Supply Petty Officer Joseph Victor Wilkins Veinotte—Perished At Sea April 29, 1944

 Joseph Victor Wilkins Veinotte was born in Ecum Secum, Guysborough County, on May 24, 1916. Nova Scotia’s Veinotte families trace their ancestry to Leopold Frederick Veinot, born on October 15, 1704, in Blamont, Principality of Montbéliard, France, near the Swiss border. The region was one of the few Protestant enclaves in France.

The son of Jean Hori Veinot and Jeanne Masson, Leopold married Jeanne Melière, who was born in Blamont on October 18, 1704. The couple raised a family of eight children—five boys and three girls—all born in Blamont. On May 16, 1752, Leopold, Jean and their children departed from Rotterdam, Netherlands, aboard the ship Betty, destined for Halifax, NS..

The Veinots’ arrival in Nova Scotia was part of a British campaign to bring Protestant settlers to the colony, to counter-balance its mainly Roman Catholic Acadian population. Notices posted throughout central Europe attracted approximately 2,700 “foreign Protestants” from agricultural communities to the largely unsettled colony. The settlers came from three main areas—the Upper Rhine area of present-day Germany; French- and German-speaking Swiss cantons; and the French-speaking principality of Montbéliard.

In the spring of 1753, males old enough to qualify as landowners gathered in St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Halifax, where they drew for lots of land in a planned settlement near Lunenburg. Leopold received lots in the Moreau, Northwest and Third Divisions, and established his residence in the second location. He passed away there in 1783 at 80 years of age.

Christopher Jacques Veinot, one of Leopold and Jeanne’s five sons, married Elizabeth Catherine Robar in Lunenburg on April 13, 1761. Christopher Jacques and Elizabeth had at least three children—a daughter Catharine Elizabeth and two sons, James Frederick and Jean George—all born in Lunenburg. In 1800, James Frederick (1768 - 1843) married Mary Catherine Boucher (1785 - 1837) in Lunenburg.

Jacob Veinot (1809 - 1834), one of James Frederick and Mary’s sons, married Elizabeth Langille (1813 - 1891) in Lunenburg on October 6, 1831. The following year, their oldest child, John Frederick “Fred,” was born in Martin’s River, located between Chester and Mahone Bay, and relocated to Ecum Secum, Guysborough County, in the 1850s.

A lumberman and millwright by occupation, Fred married Elizabeth Ann “Annie” Fleet, daughter of David Fleet and Sarah Jewers, Ecum Secum, on January 24, 1859. The couple raised a large family of 13 children—10 daughters and three sons—in their home. Fred passed away in Ecum Secum on March 8, 1895, and was laid to rest in St. Barnabas Cemetery, Ecum Secum.

David Kenneth Veinotte, the third youngest of Fred and Annie’s children, was born in 1878. Kenneth married Mary Florence Ashton, daughter of Nathaniel Ashton, “trader,” and Mary Catherine Publicover, in a Church of England ceremony held in Ecum Secum on August 28, 1907. At the time of his marriage, Kenneth listed his occupation as “farmer.” He eventually opened a general store in Ecum Secum and later opened a funeral home business in the community. During the early years of the Second World War, Kenneth was the foreman in charge of the construction of Shearwater Air Force Base, Dartmouth.

Kenneth and Florence raised a family of six children, four sons and two daughters. At the time of the 1921 Canadian census, their household included Frederick “Fred,” age 13; David Roger, age 11; Mary Catherine, age eight; Victor, age five, and Anna Louisa “Annie,” age one. Kenneth’s mother Annie, age 83, also resided in the Veinotte home. Kenneth and Florence’s youngest child, Charles Stewart, was born before year’s end.

Victor Veinotte, the third of Kenneth and Florence’s four sons, left school at age 17 after completing eight years of public education. He then worked as a clerk in the “grocery store run by [his] father” in Ecum Secum. One year after the outbreak of war overseas, Victor enlisted with the Royal Canadian Navy at Halifax on August 8, 1940. As a result of his experience in retail business, Victor was awarded the initial rank of V. A. [VIctualling Assistant] Prob. [Probationary],” a branch of the naval service responsible for the provision of food and other stores aboard its vessels.

