Japanese submarines brought unease to west coast

Second World War veteran William ‘Glen’ Ryder poses for a photo with his wife Velma Ryder at Veterans Memorial Lodge at Broadmead on Oct. 28, 2019. During the war, Ryder was part of a six-man crash boat crew that patrolled the west coast of Vancouver Island for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Marine Division. Photo by Peter Mallett. Inset: William ‘Glen’ Ryder

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

On a cool, sunny day inside a glassed solarium at Veterans Memorial Lodge at Broadmead Care in Saanich, 97-year-old William ‘Glen’ Ryder reflected on his days as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Marine Squadron.

During the final three-and-a-half years of the war, Ryder was part of the Marine Squadron’s flying boat squadron of watercraft that patrolled the waters of Canada’s Pacific coast.

“There certainly was a good dose of fear and panic in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941,” said Ryder. “There were multiple reports of Japanese submarines off the west coast.”

Ryder grew up in Athabasca, AB, before moving to the west coast, finding work aboard Canadian Pacific vessel Princess Maquinna, a passenger ship that operated on Vancouver Island’s west coast.

With the threat of conscription in Canada looming, he decided to enlist at the RCAF Marine Squadron office on Government Street in an effort to avoid becoming a member of Canada’s army.

“I didn’t want to be a foot soldier and thought the prospects of getting my call to the army was getting too close for comfort.”

Based out of Western Air Command’s headquarters at Jericho Beach in Vancouver, Ryder was one of a six man crew that patrolled the waters of Vancouver Island aboard RCAF boat Malecite.

Named for the Algonquin tribe of New Brunswick, Malecite was built in 1941 by the Canadian Power Boat Co. Ltd. of Montreal. The 70-foot vessel had two 1,350-horse power engines capable of reaching speeds of 47 knots full throttle, but were often hampered by rough seas and poor weather conditions of coastal B.C.

It was the job of boat crews to search for downed aircraft, ferry supplies, and escort and provide force protection at six marine squadron stations located in Ucluelet, Alliford Bay, Prince Rupert, Coal Harbour, Bella Bella and Jericho Beach.

“It was also our job to be stationed in areas with heavy air traffic and to be ready and prepared for a downed air craft,” said Ryder. “There was a lot of waiting involved and there were only two occasions where Malecite was called out to search for downed aircraft.”

Ryder notes both plane crashes were due to a combination of mechanical problems and pilot error.

But the threat of a submarine attack seemed more real to Ryder and his crew.

Submarine attacks

In the summer of 1942, panic and hysteria heightened at the threat of a Japanese attack.

In early June, U.S. Merchant Marine vessel Coast Trader was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-26 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Within two weeks, Canadian freighter Fort Camosun was also torpedoed off Cape Flattery by sister submarine I-26. Ryder’s brother Gordon was aboard Camosun, but survived the attack. The ship was eventually towed safely to port after a rescue by RCN corvette HMCS Quesnel.

Rydar’s wife Velma’s family was not so lucky. Her cousin had married a sailor who worked aboard Coast Trader and had died during its sinking.

That same month the lighthouse at Estevan Point on the west coast of Vancouver Island sustained minor damage after being shelled by a Japanese submarine.

On more than one occasion, Ryder says, they were called into port to wait it out after sightings of Japanese submarines.

The attacks were an attempt by the enemy to disrupt west coast shipping lanes and the flow of goods and commerce, with the added goal of terrorizing residents of the west coast of North America.

Velma, 92, remembers the weekly air raid drills that usually occurred in the middle of the night, with the sirens echoing through the streets of Victoria.

“It was curtains drawn and lights out and everyone was told to go down to the basement and hide in the corner,” she recalls. “Some said the drills were an effort to help boost sales of War Bonds, so many people really didn’t know what to think, and for many others a state of panic set in.”

War’s end

Following the horrific events in Pearl Harbor in 1942, the war would drag on for three more years before coming to an end on Sept. 2, 1945. The end was signalled by the detonation of two nuclear weapons over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States in August 1945 that killed over 200,000 people.

“It was a relief when the war was finally over because everyone believed it could have been much worse; worse than the horrors already seen in Western Europe and Asia,” said Ryder.

Following the war, he returned to work aboard Princess Maquinna and would eventually become captain of the vessel. He met Velma in 1949 during a voyage from Victoria to Tofino. They were married later that year, with their marriage lasting more than 70 years.

“I was fascinated with everything to do with ships, so when Glen walked out of the ship’s wheel house, noticed me, and said hello, I never stood a chance,” said Velma.

The couple would raise two sons and two daughters.

With Remembrance Day approaching, Ryder says the moment will give him a chance to reflect on his military career and all of Canada’s military personnel, past, present and future. His experiences as an airman in the Marine Division of the RCAF taught him volumes about the value of military service, no matter what the role.

“I think the jobs the men and women do for Canada’s military in peacetime are just as important as those during wartime, and are of great importance to protecting our country’s freedom.”