World War Wednesdays: Shattered Innocence: The SS City of Benares

     In case you're wondering why I always seem to write about sunken ships and disasters at sea, my best attempt at an answer is that my interest was piqued with my first taste of history as a child through the story of the Titanic, and throughout my studies I've repeatedly stumbled upon similar tragedies.
     If any of my readers follow History at Western University, you might recognize this week's topic, but I assume most of you understandably do not, so I'll fill you in on how I got acquainted with it!
     A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a gal named Claire Halstead on Twitter who is a PhD candidate at Western researching British child evacuees in Canada during the Second World War. She recently featured excerpts from original letters and quotes of accounts related to the sinking of the ship the SS City of Benares in 1940. I found these tweets to be especially moving and made a mental note to someday research the topic for a blog, but then I saw in the news the other day that Claire successfully defended her dissertation on the topic two days ago and officially earned her PhD. Congratulations, Dr. Halstead, and thanks for inspiring this post!

World War Wednesdays: Famous Faces of the Second World War

     So many of us have a relative or someone we know of who served in the Second World War. To us, they are our heroes, and we are proud of their contributions in one of the greatest conflicts in human history. However, during the Second World War, a number of faces recognizable to almost all of us also added their name to the Honour Roll. The war was indifferent to social standing and occupation, and required effort from every person. This week's post explores some of the most famous members of the "greatest generation" who gave their all in WWII with the best of them.

1. Clark Gable

     Of course, we all know him as Rhett Butler, but during the war he was known to many as major Clark Gable. After enlisting in 1942, he served as an aerial gunner on a bomber and flew in five combat missions, for which he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. He was discharged in 1944 at his own request after he became over the age for active service. During his time in the Air Force, he also completed a film called Combat America. Interestingly, Adolf Hitler favored Gable above all other actors. During the war, Hitler offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and bring Gable to him unscathed.

2. Carole Lombard

    
  The beautiful blond actress famous for her comedies was also known for being married to actor Clark Gable. During the war, the couple became known for their support of the war effort, with Carole making a particular name for herself advertising the sale of bonds. When the U.S. entered World War II at the end of 1941, Lombard traveled to her home state of Indiana for a war bond rally with her mother, and Clark Gable's press agent. Lombard was able to raise over $2 million in defense bonds in a single evening. Her party had initially been scheduled to return to Los Angeles by train, but Lombard was anxious to reach home more quickly and wanted to fly by a scheduled airline. Her mother and the agent were both afraid of flying and insisted they follow their original travel plans. Lombard suggested they flip a coin; they agreed and Lombard won the toss.
     In the early morning hours of January 16, 1942, Lombard, her mother, and the agent  boarded an aircraft to return to California.After refueling in Las Vegas, the flight took off at 7:07 p.m. and approximately 13 minutes later, crashed into "Double Up Peak" near the level of Potosi Mountain, 51 km southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 aboard, Lombard and her mother included, plus 15 army servicemen, were killed instantly.

3. James Stewart

    
  We all know him as the charming lead of the classic It's a Wonderful Life, but Jimmy Stewart also served his country during the Second World War. A pilot before the war, Stewart was drafted into the army in 1940  but repeatedly denied because he was just shy of the minimum weight requirement. Eventually, he became the first major American movie star to wear a military uniform in World War II when he enlisted in 1941. His celebrity status led to his role as a flight instructor in the U.S, but eventually led squadrons in attacks over Germany, for which he received numerous prestigious awards. Eventually, he became one of the few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years.
     At the beginning of June 1945, Stewart was the presiding officer of the court-martial of a pilot and navigator who were charged with dereliction of duty for having accidentally bombed the Swiss city of Zurich the previous March—the first instance of U.S. personnel being tried for an attack on a neutral country. The Court acquitted the defendants.
     Stewart is known for being one of the most active celebrities in the Second World War, and never let his status influence his duty.

4. Glenn Miller

    
     The wildly popular big band leader will always be remembered for such songs as "American Patrol", "In the Mood", and "Chattanooga Choo Choo". However, Glenn Miller also contributed to the war effort in a tragic and sinister way. In 1942, at the peak of his civilian career, Miller decided to join the war effort, forsaking an income of $15,000 to $20,000 per week in civilian life. At 38, Miller was too old to be drafted and first volunteered for the Navy but was told that they did not need his services. Miller then wrote to Army Brigadier General Charles Young. He persuaded the United States Army to accept him so he could, in his own words, "be placed in charge of a modernized Army band". At first placed in the United States Army, Miller was transferred to the Army Air Forces. Captain Glenn Miller served initially as assistant special services officer for the Army Air Forces Southeast Training Center in Alabama in December 1942. He played trombone with the Rhythmaires, a 15-piece dance band, in both Montgomery and in service clubs and recreation halls on Maxwell. Miller also appeared on the radio, promoting the activities of civil service women aircraft mechanics.
     On December 15, 1944, Miller was to fly from the United Kingdom to Paris, France, to play for the soldiers there. His plane departed from the outskirts of Bedford and disappeared while flying over the English Channel. There were two others on board the plane. No remains were ever found.


