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See below for Mr. Asham's entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
Kenneth Snider served on board the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) ship HMCS Iroquois during the ship's third tour to Korea (22 August 1954 - 26 December 1954). The ship conducted patrols along the Korean coasts to enforce the July 1953 armistice. HMCS Iroquois also provided aid to stranded fishermen and women. Mr. Snider returned to Canada in 1955 and served in the RCN until 1973.See below for his full testimony.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
Joining the United States Merchant Marine, Kin Mason served in the Pacific and faced deadly weather and an even deadlier enemy. He received letters from a high school teacher who sent news to all the pupils of his small school who were fighting in the war, updating them on where their classmates were posted and in some cases, when they were killed in action.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
Mr. Kris Kristjanson is a Merchant Navy veteran who participated in about 30 convoy runs in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
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Memory Project Archive
Lawrence Morgan served in the British Navy during the Second World War. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
"They could hit that torpedo anywhere where they want. At the end of the day, you went to bed; you didn’t know where you were going to be the next morning."Leslie Kenneth Main served in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War. Read his full testimony below.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
Lucien Simard was born in Saint-François, Quebec, in 1926. Both his family and community had strong connections to seafaring. After his 18th birthday, he started working as a sailor on a merchant ship. Soon after, Simard tried to enlist in the Royal Canadian Navy, but was rejected because he couldn’t speak English. He remained in the Merchant Navy for the length of the war and participated in the Battle of St Lawrence. Simard was one of 12,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who served in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War. Approximately 1,600 merchant sailors lost their lives due to enemy action. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
"In August 1942 Montgomery’s forward forces had brought Rommel’s army to a halt. RAF bombers, British submarines, had sunk 47 supply ships totaling 169,000 tons. All except two had been a direct result of decrypts from BP." See below for Mrs. Cooper's entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
In 2010, The Memory Project interviewed Margarita “Madge” Trull (née Janes), a veteran of the Second World War. The following recording (and transcript) is an excerpt from this interview. Marge was born to English parents on 24 July 1922 in Valparaíso, Chile, but was educated in England. In 1943, at 21 years old, she and her sister enlisted in the Women’s Royal Naval Service at Portsmouth, England. That year, she met RCAF Flight Lieutenant John Cameron Trull at a dance. The two were engaged by Christmas. In February 1944, John’s plane engine stalled while on a mission over Belgium. With the help of the Resistance, he eventually returned to England, where he reunited with Madge. The couple married on 30 September 1944. Madge’s two brothers also served in the Royal Air Force and Merchant Navy, respectively. In her testimony, she discusses the secrecy involved in her work as an “Intelligence Writer.” She also describes the challenges of working with “Bombes,” electromechanical devices used to decode German messages written with Enigma ciphers. The WRENs were a critical force in eventually breaking Enigma and intercepting German communications. After the war, Madge and John Trull moved to Canada. Margarita “Madge” Trull died in Mississauga, Ontario, in March 2023 at 100 years of age. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
Max Reid, a Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship (DEMS) gunner during the Second World War, describes his service with the Royal Canadian Navy, including attacks on merchant ships, travelling by convoy through the Caribbean and to South Africa, the relationship between merchant seamen and DEMS gunners as well as those between officers and ratings. Max Reid has also published a book his experiences entitled, "DEMS at War! Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships and the battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945" and published by Commoner's Publishing Society Inc.
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Memory Project Archive
"If you were there and you saw all those ships! It was unbelievable! Everything that you can think of. Aircraft carriers. Destroyers. Everything." See below for Mr. Kucher's entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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Memory Project Archive
Norman Heide recalls his experiences serving in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, from Transatlantic crossings to the unusual and tragic discoveries one might make on the ocean during this turbulent era.
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Memory Project Archive
Norman Heide served on HMCS Sioux during the Korean War. The Sioux provided naval support for the amphibious landings during the Battle of Inchon which turned the tide of the war. Additionally, the ship ran interdiction operations against enemy vessels and undertook “trainbusting” raids which attacked vital supply routes along the Korean coast.
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Memory Project Archive
Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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