Battle of Moreuil Wood Revisited

I was very interested to be contacted by lawyer Dallas Ewen of Winnipeg last spring. Dallas is keen on modelling soldiers, and in particular had in mind a display to show the Battle of Moreuil Wood. He had come across my blog, and wondered if I could direct him to the location of the battlefield. Dallas was in France at the time. Not only could I direct him to the site, but I was able to give him contact information for M. Jean-Paul Brunel, unofficial representative of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade in Moreuil. 

 My wife and I had been entertained royally by J-P in 2008, when we visited Moreuil on March 30^th for the 90^th anniversary of the Battle. Here are a couple of photos taken in 2008 that show Jean-Paul at the time.

Dallas Ewen was able to get in touch with Jean-Paul; here is one of his photos, taken in 2012.

 I was very happy to hear that J-P was as enthusiastic about the Canadian Cavalry Brigade as ever. The background scenery may have changed somewhat, but from what Dallas tells me, Jean-Paul is as full of energy as we found him in 2008.

If you click here you will see one of a series of articles I wrote about Jean-Paul Brunel.

The Author in Jail--but was his father there first?

Robert Mackay in jail, all for research of course

 An early scene in “Soldier of the Horse” involves the protagonist, Tom Macrae, getting thrown into the local gaol. In reality, my father (alter ego of Macrae) never told me he actually saw the inside of a cell, and it probably didn’t happen. Even so, I got a big kick out of finding a salvaged jail cell in a Winnipeg museum.

  Did Tom Mackay ever scratch his name onto the wall of the steel-clad cell? Not that I could see!

Iran's Psychedelic Submarine

The Iranian navy has launched a new submarine, a Sina 7. The boat has attracted attention because of its startling colour—a very light blue, even turquoise. Presumably it is a mistake, and someone in the Iranian dockyard used the wrong paint. The boat would have to go pretty deep to avoid visual detection from the air.

Even a submarine with a startling paint job can be a problem, though, given Iran’s bellicose regime and its position on the north side of the Strait of Hormuz. It has been estimated that 20% of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait, with an average of fourteen tankers traversing it daily.

Any submarine can pose a serious risk to a surface ship. Even a turquoise submarine will be attracting observation by the west’s navies.

Winnipeg--walking the ground for "Soldier of the Horse"

Robert Mackay in jail; photo by Bill Mackay

An early scene in “Soldier of the Horse” involves the protagonist, Tom Macrae, getting thrown into the local gaol. In reality, my father (alter ego of Macrae) never told me he actually saw the inside of a cell, and it probably didn’t happen. Even so, I got a big kick out of finding a salvaged jail cell in a Winnipeg museum.

Did Tom Mackay ever scratch his name onto the wall of the steel-clad cell? Not that I could see!

Canada's Submarines--the Unknown Service

HMCS CC1

In all likelihood the typical Canadian, if there is such a person, does not know that Canada has a long history in what is often referred to as the "silent service".
Canada has had six main classes of submarines, starting in 1914 with the acquisition of CC1 and CC2. They were replaced by CH14 and CH 15 in 1921. The CH's were in commission only a couple of years between the wars.
Next up were two German U-boats that surrendered in May 1945 on the conclusion of the bloody Battle of the Atlantic. U-889 and U-190 were commissioned in the RCN for a short time.
HMCS Grilse was a former USN Balao class boat; she was leased for a five year period starting in 1961. She was followed by HMCS Rainbow, purchased from the United States in 1968.
Overlapping Rainbow's service on the west coast were Canada's three Oberon-class boats in the Atlantic. Ojibwa was the first, commissioned in September 1965. The O-boats were in service until near the turn of the century.
Canada's four Victoria-class boats are currently serving with two on each coast. The first, HMCS Victoria, was commissioned in the RCN in December 2000; they should be in service for at least another twenty years.
Subsequent posts will deal with each of Canada's classes of boats in more detail.

HMCS Ojibwa--Soon to be on solid ground

Photo courtesy P. Hinz, one half of www.thecookingladies.com

This may be the day  the former HMCS Ojibwa is on solid ground for the first time since she was launched in 1964. Ojibwa has been high and dry in drydocks or lifts for refits, maintenance etc. over the years, but never actually ashore, to the best of my knowledge. "Project Ojibwa" and my confidential informants report she may come out of the water today.
Once ashore, cold warrior Ojibwa will make a stately trip of a few hundred yards to her permanent home at the Port Burwell Submarine Museum.
The weather today is reported as cold and windy--not that that would be a problem for a boat that spent virtually her entire working life in the North Atlantic.

HMCS Ojibwa's Last Landfall Only Hours Away

HMCS Ojibwa, the first of Canada’s Oberon-class submarines, is nearing her final resting place.

An ultra-modern diesel-electric submarine in her day, she was launched in February 1964. Originally the hull was destined to be HMS Onyx, but was transferred to the RCN, completed in HM Dockyard Chatham, England, and commissioned Her Majesty's Canadian Submarine Ojibwa on September 23^rd, 1965. Following workups, she spent her career with Maritime Command Atlantic out of Halifax, but for a brief sojourn in Esquimalt.

Ojibwa was paid off in May, 1998, after nearly thirty-three years of service.

In the next few days the boat will claim her last berth in Port Burwell, Ontario. She was scheduled to arrive on November 14^th via a special barge and tug, to be lifted into place as part of the Museum of Naval History. For more details, see

https://www.facebook.com/MuseumNH. According to the latest reports, Ojibwa should be making her last landfall at dawn, Tuesday, November 20^th. The site shows her updated position.

I never served in Ojibwa, but I feel a connection to her, the last of the O’s to respond to the motion of the seas passing under her keel.