my old man and the sea

[Bruce MacMillan]

Not everyone got a chance to play with green things. My father had to play with gray stuff, but they were big.

Picture taken in 1943, with my father on the left, his soon to be bride (my mother) and fellow shipmate on the right.

[Mike Timoshyk]

great shot....do you know where it was taken? Your Father must have been a PO or chief by the look of the cap. Are you familiar with the Prince David and her expoloits?

Cheers

Mike

[Mike Timoshyk]

For those not familiar with their exploits...


http://www.geocities.com/oighrig1/HM...nce_David.html

[Bruce MacMillan]

Hi Mike.

The picture was taken in the spring of 1943 on East 13th Ave in Vancouver. This is where my grandparents lived. It looks pretty scruffy by the road but back then this was almost the boonies. Dad had come over from Esquimalt on leave.

I believe he was a PO (cook). There are some pictures of the galley on the link you provided on the Princes. He missed sailing with the David to the Atlantic when she was refitted for D-Day as he had to have his appendix removed so after he was transferred to a minesweeper in Prince Rupert.

Originally posted by Bruce MacMillan The picture was taken in the spring of 1943 on East 13th Ave in Vancouver. This is where my grandparents lived. It looks pretty scruffy by the road but back then this was almost the boonies. Dad had come over from Esquimalt on leave.

Hi Bruce,

I lived on East 12th at Knight for about a year around 1980. Didn't like the neighborhood at all. If only I'd lived there back in the 1940's I'm sure I would have loved it.

Oh, and I also lived in Esquimalt when I was a young teenager 13/14. When I got a little older, with Victoria being a city full of sailors, I had a sailor friend named Con Hogue. We hung out together a lot. I often wonder what ever became of him. I don't remember much about him but his sailor suit and his name (bad memory these days)

Don't they, or didn't they used to, have a "ship" in Victoria called the HMCS Esquimalt?

Karmen

[Bruce MacMillan]

Hi Karmen,

Vancouver certainly has changed in the post war years, especially the East Side.

Esquimalt is the name of a base in Victoria as well as an area of the city. HMCS Esquimalt is what is called a "Stone Frigate", a land base. There is also HMCS Naden as well.

At least you had good taste for men in the right service back then. None of them wore skirts... I mean kilts

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally posted by Bruce MacMillan
At least you had good taste for men in the right service back then. None of them wore skirts... I mean kilts

Oi laddie, yer treading a thin line there!

Originally posted by Bruce MacMillan
Hi Karmen,

Vancouver certainly has changed in the post war years, especially the East Side.

Esquimalt is the name of a base in Victoria as well as an area of the city. HMCS Esquimalt is what is called a "Stone Frigate", a land base. There is also HMCS Naden as well.

At least you had good taste for men in the right service back then. None of them wore skirts... I mean kilts

Actually, I remember now that it was 12th and Clark, which is even worse I didn't like being out around that neighborhood on my own at night. And I agree, even since I was 19 and forst moved to East Vancouver, since then it's majorly changed, not only VERY culturally mixed, but also very lifestyle mixed, from yuppies to gangs and everything in between. I really do miss the days of "Little Italy" being just that all along "The Drive" (Commercial Dr. between about Adanac and Broadway.

I don't recall "HMCS Naden". And I used to live in Esquimalt (area)

... and I used to love the look of all the very smart-looking sailor suits wandering downtown Victoria!

Geoff is correct, DO be careful how you talk about the kilts/kilted or I shall have to you!

By the way, I goggled Esquimalt and there was an actual ship named Esquimalt, but it's a very sad WW2 story:

http://www.familyheritage.ca/Articles/esquimalt1.html

Karmen

[Bruce MacMillan]

HMCS Esquimalt is the old British Royal Navy base that was commissioned around 1848. When Britain handed control of our waters to the Canadian Navy in 1922 the Canadian base HMCS Naden was commissioned. In 1966 after Paul Hellier screwed things up it became known as CFB Esquimalt.

My those kilties are touchy It must be do to lack of thermal insulation!!

Actually I have to confess to having a whole family tree full of them on both sides of my parents. My grandmother was a MacDonald of the Isles and the enclosed gent is one of my ancestors.

Thank you fro that bit of history Bruce!

What an excellent photo!!! I love the dog beside him and the foggy-ness in front of the mountains as a great tone and mood!!! So Scottish looking

My Scottish blood comes from various Orkneys people ... also some from Mainland Scotland. I have to research more, but the Orkneys are definate.

By the way, I've been out Maple Ridge way a few times and seem to remember it's a gorgeous and nice area to live. BC really is beautiful, just like the licence plates say.

Karmen

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally posted by Bruce MacMillan
Actually I have to confess to having a whole family tree full of them on both sides of my parents. My grandmother was a MacDonald of the Isles and the enclosed gent is one of my ancestors.

HAH!! I KNEW IT!!

BTW, Bruce, if you run across a chap in Maple Ridge named Bill Bishop, say hello for me. He's not online but he's 'one of us', and we've spoken numerous times. Try 604-467-0959 if you're so inclined. He'll talk your ear off, but his heart is in the right place.

[sapper740]

Originally posted by Bruce MacMillan



Esquimalt is the name of a base in Victoria as well as an area of the city. HMCS Esquimalt is what is called a "Stone Frigate", a land base. There is also HMCS Naden as well.

Small correction: The Navy base at Esquimalt is known as C.F.B. Esquimalt, only the barracks and shore facility at Naden are called H.M.C.S. Naden. The original H.M.C.S. Naden was a small wooden schooner used for hydrographic survey and cadet training.
There is also a Canadian Forces station at Patricia Bay, more commonly known as Pat Bay which is now the site of Victoria International airport. The R.C.A.F. had a WW II air base there from which Hampdens carried out torpedo training in the still waters of the bay and Bolingbrokes carried out anti-submarine patrols. One Bolingbroke crew actually carried out an attack on a Japanese sub. I don't remember the result of the attack. The Hampden currently on display in Langley, B.C. was retrieved from the waters of Pat Bay. The Navy currently has a helicopter maintenace facility at Pat Bay. I enjoyed seeing the daily comings and goings of the helos while I and many C.M.E.s from across Canada built two storage facilities for the Navy in the late '90's. There is a long history of Engineer support for the Navy, I remember seeing a picture from the 19th century showing Sappers clearing trees from the land for the soon to be built Navy base there.

CHIMO! Derek.