Captains Albert Johnson and Gordon of the 1st Battalion, The Canadian Scottish Regiment, take part in a house-clearing training exercise in England on April 22, 1944. (KENNETH H. HAND/DND/LAC/PA-162246)

Close shaves on land and sea:

Wayne Arnold’s war

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

Wayne Arnold’s war started on an early autumn day in 1943 somewhere on the North Atlantic, much sooner than he might have expected.

The Empress, Alta., native and thousands of other recruits were enjoying the summer-like warmth aboard the requisitioned Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth, four years out of the shipyards of Clydebank, Scotland, and three days out from Pier 21 in Halifax, when the ship’s alarm sounded.

It was 2:30 p.m. and Arnold, a corporal destined for the ranks of The Canadian Scottish Regiment, was on the sundeck basking in the company of about 200 nurses.

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SS Jasper Park 1943 (WIKIMEDIA)

SS Jasper Park sunk: A Canadian Merchant Navy tale

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Seaman Jack Sharkey had seen something strange on the water.

Sailing aboard SS Jasper Park—a 7,129-ton Canadian Merchant Navy vessel launched in 1942—the young sailor remained at his lookout until he was relieved at 4 p.m., whereupon he reported his sighting to the watch officer.

In his superior’s presence that July 5, 1943, he explained the appearance of a vessel on a steady bearing, hull down on the port bow, making intermittent small puffs of smoke. Having witnessed it from the crow’s nest—as clear of a view as he could get—Sharkey was certain a U-boat was on the hunt.

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