195 At Christmas 1943, Dad sent this card home from the St. Boniface, signed “Love and turkeyWalt.” On 1 September 1944, Dad was appointed to HMCS Belleville (K332), another Flower-class corvette, named for Belleville, Ontario, and commissioned on 19 October. The ship arrived in Halifax in November, where she was fitted out. However, Dad was once again transferred before the Belleville went into active service. Dad’s new ship was a River-class frigate, HMCS Sussexvale (K683), named after the town of Sussex, New Brunswick. He joined Sussexvale on 9 December 1944, and, in January 1945, the frigate joined EG 26 in Londonderry. The ship then spent time patrolling waters around the U.K., particularly in the English Channel while based in Portsmouth. Dad’s days at sea ended in May 1945, when Sussexvale returned to Canada for a refit. When we were children, Dad characterized his wartime experience to us as a great adventure, keeping the grim side of that experience to himself. No doubt, he witnessed some terrible scenes: choking, oil-soaked survivors being plucked from the sea; torpedoed gas transports and their crews being blown to pieces. Of the stories my father did tell of his navy days, a darkly comic one comes to mind. A cook aboard one of his ships would occasionally lose his composure. One time in port, he took offense to a remark made by a crew member. With a cleaver in hand, he began chasing the sailor around the deck. One after another, officers tried to stop the cook, only to find themselves joining the pack of fleeing men, much to the shock and HMCS Belleville HMCS Sussexvale
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