On November 7, 1940, Victor was promoted to the full rank of Victualling Assistant (VA). Before month’s end, he was assigned to HMCS Venture, a three-masted training ship used as an accommodation vessel in Halifax Harbour. The New Year brought another significant event in Victor’s life. On January 30, 1941, he married Irma May Pace, daughter of Harold Pace, Marie Joseph, and May Baker, in a ceremony held in Trinity Church, Halifax.

Victor remained in Halifax for almost two years. On July 18, 1941, he was assigned to HMCS Stadacona, Halifax, the RCN’s main base. Four months later, he was promoted to the rank of Leading VA. During that time, Victor and Irma’s first child, a son, was born. Irma was pregnant with their second child, a daughter, when Victor was posted to HMCS Niobe, the RCN’s United Kingdom headquarters, on November 5, 1942. He travelled to the RCN base at St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, aboard HMCS Orillia, and departed for overseas aboard HMS Monkshood, a British Navy corvette.

On February 4, 1943, Victor was assigned to the crew of HMCS Athabaskan. Commissioned at Newcastle-on-Tyne on February 3, 1943, the Athabaskan was the first of three RCN ships to bear this name. A tribal-class destroyer, assigned to the British Home Fleet, the vessel suffered a number of mishaps during its brief time in service. Four months after joining the Athabaskan’s crew, Victor was promoted to the rank of Supply Petty Officer.

In late March 1943, the Athabaskan commenced active duty, patrolling the area between Iceland and the Faroe Islands in search of “blockade runners.” Heavy seas encountered during the assignment damaged the vessel’s hull, resulting in a five-week repair job in a South Shields dry dock, east of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Shortly after returning to duty, the Athabaskan was assigned to Operation Gearbox III. The undertaking was the third mission connected to an Allied effort to secure the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, located in the Barents Sea, north of Scandinavia. After the outbreak of war, German forces had occupied the island, which contained valuable coal deposits.

The first two operations, joint Norwegian and British efforts, established an Allied presence the island. The third mission transported reinforcements and supplies to the garrison stationed there. Several ships departed from Iceland on June 7. As the Athabaskan made its way northward from the UK to join its comrades, the ship collided with a boom defence vessel at Scape Flow, Orkney Islands, on June 18. The incident forced the destroyer to sail to Devonport, where it remained under repair for one month.

Upon returning to sea, the Athabaskan operated out of Plymouth, UK, conducting anti-submarine patrols in the Bay of Biscay, north of Spain and west of France, throughout the summer months. On August 27, the destroyer was engaged in an anti-submarine pursuit off Cape Ortegal, Spain, when a squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 enemy aircraft attacked its Support Group.

The planes carried under their wings a new weapon deployed in combat for the first time only two days earlier—the Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb, a radio-guided weapon equipped with a small rocket engine. The aircraft launched the weapon at a distance from its targets sufficient to avoid retaliatory fire.

During the aerial attack, a glide bomb passed through the Athabaskan’s hull and detonated after exiting the vessel. While the ship was heavily damaged in the attack, it remained afloat. The British sloop HMS Egret, also targeted in the same incident, was not so fortunate. A glide bomb sunk the vessel, resulting in the loss of 198 lives. In response, Allied naval commanders immediately suspended the Bay of Biscay patrols.

The Athabaskan suffered four fatalities and several casualties in the August 27 incident. The vessel nevertheless pulled 35 Egret survivors from the water and managed to make its way to Devonport, UK, for repairs, despite a serious list to starboard. Before year’s end, the ship was back at sea.

In December 1943, the destroyer returned to the Orkneys and escorted convoy JW55A to the Soviet Union. The ship arrived to Plymouth in February 1944 and was assigned to the newly-formed 10th Destroyer Flotilla. The group commenced mine-laying and patrol missions off the coast of France as Allied forces began preparations for the D-Day landings.

On April 26, the Athabaskan assisted in the destruction of a German Elbing-Class torpedo boat while on patrol off the coast of Ushant, France. During the early morning hours of April 29, 1944, the Athabaskan and her sister Tribal-class destroyer Haida were providing support to a British mine-laying operation near the mouth of the Morlaix River, France, when the vessels received orders to intercept German warships near Île Bataz, at the entrance to Morlaix harbour.

