My father, Robert William Chappell, served on a RCN Flower Class Corvette during the Second World War. He was 19 when he shipped aboard. I have a couple of framed photos of him in uniform. So bloody young. He passed away back in 1993 at age 69......too young. I myself am 63 now. I toured the Sackville a couple of years ago. After telling my Dad’s story to a crew member, I was invited to go into the engine room which was where my father was stationed. It is an eerie feeling to be standing in the same place (different ship) that my Dad stood all those years back. Even in harbour, the steel walls, boiler tank, stairways and ladders are cold and damp, with the ocean right outside a fairly thin metal shell. Similar feeling to a Halifax bomber like the one my uncle was in, and then out of when it blew up over Germany. He survived, but that is another story.
Interesting to hear your story, my father( HMCS Niagara) and uncle (HMCS Arrowhead) served also with the RCNVR. There's a web site that is an unofficial site for the RCN called "For Posterity's Sake" that would be interested with your father's service information. Cheers
Just finished reading the pocketbook "The Corvette Navy" (by James B Lamb). This video a fitting visual reference to what he talks about, and adds to the video in the sense of how the sailors and officers lived.
Last time I was in Halifax and visited the museum the Sackville was a different color. She was all over a blue gray color. Dad was a US Merchant Seaman during WW2. Sailed in convoy out of Halifax with Corvettes as escort several times.
