Demonstrating what seems to be a sailors primary duty, chipping and scraping for painting ship a group of sailors from HMCS TRENTONIAN take a moment and cross brushes for the camera while in Milford Haven, UK, February 1945.
Roger Litwiller Collection, Allen E. Singleton, RCNVR photo, courtesy Douglas Campbell, RCNVR. (RTL-DC055)

I am honoured to be invited as the Guest Speaker by the Toronto Branch of the Naval Association of Canada for their annual TRAFALGAR Day – NIOBE Luncheon.

My talk will be “Voices of our Sailors Past -Stories from the Survivors of HMCS TRENTONIAN.”  This is a collection of stories and recollections from the men that served in the last corvette lost in action during the Battle of the Atlantic in WWII. I was fortunate to interview many of the RCN sailors who sailed in this historic RCN ship. They imparted to me their experiences on convoy duty, Normandy, friendly fire, shore leave and those final terrifying moments as their ship, their home, sank in The English Channel after being torpedoed by U1004 on 22 February 1945.

I will also be showing many of the personal photos given to me by these remarkable sailors. These are not the typical RCN official pictures that we usually see, but their own personal photos, giving an incredible perspective to life in the RCN during war.

The luncheon is open to the public and reservations can be made by contacting, Susan Cook at 416-597-0286 ext. 111 or susan.cook@rcmi.org.

If you have a copy of any of my books, please bring them with you for me to sign. I will also have copies of my books with me for purchase.

White Ensign Flying -Corvette HMCS TRENTONIAN

Warships of the Bay of Quinte, the story of six ships in the Royal Canadian Navy.