter was assigned to HMCS St. Croix. A “Town-class” destroyer initially built in 1919 for the United States Navy and launched as the USS McCook, the St. Croix was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) via the Royal Navy on the same day as Walter’s assignment. The vessel departed for the United Kingdom by way of St. Johns, NL, on November 30, but was forced to turn back when it encountered a major storm at sea.
On December 18, the Ste. Croix arrived in Halifax harbour, where it spent three months undergoing repairs. During that time, Walter was promoted to “Stoker PO” on January 1, 1941. When the Ste. Croix returned to service in mid-March 1941, it acted as a local escort for vessels entering and leaving the harbour.
On July 11, Walter qualified as an “Engine Technician II.” The following month, the Ste. Croix was assigned to the Newfoundland Escort Force, a fleet that accompanied Allied Convoys to Iceland. Walter served aboard the vessel until October 17, 1941, when he returned to HMCS Stadacona. For the next 12 months, he was “employed [with] dockyard loading parties” at Halifax.
On October 27, 1942, Walter proceeded to St. Johns, NL, for service with HMCS Avalon, the independent RCN command established on the island in June 1941. His service file refers to him as “Stoker PO,” suggesting he may have served in that capacity on two harbour craft that operated under the name “Avalon.” While stationed in Newfoundland, he married Mary Anita Purcell, daughter of William and Mary Purcell, Halifax, on January 9, 1943. The location of the ceremony is not known.
Over the subsequent months, Walter continued to advance through the naval ratings. On April 21, 1943, he was promoted to Engine Room Artificer (ERA) Class 4/c. The following day, he was granted an Engine Room W/K [Watch-keeping] Certificate and promotion to ERA Class 3/c. Walter’s ERA rank was a specialized position aboard naval vessels, held by a qualified boilermaker or engine smith. ERAs held the most senior crew position with regard to the maintenance and operation of a vessel’s mechanical plant.
Walter returned to HMCS Stadacona on June 17 and spent two months in Halifax before being assigned to HMCS Hochelaga, the RCN’s Montreal base. One of its roles was to provide crews for the corvettes that accompanied trans-Atlantic convoys. The vessels were specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and were a standard part of the escort fleets that accompanied convoys.
On November 16, Walter was assigned to HMCS Lindsay. A “Flower-class” corvette that was launched on June 4, 1943, the vessel was commissioned into the RCN the day before Walter joined its crew. Named for the town of Lindsay, ON, the corvette was built in nearby Midland, on the shores of Georgian Bay. In December 1943, the Lindsay travelled to Halifax, where it was assigned to the Western Local Escort Force’s W-5 Group. The corvette served in that capacity until April 1944, when it was transferred to Western Approaches Command.
During his time aboard the Lindsay, Walter received a recommendation for promotion to Warrant Engineer in mid-January 1944. A note on a Rating Form completed the following month assessed his work aboard the vessel: “Very efficient, supervising installation of machinery at shipyards, and in his duties as Chief E.R.A. [Engine Room Artificer], since commissioning.”
At the end of February, Walter returned to HMCS Stadacona, where he awaited his next assignment. On April 4, he joined the crew of HMCS Alberni. The Flower-class corvette, built in Esquimault, BC, was launched on August 22, 1940, and joined the RCN fleet in early February 1941. After making its way to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Panama Canal, the Alberni escorted trans-Atlantic convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic.
In October 1942, the Alberni was assigned to convoy assignments in the Mediterranean Sea as Allied forces conducted a campaign to clear German units from North Africa. The vessel returned to Halifax in March 1943 and two months later moved on to the St. Lawrence River for escort duty with the Quebec - Labrador convoys.
Before year’s end, the Alberni proceeded to Liverpool, NS, for repairs, completing a “work up” voyage to Bermuda in early February 1944 before returning to Halifax and rejoining the active RCN fleet. In April 1944, the vessel was among a group of 17 corvettes sent to the United Kingdom to support the upcoming D-Day landings. ERA Walter Barss was aboard the vessel as it made the trans-Atlantic voyage.
In mid-May, the Alberni participated in an anti-submarine exercise with three other RCN vessels off Lough Foyle. While not directly involved in the D-Day landings, the Alberni subsequently escorted landing craft, ships, barges and floating piers from the United Kingdom to Normandy throughout the months of June and July. Following a brief period in port at Southampton for maintenance, the vessel received orders to relieve HMCS Drumheller on patrol for U-boats east of a mine-swept channel leading into the Allied beach-head.
On the morning of August 21, 1944, the Alberni was cruising in fair weather, “sweeping” for submarines with a sonar detection device. At 1140 hours, German U-boat 480 surfaced and fired a torpedo at what it thought was a frigate. The ship was in fact HMCS Alberni. The explosive weapon struck the ship on its port side, just aft of the engine room. In minutes, the ship slipped beneath the surface about 25 nautical miles southeast of St. Catherine’s Point, Isle of Wight.
Three officers and 28 crew members managed to scramble aboard lifeboats before the Alberni sank. They were later rescued by two British torpedo boats and taken to Portsmouth, where two injured men received treatment. A total of 59 crew members went down with the vessel.
Engine Room Artificer Walter Charles Barss was one of the crew members officially listed as “Missing, Presumed Dead” in the aftermath of the Alberni’s sinking. On December 26, 1944, naval authorities wrote to Walter’s widow Anita, who was residing in Halifax at the time. The letter from the Naval Board Secretary stated:
“I regret to inform you that in view of the length of time which has elapsed since your husband, Walter Charles Barss, Engine Room Artificer third class, Officer Number A-2516, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, was reported missing from H.M.C.S. ‘Alberni,’ and as no news has since been received to the contrary, the Canadian Naval Authorities have now presumed his death to have occurred on the 21st of August, 1944.”
ERA Walter Charles Barss’ name is engraved on the Halifax Memorial, Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, unveiled in November 1967, in memory of the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces and Merchant Marine who perished at sea during the two World Wars and have no known graves.
Walter’s widow Anita later married John D. Vass and spent 50 years in Toronto, ON. In 2002, she returned to Halifax, where she took up residence in Parkland Estates. Mary Anita Vass passed away in the Halifax Infirmary on May 11, 2005. She was the last surviving member of her immediate family and had no children by either of her marriages.
Photograph of Engine Room Artificer Walter Charles Barss obtained from the Sydney Academy Memorial Book.
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