There are varying accounts of the naval battle that ensued, as the encounter occurred under cover of darkness. Some members of the Athabaskan’s crew claim that the ship was first struck by shells from a German shore battery, followed by a torpedo launched from German torpedo boat T24. Another sailor claimed that a second torpedo struck the ship 15 minutes later, but naval authorities eventually concluded that a fire aboard the ship caused an explosion in its ammunition magazine.

The Haida managed to rescue 44 of the Athabaskan’s crew as the vessel slipped beneath the waters. Another 83 men were taken prisoner by three German minesweepers that searched the area after the Haida’s departure. A total of 129 crew members perished in the sinking. Among them was the Athabaskan’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander John Stubbs, who was killed in action after declining rescue by the Haida and swimming back toward the ship to assist surviving crew members.

While approaching daylight forced the Haida to depart the area, due to heightened risk of air and sea attack, its motor cutter remained at the site of the sinking. Manned by four crew members, the small vessel managed to rescue six Athabaskan survivors and two Haida crew members who had fallen from its scramble nets as the destroyer departed. While the German minesweepers initially pursued the motor cutter, they eventually abandoned the chase. After several breakdowns and encounters with enemy aircraft, the boat safely made it to the UK just before midnight April 29.

On May 1, 1944, Canadian naval authorities wrote to Irma, informing her that her husband, Supply Petty Officer Joseph Victor Wilkins Veinotte, was missing:

“According to the report received from overseas, your husband’s loss occurred when HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed and sunk by enemy action on the 29th of April, 1944, in the English Channel…. While Petty Officer Veinotte is reported as ‘missing,’ there is a possibility of his survival. It is understood that a number of the crew have been taken prisoner of war by the enemy. The Red Cross have been informed and are attempting to obtain from the German Government a list of those taken. Please be assured that as soon as any information respecting your husband has been received you will be informed.”

Irma received no further word from authorities until January 12, 1945, when she was notified that her husband was now officially considered “missing, reported dead” on April 29, 1944. Two months later, Canadian authorities dispatched a War Memorial Cross to Irma at Marie Joseph and a second to Victor’s mother May Florence, who resided in nearby Ecum Secum.

Supply Petty Officer Victor Veinotte and his Athabaskan comrades are commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, erected in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, in 1967 in memory of more than 3,000 sailors, merchant seamen and other military personnel who perished at sea during the two world wars and Korean conflict, and have no known graves.

In 2002, Jacques Ouchakoff, a French marine historian, located the shattered remains of the Athabaskan scattered over the sea bed in 90 meters of water near Île de Batz. The government of France subsequently placed the wreck under the authority of the French Heritage Code, providing legal protection for the vessel and its contents. Two years after the wreck’s discovery, the Royal Canadian Navy provided the French government with a brass plaque to be placed on the wreckage, in commemoration of its lost crew members.

Two of Irma Veinotte’s brothers enlisted for service during the Second World War. Earl Stillman Pace joined the merchant marine. Shipwrecked twice during the war, he survived both incidents. Gordon Amos Pace enlisted with the North Nova Scotia Regiment. Wounded during combat in the Netherlands, he also safely returned home.

Victor’s father David Kenneth Veinotte passed away in Armdale, Halifax, NS, on March 28, 1957, and was laid to rest in Ecum Secum. In 1948, Irma Veinotte and her two young children relocated to Windsor, ON, where Irma initially worked on a local assembly line. Determined to improve her situation, she completed several training programs and earned a position with the local taxation center.

Several years later, Revenue Canada offered Irma the opportunity to relocate to Ottawa for a year to work on a project. She moved to the national capital and spent the rest of her years there, eventually earning a managerial position with the department. Irma never re-married and passed away in Ottawa on June 10, 2019. Her ashes were “taken to Nova Scotia to be interred in the family cemetery.”

Special thanks to Victor's son Dennis Veinotte, Arnprior, ON, who provided information on the Veinotte family's story, and Dennis's son Victor, Ottawa, ON, who contributed a photograph of his grandfather and namesake.

Able Seaman Hilbert Joseph Peart—Perished at Sea April 29, 1944

Hilbert Joseph Peart was born in Canso, Guysborough County, on February 28, 1916, the youngest of Roy Walter and Elizabeth Lillian “Bessie” (Scott) Peart’s five children. Roy was the son of William Henry and Ida Alice (Hadley) Peart, Philips Harbour, while Bessie was the daughter of Joseph B. and Sarah A. Scott, Guysborough.

