I just thought because it has Verdun in it's name so I post it.
Steve
THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
1 comment:
The HMS Verdun was a WWI class Destroyer and was named to commemorate the battle of Verdun. This gave the Canadians a bit of a hard time when in WWII local communities were being used in naming ships. One of the accords within the British Commonwealth was that no two ships from any country would bear the same name. Instead Verdun was given the honor of having "her ship" named the HMCS Dunver........ a play on the names and quite controversial at the time.
There was an interesting article in the Gazette in Oct 2007 written by a John Kalbfleish entitles "How Verdun became Dunver" which details part of the story.
url: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/story.html?id=4c9df879-ab2b-42f1-8720-31fa9ab49e88
The HMCS Dunver was a River Class Anti Submarine Frigate built in 1943 at the Davie Ship building's Morton Engineering & Dry Docks in Quebec City. It was the first of the mid-war Canadian built frigates and was specifically designed for trans-atlantic convoy duties. The ship had a compliment of 13 officers and 144 other ranks and completed 16 wartime convoys.
The first commanding officer of the Dunver was a Lt-Cmdr Bill Woods who was a Verdun native. Many people are unaware that Verdun was considered a very patriotic community. More than 7,000 of its 67,000 (1941) residents volunteered for service, more than 1,000 of them in the Navy. In many respects it can be said that Verdun was a navy city.
The support that the residents gave the O&M of the Dunver was phenomenal and set the standard for the balance of the war on community pride and support for the armed forces unseen in today's troubled times.
The ship was retired in 1946 at the end of the war and sold for scrap, the Ship's Bell was presented to the City in Dec. 1946 and for many years sat on display in the corridor of City Hall between the entrances to the Library. But that was in the late 60's and I've no idea if it's still there or where it was moved to.
For those who might be interested: a local historian form Verdun, Dr. Serge Durflinger who is now a Associate Professor of History at the University of Ottawa has written a number articles and papers on the ship and a quick Google check of "HMCS Dunver" will provide links to a number of them.
As for your initial photo of the HMS Verdun, it too had an excellent record. The HMS Verdun's most memorable action came after the war when this ship had the honour of being used to bring the body of the 'Unknown Soldier' from Calais to Dover in 1920 prior to burial in Westminster Abbey .
Post a Comment