John Baillie

Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

John Baillie was born 27 December 1924. He and his close friend Lloyd “Lloydie” Miller joined the Sea Cadets as boys. The Baillie family welcomed Lloyd, whose home life was difficult, and the two became as close as brothers. When the Second World War began, the Royal Canadian Navy urgently needed sailors and recruited heavily from the Sea Cadets. John joined the navy in 1939 and felt this experience as a cadet prepared him well for active service. He would go on to serve on ships including the HMCS Chambly, Cobalt, Annapolis, and Sackville.

John was aboard one of the first Canadian ships to anchor at Newfoundland during the war. With nowhere to stay upon arrival, he slept in the Fire Department’s barn above the horses while waiting for accommodations. During his time in St. Johns, John’s army friend Art Mitchell would wave a flag from the Fort Chain Rock Military Batteries whenever John’s ship returned to port. This tradition touched John, and it became one of his favourite memories of the war.

John was aboard the HMCS Chambly in September 1941 during the battle for convoy SC-42. During the battle, the ship achieved the Royal Canadian Navy’s first U-boat “kill” of the war, sinking U-501, sharing credit with HMCS Moose Jaw. This would not be John’s last encounter with enemy submarines. On another occasion, during a duty watch aboard the Chambly, John spotted something unusual. The water below seemed to be moving unaturally while foam floated to the surface. He reported what he had seen to a Lieutenant that was serving as officer of the watch. He was called to see his commanding officer once the situation had deescalated, John recalled the officer saying something along the lines of, “Baillie, we’re having you recognized with picking out this thing that you saw on the water, what you thought was water wasn’t just water, it was stirred up from a German submarine below… good work.”

Another encounter with an enemy submarine occurred when a German U-boat surrendered. John claimed he was aboard the HMCS Annapolis when they were tasked to transport the freshly captured German submariners. His friend Junior struck a passing German officer the first chance he got, “he clocked him with his fist” John said, “all he could think of was his brother,” a fellow seaman who had recently lost his life in action against the Germans. The war had become personal for Junior.

John experienced similar feelings of grief when his childhood friend, Lloyd, died on 20 February 1943. Both of their ships were taking part in the same convoy. Lloyd was posted on the deck of HMCS Bittersweet as a depth charge sentry when a large wave washed him over the guardrail as the ship violently heeled to port. A sea-boat was also smashed by the wave among other damages. The “Jimmy” (lieutenant) commanding John (likely on HMCS Eyebright) was so flustered it was hard to understand his commands. The search and rescue mission commenced, “we must have been there seven, eight, six hours, we couldn’t find him.” John’s captain, “was a good guy, he stayed extra time which he wasn’t allowed to do,” lingering the ship back in hope of a rescue effort. John said that he later discovered his friend had, “got his leg caught in a piece of wire” on his ship, just below the waterline (this is not mentioned in the official report).

John was in the Halifax Harbour aboard a ship at the end of the war. Their captain tried to get the crew ashore to celebrate the allied victory in Europe. While celebrations were underway ashore, it quickly turned violent. Due to bureaucratic confusion, insufficient policing, antipathy between the military and civilians, and the presence of 25,000 servicemen ultimately led to disaster. As thousands rampaged and looted the city, John and his crew were forced to stay aboard their ship.

War was full of emotions. At 99 years old, John still vividly recalled witnessing an oil tanker that had been sunk. Many young sailors like himself were floating in the water dead. Due to memories like this, John suffers from flashbacks every month or two. Despite the horrors, he remembers his former career with positivity, “It was a wonderful experience, if I had time, I’d go and do it all over.” John and his wife now make Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Building in Halifax their home. Living just a few short blocks away from the HMCS Sackville, the exact ship he served on eight decades ago.