Able Seaman Hilbert Joseph Peart

Roy and Bessie were married in Boylston on December 30, 1908, and established residence in Cooks Cove. Their first child, Dorothy Jean, was born in Guysborough on February 14, 1910, but died in infancy. Over the next four years, four sons joined the Peart household—James Scott (DOB June 4, 1911) and William “Bill” (DOB May 2, 1912) were born in Guysborough, while Raymond Roy (DOB March 13, 1914) and Hilbert were born in Canso, where Roy worked as a “fireman” aboard one of the local fishing boats.

Raymond Roy died in Canso from a combination of bronchitis and pneumonia on November 9, 1917. Sometime before 1921, the family unit disintegrated when Bessie and Roy parted ways. At the time of the 1921 census, Bill was residing in Guysborough with his grandparents, William and Ida Peart, while Hilbert was living in Canso, the “adopted son” of Patrick and Alice Dollard (no apparent relationship). The Nova Scotia census data contains no record of James Scott or parents Roy and Bessie.

Hilbert was still living in Canso with the Dollard family at the time of the 1931 census. While he was listed as a student at the time, he left school shortly afterward and went to work in the local fishery. By the mid-1930s, Hilbert had relocated to Halifax, where he worked for National Fish Co. as a “seaman” aboard a steam trawler. His duties included “fishing, curing and packing.”

On October 17, 1939, Hilbert enlisted with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve at Halifax. He identified his father Roy Peart, 451 Agricola St., Halifax, as his next of kin. At the time of his enlistment, he expressed an interest in working as a “railway labourer or [joining the] Coast Guard” after completing his military service.

Hilbert commenced his service aboard HMCS Viernoe, the commercial vessel on which he was employed at the time of his enlistment. The Viernoe had received an RCN commission only six days before Hilbert’s enlistment and operated out of Sydney, NS, as a “boom defense” vessel. Hlibert served aboard the Viernoe until May 31, 1940, at which time he was assigned to HMCS Stadacona Naval Base, Halifax.

In early August 1940, Hilbert returned to the Sydney area when he was assigned to HMCS Protector, the RCN’s Point Edward Naval Base. While stationed there, he met Mary Dorothy Boudreau, daughter of Alphonse and Minnie (Robinson) Boudreau, D’Escousse, Isle Madame. The couple were married at Sacred Heart Church, Sydney, on November 30, 1940.

In late March 1942, Hilbert travelled to Halifax to join the crew of HMCS Grandmère, a minesweeper assigned to the Western Local Escort Force, which provided protection for convoys. The vessel operated out of Sydney, which was convenient as Dorothy had established residence in the city. In fact, during the early years of their marriage, Dorothy gave birth to two children—a daughter Patricia Elizabeth (c. 1941) and a son Roy Alphonse (c. 1942).

After logging 315 days of Atlantic service aboard the Grandmère, Hilbert was transferred to HMCS Niobe, the RCN’s overseas headquarters at Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland, on March 21, 1943. The location also served as a “transit camp” for RCN crewmen as they transitioned from one assignment to another. On June 19, 1943, Hilbert was posted to HMCS Athabaskan.

Crew of HMCS Athabaskan

Commissioned at Newcastle-on-Tyne on February 3, 1943, the Athabaskan was the first of three RCN ships to bear the name. A tribal-class destroyer assigned to the British Home Fleet, the vessel suffered a series of mishaps during its brief time in service.

In late March 1943, the Athabaskan commenced active duty, patrolling the area between Iceland and the Faroe Islands in search of “blockade runners.” Heavy seas encountered during the assignment damaged the vessel’s hull, resulting in a five-week repair job in a South Shields dry dock, east of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Shortly after returning to duty, the Athabaskan was assigned to Operation Gearbox III. The assignment was the third mission connected to Allied efforts to secure possession of the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, located in the Barents Sea, north of Scandinavia. After the outbreak of war, German forces had occupied the island, which contained valuable coal deposits.

The first two operations—joint Norwegian and British efforts—established an Allied presence on the island. The third mission transported reinforcements and supplies to the garrison stationed there. Several ships departed from Iceland on June 7. As the Athabaskan made its way northward from the UK to join the convoy, the ship collided with a boom defence vessel at Scape Flow, located in the Orkney Islands, on June 18. The incident forced the destroyer to sail to Devonport, where it spent one month undergoing repairs.