     I hope that a newfound appreciation can be gained for these famous faces of the war, just some of many. While all experienced the hardship that so many others had to endure, some ended up paying the ultimate sacrifice. These heartbreaking stories are a reminder that the horrors of the Second World War were not particular about who they affected, and that not even the icons people looked up to were spared the experience.

Thanks for reading,

Delany







 

 



World War Wednesdays: Panic in Port Stanley: The Loss of the 'Olga', 1944

Panic in Port Stanley: The Loss of the Olga, 1944

 

 

The Marine Section of the No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School (Fingal) at Port Stanley (note: the building seen in the photo is a converted shipping crate from a Fairey Battle aircraft)

 

 

     The six years of the Second World War (1939-1945) saw unimaginable hardship and destruction across the globe. Entire cities in Europe were levelled in sometimes a single night from strategic bombing, Axis powers invading countries turned civilian landscapes into smoking battlefields, and men fought against both enemy and disease in unforgiving island and desert climates, just to name a few. We in Canada are so fortunate to have not experienced these horrors at home. I discussed in a previous blog how the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and RAF training schools in Elgin County brought an element of wartime conditions to our area, especially through the accidents and fatalities that occurred during their operation. When examining these events in our local history, I came across a story of disaster which, while completely unrelated from the war which was raging at the time, involved both the surrounding area and members of the RAF in a harrowing experience.

 

 

From the memoires of Cpl. Harry Brown, RCAF Motor Boat Crewman

 

In the spring of 1944, two men bought an old wooden yacht called the Olga, refurbished it, and stationed it near the Fingal B&G School Marine Section at Port Stanley. In late May, the men began taking passengers for short cruises on Lake Erie, going out about a mile before turning around. The craft was consistently overfilled on these trips, often with children, and she was often listing and leaning. The owners were warned repeatedly about this hazard.

 

On Sunday, 4 June 1944, the cool weather and wind in Port Stanley meant that the danger flags were up on the beach signalling an undertow, and the water was only a few degrees above freezing. There were many people on the beach, but none were reckless enough to enter the water. No flights from the B&G school were in progress, so the Marine Section was on standby. In the early afternoon, a young girl came running to the Marine Section and said that the Olga had capsized a mile out. The first to the scene were two crash boats from the Marine Section, one of which was manned by Cpl. Harry Brown. Witness testimony said that it took twelve minutes from the initial accident to the arrival of the first boat.

 

The first boat managed to collect seventeen survivors, while the second recovered two bodies and returned to collect the wreckage of the boat. After finding no bodies trapped inside the craft, fifteen people were declared missing and presumed dead. Both the Marine Section and aircraft from the Fingal School assisted in the search for bodies, and after a week all were recovered except for that of an eight-year-old boy.

 

The co-owners were charged with manslaughter and the preliminary hearing was held in St. Thomas, but was moved to Toronto to ensure a fair trial. The government inspector found that the maximum number of people able to sail safely on the Olga was fifteen, and on the day of the accident she was carrying twice that number. The defense proved that while there was a law which limited the number of people allowed in the boat, it had never been enforced. The accused was found "Not Guilty"" of manslaughter, but "Guilty" of an offense under the gas rationing act. THE FINE WAS FIFTY DOLLARS.

 

Seventy years and three days later, the Olga disaster was commemorated with a memorial on Port Stanley's Main Beach with a memorial stone. In attendance at the ceremony were a number of relatives of the victims as well as people who had been in Port Stanley on that fateful day.

 

 

 

 

              Victims of the Olga disaster:

 

Name	Age		Name	Age
Earl Book	17		Gordon Hannent	8
Donald Ellis	11		Russell Hannent	36
Robert Ellis	12		Shirley Handyside	8
Stella Meays	17		Barbara Martin	19
Lillian Babcock	26		Bernice Wood	30
LAC Robert Smith			Sid Smith	44
LAC Clifford Skeates	25		Joe Adili	9
Lac Solemn Lavine			Jack Gardiner (body never recovered)	13
Ed Googe Thanks for reading, Delany