Forgotten Sailors celebrated in a new book

King Wan, President of the Naval Association of B.C., presents a copy of HMCS Discovery Honor Roll, 1939 to 1945 to Tatiana Robinson, Curator, CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum. Wan and other volunteers who worked on the book visited the museum on July 14 to present a copy to Robinson and museum staff. Photo: Peter Mallett, Lookout Newspaper

Peter Mallett
Staff Writer

A new Book of Remembrance featuring Second World War Naval Reservists has enriched the list of citizen sailors who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Now, names of 19 previously unheralded Naval Reservists who died in their wartime service to HMCS Discovery are added and featured in HMCS Discovery Honor Roll, 1939 to 1945.

On July 14, Commander (Cdr) (ret’d) King Wan, Naval Association of British Columbia (NABC) President, accompanied by NABC members Mark Fletcher  (Vice President) and Judy Bell (Social Director), presented a copy of the book at the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum.

“These naval reservists featured in our book were just regular people from all walks of life, cooks, accountants, office managers,” said Wan. “Because such a large number of the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) war dead came from the Naval Reserve, we wanted to make sure we remembered our citizen sailors.”

While the names of 61 men from the Vancouver-based unit of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) who lost their lives during their Second World War are included in HMCS Discovery’s large wooden plaque displayed at Discovery’s headquarters, is incomplete, says Lieutenant-Commander (retd) Bob White, Editor-in-Chief.

The new Book of Remembrance is an effort to give all sailors in the unit who paid the supreme sacrifice proper recognition, says White.

“We were surprised that [the names] of men had been missed, but, given the times and the number of men who enlisted in Vancouver, it was understandable that some would slip through the cracks,” said White.

White and the book’s other researchers are former members of the Discovery and present-day members of the Naval Association of B.C. Their research began in 2022.

Their book is part of a celebration of this year’s 100^th anniversary of Canada’s
Naval Reserve.

Of the 2,170 RCN war dead, 1,769 were Naval Reservists, says Wan. Many sailors are commemorated on a memorial in Halifax but they were largely unknown in the small towns and cities they came from.

“The 100^th anniversary of the Naval Reserve was an opportune time to repatriate this history back to the cities, towns and villages where these sailors grew up and began their naval service and create a lasting memorial,” said Wan.

The limited-edition 345-page hardcover was self-published by the Naval Association of B.C. and contains detailed biographies and information about the reservists, including photographs and newspaper articles.

Tatiana Robinson, CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum Curator, was delighted with the book’s presentation to the museum.

(Bottom left) Tatiana Robinson, Curator, CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum, and King Wan, President of the Naval Association of B.C. read passages from HMCS Discovery Honor Roll, 1939 to 1945. They are joined by Jody Doll, one of the book’s editors and Mark Fletcher, Vice President, Naval Association of B.C. The three visited the museum on July 14 to present a copy to Robinson and museum staff. Photo: Peter Mallett, Lookout Newspaper

“The information puts a human face on something impersonal instead of just looking at names on a scroll or text,” Robinson said. “I can see this being a very valuable resource for the museum.”

She noted the book and its contents would be a big help in frequent requests to the museum for genealogical information. At the same time, its contents may also be included in exhibits such as the Battle of the Atlantic.

White believes there is still more work to do.

“There is no organization to the names on the plaque; they are not alphabetical or chronological yet,” White said.

The book was released in May, with a copy presented to the Commanding Officer of HMCS Discovery, Cdr Rebecca Hardie, at the unit’s Battle of the Atlantic Dinner.

Approximately 50 copies of the book are destined for libraries across Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and military museums. A digital version of the book is also available online at: https://sites.google.com/view/dy-honour-roll/home?authuser=0