Upon returning to sea, the Athabaskan operated out of Plymouth, UK, throughout the summer months, conducting anti-submarine patrols in the Bay of Biscay, north of Spain and west of France. On August 27, the destroyer was engaged in an anti-submarine pursuit off Cape Ortegal, Spain, when a German squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 aircraft attacked its Support Group.

The planes carried under their wings a new weapon deployed in combat for the first time only two days earlier—the Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb, a radio-guided weapon equipped with a small rocket engine. The aircraft would launch the bomb at a distance from a target sufficient to avoid retaliatory fire.

During the aerial attack, a glide bomb passed through the Athabaskan’s hull and detonated after exiting the ship. While the vessel was heavily damaged in the attack, it remained afloat. The British sloop HMS Egret, also targeted in the same incident, was not so fortunate. A glide bomb sunk the vessel, resulting in the loss of 198 lives. In response, Allied naval commanders immediately suspended the Bay of Biscay patrols.

The Athabaskan suffered four fatalities and several casualties in the August 27 incident. The vessel nevertheless pulled 35 Egret survivors from the water and despite a serious list to starboard successfully made its way to Devonport, UK, for repairs. The ship was back at sea before year’s end.

In December 1943, the destroyer returned to the Orkneys and escorted convoy JW55A to the Soviet Union. The vessel arrived in Plymouth in February 1944 and was assigned to the newly-formed 10th Destroyer Flotilla shortly afterward. The group commenced mine-laying and patrol missions off the coast of France as Allied forces began preparations for the D-Day landings.

On April 26, the Athabaskan assisted in the destruction of a German Elbing-class torpedo boat while on patrol off the coast of Ushant, France. During the early morning hours of April 29, 1944, the Athabaskan and her sister Tribal-class destroyer Haida were providing support for a British mine-laying operation near the mouth of the Morlaix River, France, when the vessel received orders to intercept German warships near Île Bataz, at the entrance to Morlaix Harbour.

There are varying accounts of the naval battle that ensued, as the encounter occurred under cover of darkness. Some members of the Athabaskan’s crew claim that the ship was first struck by shells from a German shore battery, followed by a torpedo launched from German torpedo boat T24. Another sailor claimed that a second torpedo struck the ship 15 minutes later, but naval authorities eventually concluded that a fire aboard the ship caused an explosion in its ammunition magazine.

The Haida managed to rescue 44 of the Athabaskan’s crew as the vessel slipped beneath the waters. A total of 83 survivors were taken prisoner by three German minesweepers that searched the area after the Haida’s departure. Altogether, 129 Athabaskan crew members perished in the sinking. Among them was its Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander John Stubbs, who was killed in action after declining rescue by the Haida and swimming back toward the ship to assist surviving crew.

While approaching daylight forced the Haida to depart the area, due to heightened risk of enemy attack, its motor cutter remained in the area. Manned by four crew members, the small vessel managed to rescue six Athabaskan survivors and two Haida crew members who had fallen from its scramble nets as the destroyer departed. While the German minesweepers initially pursued the motor cutter, they eventually abandoned the chase. After several breakdowns and encounters with enemy aircraft, the boat safely made it to the UK just before midnight April 29.

In the aftermath of the Athabaskan’s sinking, naval officials were unable to account for the fate of its missing crew members. On May 1, 1944, the Secretary of the Naval Board wrote to Dorothy Peart, who was now living at 106 Connaught Avenue, Glace Bay:

“It is with deepest regret that I must confirm the telegram of the 1st of May, 1944, from the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, informing you that your husband, Hilbert Joseph Peart, Able Seaman, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve,… is missing from HMCS Athabaskan. According to the report received from overseas, your husband’s loss occurred when HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed and sunk by enemy action on the 29th of April, 1944, in the English Channel.

“While Able Seaman Peart is reported as ‘missing,’ there is a possibility of his survival. It is understood that a number of the crew have been taken prisoners of war by the enemy. The Red Cross have been informed and are attempting to obtain from the German Government a list of those taken. Please be assured that as soon as any further information respecting your husband has been received you will be informed.”

For four months, there was no further word on Hilbert’s fate. Finally, on January 12, 1945, a document from the Secretary of the Naval Board confirmed that Able Seaman Hilbert Joseph Peart was now officially “missing, presumed dead, date 29 April, 1944, when HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed and sunk by enemy action in the English Channel.”

