Thanks for Getting Back to Me was written in July 2012.
Five years ago.
I always take the time to write back when you post a comment on this blog. I have learned since 2009 that it always pays to answer back.
This blog is not about money. I don’t need money to be online. This blog is more about paying homage to all who served their country in WWII. They have paid their fair share. Like Leading Seaman Ernest Anderson from Edmonton, Alberta.
Before Karen wrote, I never knew Leading Seaman Anderson had ever existed except on a list in a book about an unlucky Canadian destroyer.
Karen wrote last week and she was asking for some help.
My dad should be on the lists of men that survived the sinking, but he is not. I have his original records but they are almost unlegible now. Does anyone know if records are still available?
Back in July 2009, I did not know that HMCS Athabaskan had ever existed until my wife’s uncle opened up when the subject of WWII was brought up in a family reunion. He was 81 years-old.
Getting back to Karen, I did not know she had the Book!
Unlucky Lady…
and some pertinent information about a sailor who was in point of fact the one responsible for this blog. Karen’s father was Ernest (Ernie) Anderson. He can be seen in a picture found in the book which is the same picture sent by Herm’s Sulker’s son last year.
Karen told me that her father was on the picture with all the men in rows around the gun. What is most interesting is that Ernest Anderson is also on a list in the book as a sailor on the ship, but NOT on the list of those on the ship the night of the sinking.
Karen told me she felt her father was on the ship that night. He did talk briefly about it to her and a bit more to her mom. Her father didn’t like to talk about it, but he had a friend that talked about it, which confirmed that he was on it. Her father said that since he was a strong swimmer, he was able to get to the rescue ship and his hands were terribly burned from the burning fuel on the water. He was part of one of the gun crews. She thinks he may have been the leader of a certain gun crew, but she is not sure.
All of the men in his gun crew were killed immediately and he was thrown into the water. These were details he told her mom.
Karen wishes more young people would appreciate how important that war was, and the direct impact it had on how wonderful our lives are today.
To be continued…
September 25, 2017
I know I have written a lot about HMCS Athabaskan. One reason I wrote so much was, and still is, to reach out for relatives of sailors who either were killed, rescued or made prisoners. Every comment left is important to pay homage to the crew of HMCS Athabaskan.
Mon père Jacques Gervais peut-être nommé comme James Gervais était je crois CPO lors de l’attaque. Il a dit très peu de choses lorsque il vivait au sujet de l’événement. Il doit sûrement sa vie au fait qu’il a été très sérieusement blessé et que à cause de ses blessure il a été placé dans un canot de sauvetage. Il paraitrait que plusieurs des marins non blessés ont dû s’accrocher au radeau parce qu’il n’y avait pas de place dans le canot. Certains de ceux-ci auraient été attaqué par des requins alors que d’autres seraient décédés à cause de l’eau froide. Mon père a été un de ceux qui n’a pas été fait prisonnier mais secouru par HMCS HAIDA.
Some people might say I am a little obsessed by the story of a young French-Canadian who lied about his age to join the navy, and never told what he went through on April 29, 1944 and got rescued by HMCS Haida.
This is post 1120.
Lest we forget
Lest We Forget 