Recalling the heroes
Park to remember brave Cape Bretoners who died fighting for us
In March of 1943, my uncle Pilot Officer Rannie MacLean was stationed at R.A.F. Station Chivenor, on the west coast of England. Although a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Rannie had been “seconded” (loaned) to the Royal Air Force and was flying antisubmarine missions off the coast of France.
Rannie was a “Navigator/ Air Gunner” on a twin-engined bomber called the Vickers Wellington. Named after the historical Duke of Wellington, it was the only Allied bomber that was in production for the entire six years of the Second World War. A total of more than 11,000 Wellingtons were manufactured, and most carried a crew of five or six.
It was common at that time for all aircrew members to receive training in a second job, as well as their primary one. Although my uncle was trained as a navigator, he had also been trained as an air gunner.
As such he would first guide the pilot of his aircraft to wherever they were going. However, once they arrived over the target, or if they were attacked by enemy fighters along the way, then he would leave his navigation table and instruments and man one of the defensive machine guns that each aircraft carried.
On the night of March 27/28, Rannie MacLean and his five fellow crew members took off from R.A.F. Station Chivenor. They were on an overnight, anti-submarine patrol, in the Bay of Biscay, off the west coast of France.
Such missions would often last for nine or 10 hours, and would involve low-level searching for enemy submarines, that would usually surface at night to recharge their engine batteries. Rannie’s aircraft, and the entire crew, were never heard from again. It was my uncle’s seventh operational mission
Two days later, on March 30, 1943, a telegraph message from Ottawa was received at the North Sydney office of Canadian Pacific Telegraphs. It was addressed to: “Hector MacLean, Archibald Avenue, North Sydney.”
The telegram was simple and to the point.
“Regret to inform you advice has been received from the Royal Canadian Air Force Casualties Officer Overseas that your son Rannie Gabriel MacLean (#J22499) is reported missing as the result of air operations on March 28, 1943.
In the best interests of the possible safety of your son it is requested that you withhold any information from press or radio until his name appears in Official Casualty List five weeks hence. Letter following.”
Unfortunately, no trace was ever found of my uncle’s aircraft, or the circumstances surrounding their last flight.
Were they attacked by an enemy night fighter?
Were they shot down by a gunner on a surfaced submarine, as they came in at low level to drop depth charges? Or did the pilot, flying at less than 100 feet above the ocean, in the middle of the night, become disoriented and fly his aircraft into the sea?
Whatever happened, Rannie MacLean was only one of 752 members of the Royal Canadian Air Force who died during the Battle of the Atlantic. In addition, more than 2,000 sailors from the Royal Canadian Navy, and more than 1,600 Canadian Merchant Mariners died in the struggle. There were also civilian casualties, including the 136 people who died when the Newfoundland ferry, the S.S. Caribou, was sunk in October, 1942.
For the last year and a half I have been part of a small group of individuals and volunteers, who have been planning a major historical undertaking on the Northside of Sydney Harbour. Called “Atlantic Memorial Park,” it is a proposed five-year project at the mouth of the harbour in Sydney Mines.
The plan is to commemorate not only the Battle of the Atlantic but also Canada’s role in various other military conflicts in our nation’s history. In addition to the restored Chapel Point Battery, there will be a First Nations encampment, a family park, beach facilities and a suitable monument that would be visible from ships entering or leaving our wonderful harbour.
At the present time there are other sites or historical plaques around Sydney Harbour that commemorate the Battle of The Atlantic including the restored coastal fort at Fort Petrie, the Merchant Mariner monument on the boardwalk near the cruise ship wharf and the RCAF display at Munro Park in North Sydney.