On April 14, 1946, Roy Walter Peart passed away at 451 Agricola St., Halifax, at age 58. According to his death certificate, Roy had been employed as a “fireman” with Nova Scotia Light & Power Company for 22 years prior to his death. He was laid to rest in Camp Hill Cemetery, Halifax. Three months later, Hilbert’s widow Dorothy married Maurice Jeoffrey Fougere, son of Simon and Victoria (Frasie) Fougere, New Victoria, Cape Breton, in a ceremony that took place at 217 George St., Sydney, on July 3, 1946.

Able Seaman Hilbert Joseph Peart’s name and those of his 128 Athabaskan comrades were later engraved on the Halifax Memorial, erected in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, in 1967 to commemorate more than 3,000 sailors, merchant seamen and other military personnel who perished at sea during the two world wars and Korean conflict, and have no known graves.

In 2002, Jacques Ouchakoff, a French marine historian, located the shattered remains of the Athabaskan, scattered over the sea bed in 90 meters of water near Île de Batz. The government of France subsequently placed the wreck under the French Heritage Code, providing legal protection for the vessel and its contents. Two years after its discovery, the Royal Canadian Navy provided the French government with a brass plaque to be placed on the wreckage, in commemoration of its lost crew members.

Special thanks to Hilbert's grand-daughter Tanya Peart, Sydney, NS, who provided a photograph of her grandfather. Doris "Dee Dee" Blood, Middleton, NS, Hilbert's grand-niece, also contributed information on the Peart family.

LAC Duncan Joseph McDonald—Accidentally Killed April 19, 1944

 Duncan Joseph McDonald was born in Mulgrave, Guysborough County, on June 14, 1918, the youngest of Osborn and Catherine Ann (Ryan) McDonald’s four sons. Duncan’s grandfather, Roderick McDonald, was born at Strait of Canso around 1844, the son of Donald and Nancy McDonald. On January 6, 1867, Roderick married Margaret Strahan, daughter of Berry and Margaret Strahan, in Port Mulgrave.

LAC Duncan Joseph McDonald's headstone, St. Lawrence Cemetery, Mulgrave, NS

By 1891, the McDonald household included 45-year-old Roderick, a railroad section man, his 44-year-old wife Margaret, and five children—Duncan, age 18; Lizzie, age 17; John, age 14; “Ausbury” [later Osborn], age 10;  and Daniel, age four. Also residing in the home was Roderick’s widowed mother Nancy, age 88. A decade later, 19-year-old “Ausberry” [DOB August  31, 1881] was still living in Mulgrave with his parents and brothers Duncan, John and Dan.

On August 15, 1904, “Osberry” McDonald married Catherine “Kate” Ryan in St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church, Mulgrave. At the time of the 1911 census, 29-year-old “Oscar” [sic—Osborn], railroad “trackman,” was listed as head of a Mulgrave household that included his wife Kate A., age 25, and three children—Stella Louise (DOB December 1904); Beatrice (DOB November 1906); and John R. (DOB January 1909).

Over the ensuing decade, six more children joined the McDonald household—Annie (c. 1911); Daniel (c. 1913); Osborn Jr. (c. 1915); Hilda (DOB April 28, 1917, died in infancy); Duncan Joseph (DOB June 14, 1918); and Hilda Mary (c. 1919). At the time of the 1921 census, Osborn and Catherine’s Mulgrave home included Beatrice, age 14; Stella, age 6; John, age 12; Annie, age 10; Daniel, age eight; Osborn Jr., age six; Duncan, age three; and Hilda, age 18 months.

Before year’s end, tragedy struck the family when 38-year-old Osborn died on July 8, 1921, following a six-month battle with acute pulmonary tuberculosis. Pregnant at the time of her husband’s passing, Kate gave birth to a daughter, Mary Elizabeth, on November 14, 1921. Sadly, her youngest child died of pneumonia on August 8, 1924.

Duncan Joseph McDonald, Osborn and Kate’s youngest son, attended Loggie School, Mulgrave, from 1924 to 1930. He then moved on to McNair High School, Mulgrave, where he completed Grades 7 to 10. Upon leaving school in 1933, he worked as a labourer for Cook Construction, Mulgrave (1933-34) and as a “checker” with Standard Paving Co. (1934-36). For the remainder of the decade, Duncan held a variety of “odd jobs” before securing a position as a “brakeman” with Canadian National Railways, Stellarton.

