Pier 21, Departure

Pier 21, National Historic Site of Canada is a former Immigration Shed on the Halifax waterfront. It was the gateway for thousands of troops, immigrants.

I took my grandfather there with my wife and children back in the summer of 2003. It was a wonderful time. Since his health had begun to weaken him, he was given a wheelchair and an assistant. He felt great as there was a special program for veterans who had actually left from Pier 21. He also found the troopship he had sailed on.

From wikipedia:



The Pier was the primary point of entry for over one million immigrants and refugees from Europe and elsewhere, as well as the departure point for 496,000 military personal Canadian troops during World War Two.

The Royal Canadian Ordance Corps

The Royal Canadian Ordance Corps was basically the army's Canadian tire. Everything which was needed by the army was supplied by this unit. My grandfather was posted to Number 12 Salvage Company. This is the unit he went overseas with in 1940.

From wikipedia:

The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps RCOC can trace its roots back to the Canadian Stores Department. Formed in 1871, the Canadian Stores Department was a civil department of the Canadian Government. This civil service was charged with control of forts, ammunition, stores, buildings and an ordnance depot left by the departing British Military.

The Canadian Ordnance Corps was redesignated the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps on 29 Apr 1936. In the Second World War, the RCOC had a strength of 35,000 military personnel, not including the thousands of civilian personnel employed at RCOC installations. They procured all the material goods required by the Army, from clothing to weapons. Up until 1944, the RCOC was responsible for maintenance and repair. Ordnance Field Parks, that carried everything from spare parts to spare artillery, supported the Divisions and Corps.^[1] The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps was redesignated The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps on 22 Mar 1948. It reverted to the previous name on 18 Apr 1955.^[2]

The North Nova Scotia Highlanders

This regiment was raised in 1936. The unit was raised of men from Cumberland, Colchester and Pictou counties. Nova Scotia had raised Scottish units for the First World War. The regiment had many Scottish decendants but took in anyone who wished to join.

My grandfather Ernest Cummings Rose joined the North Novies in 1939. He has spent most of his teenage years in Truro, Nova Scotia working at a typesetter for the local newspaper. Having learned to type, he applied to join the local militia regiment, which was the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.
Since he could type, he was assigned to the headquarters of the regiment, which is where he initially began his military service.

Following the British pattern, this regiment was the local regiment for the counties the men came from. Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou counties all have a strong amount of Scottish decendants. Many of the men were sons, brothers, cousins, and friends. Even as a young boy growing up in my hometown of Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, many of the men were veternans of this regiment. Every November 11, they would form up and march again, to remember those who didn't come back.

The North Nova Scotia Highlanders from wikipedia

Founded in 1936 as The North Nova Scotia Highlanders (M.G.) by the amalgamation of the Cumberland Highlanders, The Colchester and Hants Rifles, and 'C' Company, 6th Machine-Gun Battalion

The North Nova Scotia Highlanders were assigned to the 9th Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division. They landed on Juno Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. By that time, my grandfather was not with this regiment having transfered to the Royal Canadian Ordance Corps.

Welcome to Grampie's War 1939-45

This blog is one of memory of my Grandfather, Lance-Corporal Ernest C. Rose, Royal Canadian Ordanance Corps.
This will be a major work in progress. I want to first take a look at the recruitment of troops into the Canadian Army in 1939, how they trained and then where they went.
It is also my main blog for my Bolt Action wargamming based on the Warlord/Osprey publishing system.