A TALE OF HEROISM, Part II The crew of the U-boat, now without its conning tower, closed the hatch and tried to dive the boat. As it submerged, HMCS Assiniboine tried to ram and dealt the sub a glancing blow, bouncing off its side. The destroyer then circled around, worked up to full speed and finally rammed the sub, tearing up the big ship`s bottom plates as she ground her way over the sub, and threw out depth charges. The violent blasts blew the U-boat back up to the surface, whereupon Assiniboine opened fire with all her guns, shot the sub full of holes and sank it. Meanwhile, George lay seriously injured on deck. You see, a Tribal Class Destroyer can reach speeds of up to 36 knots (nearly 40mph) and is the fastest of the big warships. Hitting another ship at that speed is like running into a brick wall with a car, with devastating consequences even if wearing a seatbelt. The force of the impact had catapulted George right down the deck and left him crippled for the rest of his life. Over half a century later, I pushed him around in a wheelchair, and not because of his age. But on that day in 1942, the crew of HMCS Assiniboine rescued the few German survivors floating on the surface, and headed for port. George had told me that the ship went into dry dock for repairs, and he went to the hospital, also for repairs. So far I have told you the facts as explained to me, and you can find the story in different books on Canadian naval history (George had fleshed things out a bit more). It is one of the best known fights our navy took part in. The part you won`t find in any book is what happened afterwards. As part of expected humane treatment of prisoners, the German survivors had to be looked after and their injuries treated. Since the ship had no extra clothes or blankets, with all crewmembers having their own duffle bags and gear - after all this was a warship, not a passenger ship, the crew had to dig into their own supplies. So far, so good. It was what followed next that floored me. I have described in detail the gory aspects of this battle to put the crew`s frame of mind in context. Imagine how you would feel if you saw your friends and shipmates get slaughtered, and the absolute hate and hostility that was in the air, after the crews of both ships had just tried to kill each other. It would have been understandable if they had left the Germans to drown. Or at least to only follow orders and do a minimum for them. But that was not what happened. George told me that they went out of their way to do everything they could for the survivors, from warmth and medical care, to hot soup, with a kindness and tenderness that`s surely unusual in a military (or naval) environment, where anything even smacking of being too effeminate is frowned on. I told George that was astounding and he replied with equal wonder "I know. I know." Just like evil can be found anywhere, so can human kindness and Canada by no means has a monopoly. However, the actions of the crew of HMCS Assiniboine just cannot be ignored. They acted in the best traditions of their service in courage, discipline, and then honour and compassion afterwards. They did it when they had the least reason to, which begs the question, what excuses do the rest of us have? But I somehow wonder to what extent our society contributed. Our country is also the one that champions human rights, that helped create the United Nations (in principle a good idea, later criticisms notwithstanding), has earned a reputation for peacekeeping, and took in stranded airline passengers in the wake of 9/11. This is what we stand for, and as I look at the faces of Assiniboine`s crew in that photo, I see the best that Canada had to offer and I know the kind of men they were: good Canadians.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 06:13:27 +0000