Able Seaman Charles Seyward Goodwin—Perished at Sea March 16, 1941

Charles Seyward Goodwin was born at Canso, Guysborough County, on March 18, 1917. Charles’ father, Howard Glenwood Goodwin, was a native of Argyle, Yarmouth County, while his mother, Minnie Olivia, was the daughter of Elisha and Christina Carter, Queensport, Guysborough County. The couple married at Canso on January 24, 1914, and welcomed two daughters—Catherine (1914) and Doris Christine (1915)—into their home before Charles’ arrival. Minnie gave birth two more sons, Laurier Howard (1919) and Reginald (1921), before tragedy struck the family.

 

Howard’s marriage license lists his occupation as “fisherman.” On December 8, 1921, he and a crew-mate were ”overcome with coal gas” while working aboard a fishing vessel near Sekonnet Point, Rhode Island. Howard was rushed to Truesdale Hospital in nearby Fall River, MA, but medical staff were unable to revive him. According to a contemporary item in a local newspaper, Howard’s remains were transported to Canso for interment, although there appears to be no headstone there marking his final resting place.

Left to raise a family of five young children following her husband’s death, Minnie never re-married and remained at Canso, where her family could provide support, for two decades. Charles, the oldest of her three sons, followed in his father’s footsteps, earning a living at sea. Sometime after the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the crew of the steam merchant J. B. White as an Able Seaman, a rank that implies at least two years’ experience at sea.

Built in 1919 by Skinner & Eddy Corp., Seattle, WA, for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), the J. B. White was initially christened the Jadden. After a lengthy period of service with USSB, the 7,375-ton vessel was placed in its reserve fleet. A shortage of available steam merchants resulted in its transfer to Canada in 1941, at which time the ship was assigned to Atlantic Transportation Co., Montreal, QC, and re-named the J. B. White.

In February 1941, the newly acquired vessel, under the command of Master J. W. R. Woodward, loaded 2,500 tons of steel and 4,500 tons of newsprint at Mobile, AL, and departed for Halifax, where it was assigned to Convoy HX-112. On March 1, the 41-vessel convoy departed for Manchester, UK, traveling northeastward past Newfoundland and the southern tip of Greenland before heading eastward, south of Iceland, across the North Atlantic toward its final destination.

On March 15, German submarine U-110 first sighted the convoy west-southwest of the Faroe Islands and alerted other U-boats in the area. The following day, two submarines—U-110 and U-99—attacked the convoy. U-99, under the command of Korvettenkapitän Otto Kretschmer, sank five vessels and damaged a sixth, while U-110 damaged a seventh vessel. U-99’s first sinking victim was the J. B. White. Master Woodward and 37 crew members successfully abandoned ship. Rescued by HMS Walker, the survivors safely arrived at Liverpool, UK, on March 21.

Two members of the J. B. White’s crew perished in the March 16, 1941 sinking—Boatswain Jack Henry Visser, Braughing, Hertfordshire, UK, and Able Seaman Charles Seyward Goodwin, Canso, NS. Charles’ name is engraved on the Halifax Memorial, Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, NS, erected in memory of military personnel and merchant seamen who perished at sea during the First and Second World Wars.

In the early 1940s, Minnie and her children moved to the Halifax area. Following her passing in 1972, she was laid to rest in Fourth Hill Cemetery, Canso. Minnie and Howard’s oldest child Catherine relocated to Montreal, QC, where she married and raised a family. Her sister Doris married Appleton Hurst Roberts, a Canso native, and settled in Dartmouth. Doris passed away in 2015 at the age of 100.

Minnie and Howard’s son Laurier emigrated to the mid-western United States after the Second World War. After his passing, his remains were returned to Canso, where he was buried. His brother Reginald served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and lived in the Halifax area for the remainder of his life.

Ordinary Seaman Bayne W. Gammon—Perished at Sea September 22, 1940

 Bayne W. Gammon was born at New Harbour, Guysborough County, in 1921. His father Garfield was a native of Tor Bay, the son of Edward and Sarah (Barss) Gammon. Bayne’s mother Lila Belle was the daughter of Joseph and Roseanne Slater, Roachvale. The couple married at Roachvale on November 27, 1912, and welcomed two daughters—Viola Rosanna (DOB September 26, 1913) and Evelyn Melinda (DOB March 9, 1916)—into their home before Bayne joined the family. 

