Crew of HMCS Chilliwack, 1941-42
HMCS Chilliwack was a Flower Class corvette, commissioned 8 April, 1941 and decommissioned 14 July, 1945. She was sold
for scrap in October, 1946.
Many thanks to
Phil Horner for the following information and name:
" I suspect this photo was taken either after her launching on 14 Sep 1940 in North Vancouver or after her commissioning 8 Apr 1941. That is because the bridge behind the crew is of the original 1940 construction (narrow merchant bridge) replaced sometime in early 1942 with a wider bridge to accommodate .50 Calibre machine guns and better visibility. The small pilothouse you see (which is the ASDIC Hut) was removed entirely in the summer / fall of 1943 when Chilliwack's focsle was lengthened. You can also see the top of the main mast behind the foremast, which was removed in early 1942.
" . . . . the gentlemen sitting in the second rank above the "C" in the nameplate is almost certainly T/Lt(N) Leslie Lewendon Foxall, RCNR who was the commanding officer of Chilliwack from 31 Mar 1941 through 25 May 1943 and this photo would have been before 1 Jul 1942 as that was when he was promoted to T/LCdr RCNR. The RCNR officer is distinguished by the double thin wavy lines of his rank (making the eye look almost like a star), the Lt(N) on his right is likely the executive officer and is an RCNVR Lt(N) due to the wavy rank he has.
" I think you are correct about the black hats being issued during the war, but Canada was woefully under-equipped for the first few years. It may well have been a shortage or just a complete lack of any that resulted in the crew looking like they did, since Chilliwack fitted out in Vancouver and Esquimalt they would have drawn from stores at the base and those would have been peacetime stocks. There is also the chance that it was done on purpose at the ship's commissioning as all the sailors are in their best uniforms. Another item in that photo that suggests it was taken on the East Coast is the addition of splinter mats on the dodger of the bridge. "
CLICK HERE TO SEE A GREATLY ENLARGED VERSION OF THIS PHOTO.
For other HMCS Chilliwack crew photos see the
History section of this website.
For photos of the ship during WW2, see the
Ship List section.
Thanks to
Robert Berbeck for providing this photo from Ken Lloyd's collection.
Can you provide names, details or corrections?
Please email Charlie Dobie.