On December 11, 1941, Duncan applied for admission to the Royal Canadian Air Force. To enhance his chance of acceptance, he enrolled in a WETP [War Emergency Training Program] course in Saint John, NB, from January to June 1942. Following its completion, Duncan enlisted with the RCAF at Moncton, NB, on June 22, 1942, commencing service with the rank of Aircraftman Class 2 (AC2).

On July 19, Duncan was transferred to No. 5 Military District, Lachine QC, where he commenced training at No. 1 Wireless School, Montreal. Three months later, he qualified as a “Wireless Operator/Gunner, Group C,” and was promoted to the rank of Aircraftman Class 1 (AC1). On October 11, 1942—the day after his promotion—Duncan was assigned to RCAF Station, Sydney, NS.

As a major source of coal and steel, the industrial Cape Breton area played a significant role in Canada’s war effort. Its harbour also provided shelter for vessels crossing the North Atlantic as part of Allied merchant convoys. While Canadian infantry and artillery units focused on defending the harbour and numerous strategic locations in the area, the RCAF’s role extended well beyond the island.

In addition to patrolling the harbour entrance and protecting convoys entering and leaving Canadian coastal waters, the RCAF conducted coastal reconnaissance operations from two separate bases—a seaplane base for 11 Delta aircraft in North Sydney and an airfield near Reserve, east of Sydney. While land for an airport had been acquired prior to the formal declaration of war, actual construction did not commence until the second year of the conflict.

Prior to the airport’s operational debut in February 1941, RCAF personnel transitioned to the Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke. A maritime patrol aircraft and trainer manufactured by Fairchild Canada, the design was based on the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber. Nicknamed the “Bolly,” the plane was equipped with engines designed to increase its range. Its nose was extended to create more space for the bombardier and the cockpit’s upper left surface was expanded to provide greater visibility during takeoff and landing. In acknowledgment of the circumstances in which the aircraft would operate, anti-icing boots and a dinghy were standard accessories.

No. 119 (Bombing & Reconnaissance) Squadron, Hamilton, ON, the unit based in Sydney, was on call for any emergencies that occurred in nearby waters. The most common incidents involved sightings of German U-boats. On March 23, 1942, for example, the merchant vessel SS Bayou Chico made radio contact with RCAF Sydney and reported its suspicions that a German U-boat was following in its wake. The base immediately dispatched three Bolingbroke aircraft to its location.

Upon reaching the vessel, the aircraft spotted German U-boat 754 and dropped two depth charges as the submarine executed a rapid dive. While no debris was spotted, there was no sign of the enemy vessel as the aircraft escorted the SS Bayou Chico for an hour. Unbeknownst to the pilots. the U-boat escaped without damage and safely travelled to its base in France. U-754 later returned to the east coast only to be targeted and sunk off the coast of Yarmouth, NS.

Anti-submarine warfare remained RCAF Sydney’s primary focus during the early and middle war years. While there were numerous sightings along Canada’s Atlantic coast, there were only approximately a dozen confirmed sinkings. The statistics, however, do not reveal the effectiveness of the patrols. German U-boat logs accessed following the war clearly describe their captains’ considerable fear of operating in or near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The RCAF strategy forced U-boats to remain submerged while passing through the area or avoid the convoy corridors altogether, thus significantly reducing Allied losses.

After 16 months’ service in the Sydney area, Duncan was transferred to 121 Composite Squadron, Dartmouth, NS, on February 15, 1944. The squadron operated out of an airfield located in Eastern Passage. Established by the United States Navy as an anti-submarine patrol base in August 1918, the facility was transferred to the Canadian government after the First World War. In October 1923, the location officially became RCAF Station Dartmouth.

During the inter-war years, the station’s aircraft conducted photographic surveys of the Maritimes. In November 1934, the facility became the headquarters of No. 5 (Flying Boat) Squadron, which conducted patrols along Canada’s eastern coastline. Three years later, Dartmouth was one of four locations selected for construction of a land aerodrome. On April 1, 1938, the facility once again became RCAF Station Dartmouth, hosting No. 5 Squadron and No. 4 Repair Depot.