Left to right: Viola, Bayne & Evelyn Gammon

 

On January 31, 1938, Garfield unexpectedly passed away at home. Sometime after his father’s death, Bayne left home and travelled to Hampton, Prince Edward Island, where he found employment as a farm labourer. On June 3, 1939, he wrote a letter to his mother Lila, providing her with an update on his circumstances:

“I have been getting your letters all right[,] but when I am done work in the evening, I feel like dropping in my tracks wherever I may be….[My employer] is a driver…, a pretty hard man to work for, although I like him and his sister pretty good…. I was using the single and gang ploughs this afternoon and I had to drive the three horses and hold the ploughs [at] the same time. Boy, it was hard work and a warm day at that…. It certainly brought the sweat out onto me. I was some hungry and tired when supper time came….

“I don’t have much time to myself, only when I go to bed and on Sundays, but I always have to milk the cows and feed the calves and do all the barn work up before I can go to church, both in the morning and at night. So don’t worry if you don’t hear from me… often, because I am so tired when I am through work that I don’t feel like writing or anything else."

 

Bayne Gammon (school photo)

 

The demands of farm labour may explain why Bayne contemplated finding another line of work. Having been born and raised in a coastal community, it is perhaps not surprising that he decided to pursue a career at sea. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted with the merchant marine and was assigned to the crew of SS Frederick S. Fales with the entry rating of “Ordinary Seaman.”

Bayne Gammon (c. 1939)

 

The 10,525-ton merchant marine tanker was built for Oriental Tankers Ltd., Hong Kong at Monfalcone, Italy. Launched in 1939, the ship transported vital fuel supplies from South America to the United Kingdom after the outbreak of war in Europe. In late summer 1940, the Frederick S. Fales loaded its cargo—14,000 tons of fuel oil—at Curaçao, Venezuela, and set sail for Halifax, NS.

Upon reaching its destination, the vessel was assigned to Convoy HX-72, which consisted of 41merchant ships, and spent several days in port before departing for Glasgow, Scotland. On the eve of the vessel’s departure, Bayne sent a postcard with a brief note to his mother Lila, postmarked 11:30 pm September 3: “Dear Mamma, I am leaving on an oil tanker for England in a little while, like it good. Have to go on board again at midnight…. will be gone for a little while.”

Convoy HX-72 departed for the United Kingdom shortly afterward. On September 20, the German submarine U-47 first sighted the convoy as it approached the British Isles and broadcast its location to other U-boats. On the night of September 20/21, German submarines sank three vessels and claimed a fourth victim shortly after daybreak. The losses continued throughout the evening of September 21 as other submarines arrived in the area. One U-boat—U-100—managed to sink an astonishing seven vessels over a 48-hour span.

Among U-100’s victims was the Frederick S. Fales, targeted at 01.52 hours September 22, 1940, while located 340 miles west of Bloody Foreland, Ireland. Struck on its port side by two torpedoes, the Frederick S. Fales’ stern went under in less than five minutes. While HMS La Malouine rescued 28 crew members later that day, the vessel’s Master Frank Ramsay, 19 crew members, and one gunner perished in the sinking. Most of the losses occurred when the sinking ship capsized to its starboard side, striking one of its lifeboats.

Ordinary Seaman Bayne Gammon was one of 19 crew members who lost their lives in the sinking. His name is engraved on the Halifax Memorial, Point Pleasant Park, erected in memory of Canadian military and merchant marine personnel who perished at sea during both world wars.

Halifax Memorial, Point Pleasant Park

Several months after Bayne’s death, an unidentified crew mate—a resident of Musquodoboit Harbour, Halifax, County—wrote a letter to his grieving mother Lila, dated December 1, 1940:

“Dear Madam:

I am a survivor of the Frederick S. Fales [on] which your dear son had lost his life. As I was one of the last to join the ship, I did not know Bayne very well but I knew he was a[n] ordinary seaman and was on duty at the time my ship [sank]. John [“Jack”] Beanland [Montreal, QC] was with him and told Bayne if anything happened to come [to] where he was, and he did. He never said a word and when the boat was going down they lowered a life boat and Bayne was in it…. [T]he bow of the ship struck the boat which Bayne was in and it was the last his ship mate seen [sic] him. As I was a wiper in the engine room, I never seen [sic] much of them on the deck. The ship was torpedoed two times at about 11 o’clock at night. We was [sic] off the Irish coast about 500 miles…. I know it must be sad for those loved ones to realize that their only boy is gone, but he died for his country. If there is anything I could do to help you, I would wish you would let me know….”

Altogether, Convoy HX-72 lost 11 ships, while three other vessels suffered damage. The number represents the greatest losses to that point in the war—a total of six vessels were lost in August 1940. The sinkings increased in subsequent months—German U-boats claimed another 32 vessels in November 1940—and continued at a frightening pace throughout the next three years. It was not until 1944 that Germany’s ability to wage war at sea declined significantly as Allied forces applied increasing military pressure on enemy forces in Europe.

Gammon family photographs and letters courtesy of Gary Sponagle, Dartmouth, NS.

Fireman/Trimmer Henry Winfield Douglas Baker—Perished at Sea August 28, 1940

Henry Winfield Douglas Baker was born at Marie Joseph, Guysborough County, on September 24, 1913, the son of Charles Henry and Marion Louise (Douglas) Baker. Douglas’s father Charles was also a native of Marie Joseph, where he worked as a fish-buyer and operated a local inn. Douglas’s paternal grandfather Henry was a local merchant.

Douglas Baker's name on the Halifax Memorial—1940 Merchant Marine Fatalities

While Douglas’s mother Marion was residing at Spanish Ship Bay at the time of her marriage to Henry, she was born at Liverpool, England, the daughter of David Douglas, whose occupation is listed as “navigator” on the couple’s marriage license.

Born and raised in a coastal community, Douglas made a living at sea. His 1932 marriage license lists his occupation as “fisherman.” On August 20 of that year, the 19-year-old married Nellie Alice Croft, age 18, a native of Gegoggin and daughter of Jacob E. and Maria Jane (MacDonald) Croft. The following year, the couple welcomed a son Wendell into their home.

At some point prior to or shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, Douglas joined the crew of the freighter SS Kyno. Built in the shipyard of Goole, east of Leeds, UK, the 4,000-ton vessel was completed in 1924 and operated by Ellerman’s Wilson Line [EWL], located at nearby Hull, UK. The Kyno became part of EWL’s considerable trans-Atlantic commercial fleet.

SS Kyno

Following Britain’s September 3, 1939, declaration of war on Germany, the Kyno joined the merchant marine fleet that carried crucial supplies from North American to the United Kingdom throughout the Second World War. The vessels traveled in convoys, following a number of different routes across the North Atlantic, depending on their final destination.

Aboard the Kyno, Douglas worked as a fireman and trimmer, two tasks critical to the operation of a coal-fired, steam-powered vessel. Firemen maintained the furnaces that generated the steam required to power the boat, while trimmers ensured that there was a constant supply of coal available in the furnace room. These men laboured in the ship’s hot and treacherous “stokehold,” where the prospects of escape, in the event that a torpedo struck the vessel, were poor.

On August 16, 1940, the Kyno, under the command of Master William Andsell Thompson, departed from Halifax, NS, destined for the United Kingdom. The vessel was part of Convoy HX-66, and followed the designated “HX” route, travelling northeastward past Newfoundland’s Avalon peninsula to the southern tip of Greenland. The ships then steamed eastward past Iceland before curving southward into the Irish Sea toward their final destination at Liverpool.

At this point in the war, Germany’s U-boats operated only on the European side of the North Atlantic, as the United States did not enter the conflict until early December 1941. Prowling the waters west of the British Isles, the submarines sought to intercept a convoy and launch a night-time attack on its ships. As HX-66 passed south of Iceland and veered southeastward toward the waters between Scotland and Ireland, the German submarine U-28, under the command of Korvettehapitän Günter Kuhnke—one of Germany’s top "U-boat Aces"—spotted Convoy HX-66 and prepared to attack.

At 2057 hours August 28, 1940, a torpedo from U-28 struck SS Kyno when the vessel was located approximately 50 kilometres north-northeast of Rockall, an uninhabited granite islet approximately 400 kilometres west of South Uist, Scotland. While 32 of its crew members were able to scramble into lifeboats as the vessel sank, five men perished as the Kyno slipped beneath the water. All were part of the engine room crew—three firemen and trimmers, one “donkeyman” [the person in charge of the engine room] and the ship’s second engineer officer.

Douglas Baker was one of the three firemen/trimmers lost at sea in the SS Kyno’s sinking. His name is engraved on the Halifax Memorial, erected in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, in memory of the men and women of the navy, army and merchant navy who perished at sea during the Second World War.  Douglas was Guysborough County’s first Second World War fatality.

Halifax Memorial, Point Pleasant Park

 After her husband’s passing, Nellie married Henry Schrider and gave birth to a second son, Harvey. She passed away at Halifax on August 22, 2002, and was laid to rest in St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Liscomb. Wendell, her son by her first marriage, passed away at Oxford, NS, on October 12, 2013.