During the Second World War, RCAF Station Dartmouth was the base for bomber reconnaissance aircraft that played a crucial role during the Battle of the Atlantic. It was also home to 121 (Composite) Squadron, RCAF. Formed on January 10, 1942, the unit conducted communication and rescue operations along the Atlantic coast. Its aircraft also participated in “target towing” exercises in co-operation with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).
 
Target towing involved an aircraft “towing” an unmanned drone or large “fabric drogue”—an open-ended conical or funnel-shaped cloth structure—attached to a lengthy metal cable. The drogue was stored aboard the plane prior to take-off. Once the aircraft was over the training area, a crew member used a winch powered by a small wind turbine located on the outside of the aircraft to release it. A clutch mechanism allowed the operator to “engage” the winch and deploy the target at a distance of several thousand meters behind the plane. Once the exercise was completed, the drogue was usually jettisoned at a location convenient for retrieval and the cable retracted into the plane.

The exercise involved a considerable amount of risk. Inexperienced gunners—aerial and naval—fired live ammunition at the target during training, creating the possibility of an errant shell striking the aircraft. The drogue also created considerable drag. If a twin-engine aircraft like the Bolingbroke experienced failure in one engine, the drag could be sufficient to reduce airspeed below its “stall speed”—the minimum forward thrust required for an aircraft’s wings to produce lift and remain airborne.

Duncan’s initial duties at RCAF Dartmouth were somewhat mundane. On March 16, he was posted to the “Devil’s Battery Observation Post,” located at Hartlen Point, Eastern Passage. Erected on Halifax Harbour’s easternmost point, the battery’s personnel kept a watchful eye on the harbour entrance. One week later, Duncan was assigned to the Chebucto Head Battery, located at the easternmost point of Halifax harbour’s southern shoreline. On March 27, he returned to duty at the Eastern Passage aerodrome, having completed brief assignments at both batteries.

At 1200 hours April 19, 1944, Bolingbroke 9180 departed from RCAF Base Dartmouth on a target-towing exercise over Cow Bay, a short distance east of the harbour entrance. Three RCAF airmen were aboard the aircraft—Pilot Officer Harold Alwin Swinden, Toronto, ON, pilot; LAC Duncan Joseph McDonald, Mulgrave, NS, wireless operator; and LAC Joseph Émile Gautreau, Shediac, NB, “general duties.”

After completing the exercise, the crew was returning to base when the “aircraft [was] seen to plunge into the sea” around 1300 hours (1:00 pm). According to a news item published in the Halifax Herald the following day, local residents reported seeing the plane struck the water near Egg Island, southwest of Lawrencetown Beach, around 1:30 pm. One witness stated that “an explosion occurred on the plane while it was still in the air.”

A note in Duncan’s service file reported that he was “missing believed killed 19 April 44 as a result of a flying accident (target towing Navy shoot).” A second news item in the Halifax Herald reported that the bodies of P/O Swinden and LAC Gautreau were “brought to the surface” of Cow Bay on May 13. The wording suggests that the plane’s wreckage had been located and that Navy divers had removed the two deceased crewmen from the sunken aircraft.

The whereabouts of the third “missing” RCAF airman remained a mystery until June 23, when a “body washed up” along the Cow Bay shoreline. Using identification discs and a card in a wallet, RCAF officials identified the body as LAC Duncan Joseph McDonald. Duncan’s remains were transported to Mulgrave, where he was laid to rest in St. Lawrence Parish Cemetery.

At the time of his death, Duncan was survived by seven siblings—brothers John R., Daniel and Osborn, Mulgrave; sisters Mrs. Leo [Stella Louise] Mc Kinnon and Beatrice McDonald, Mulgrave; Mrs. Miles R. [Annie] Ryan, Stellarton; and Mrs. William H. [Hilda Mary] McNeil, Antigonish. Duncan’s mother Catherine passed away in Halifax, NS, in April 1979.

Information on RCAF Station, Sydney, NS, obtained from Paul Ozorak’s self-published book, Abandoned Military Installations of Canada, Volume 3: Atlantic (2001). Special thanks to Major (Retired) Gerry Madigan, Stewiacke, NS, for his assistance in locating background information for Duncan’s story. Gerry has researched long-forgotten aspects of Nova Scotia’s Second World War coastal defences and authored a number of interesting stories that are available online at his Nova Scotia Military History blog.