WWII: By Sea…with the H.C.M.S. LINDSAY
Photo from the Ivan Chamberlain Collection
H.M.C.S. LINDSAY
This Flower-Class Corvette, traditionally the smallest class warship, was built in 1942 in the Midland shipyards. It was christened and launched on November 13, 1943. Mayor Charles Lamb and his wife Mrs. Etta Lamb, along with their daughter Marie were in attendance along with Deputy Reeve H. Elliot, Alderman Ada Greaves, C. E. Ferguson, Bruce McNevin & his wife Mrs. McNevin, the M.P. Reeve R. Butler and his wife Mrs. Butler, and G. Brigden of the Lindsay Daily Post.
A snippet from the Lindsay Daily Post - November 1943
The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Lamb, who broke the champagne bottle across the ships bow with these words, “I christen thee H.M.C.S. LINDSAY. God bless this ship and all that sail on her.” Mrs. Lamb was presented a watch by Midland Shipyards Limited to commemorate the happy occasion. The christening was witnessed by more than 50 Lindsay residents that day as the ship was officially turned over to the Navy. Lieut. George Alexander Victor Thomson, R.C.N.V.R became the Corvette’s new captain.
LINDSAY was ordered 2 January 1942 as part of the 1942-43 modified Flower-class building programme. This programme was known as the Increased Endurance. Many changes were made, all from lessons that had been learned in previous versions of the Flower-class. The bridge was made a full deck higher and built to naval standards instead of the more civilian-like bridges of previous versions. The platform for the 4-inch main gun was raised to minimize the amount of spray over it and to provide a better field of fire. It was also connected to the wheelhouse by a wide platform that was now the base for the Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar that this version was armed with. Along with the new Hedgehog, this version got the new QF 4-inch Mk XIX main gun, which was semi-automatic, used fixed ammunition and had the ability to elevate higher giving it an anti-aircraft ability. Other superficial changes to this version include an upright funnel and pressurized boiler rooms which eliminated the need for hooded ventilators around the base of the funnel. This changes the silhouette of the corvette and made it more difficult for submariners to tell which way the corvette was laying.
LINDSAY was laid down by Midland Shipyards Ltd. at Midland, Ontario 30 September 1942 and was launched 4 June 1943. She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy 15 November 1944 at Midland. The LINDSAY had one significant refit after suffering damage in a collision in the United Kingdom. She began the refit at Saint John, New Brunswick in March 1945 and finished 22 June 1945.
Many naval records were lost in a fire at the National Defence Headquarters in the 1970s, but the majority of the H.M.C.S. LINDSAY’s files survived this fire. The LINDSAY was primarily in service as an escort ship which escorted Destroyers across the Atlantic. Most notable is the role the LINDSAY played in Operation Neptune during the D-Day operations on June 6, 1944.
Operation Neptune was the naval aspect of the Allied invasion of Normandy. It took place on June 6, 1944. It was the initial phase in Operation Overlord, which planned for an assault by five infantry divisions on a fifty mile stretch of the Cotentin Caen area of the Normandy coast. The five infantry divisions - two British, one Canadian, two American - were assigned to beaches code-named, from east to west, Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah. The purpose of Operation Neptune was to convey the assault troops across the channel and to land them on the D-Day beaches. Once the more than 156,000 troops landed, they were to establish the beachhead in France, which was required for all other associated operations.
Why Was It Named For the Town of Lindsay?
Initially this class of ships were called Flowers and named for flowers, but Canadian Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear-Admiral Percy Nelles directed the ships to be named after Canadian communities - quoted as saying “Flowers don’t knit mittens”, wanting the naval war efforts to resonate with the people.
In February 1943, M.P. B. McNevin suggested to the government that a ship be named after the town and on April 11th, 1943, the town received a letter informing them that a Corvette would be named for Lindsay. The town was asked to form a council to “adopt” the ship and Ada Greaves was chosen as supervisor of the council. A corvette committee was formed as a result, which received extensive support and donations from local businesses, clubs and townspeople which provided crew members with comforts and goods, including a piano and washing machine.
Lindsay residents sent care packages, letters and Christmas gifts. The town began preparing for the commissioning of the ship months before by hosting events to raise funds and gathering donations. Women in Lindsay hosted a Jamboree in August of 1943 where $800 was raised for the H.M.C.S. LINDSAY’s crew. There was at least one member of the crew from Lindsay identified as Thomas McGuiness. In return for the towns people’s support, the crew gifted the town of Lindsay the ship’s bell and their white ensign flag.
Thomas Bernard McGuinness (1919-1977)
Royal Canadian Navy
Thomas McGuinness 2021.182.2
Thomas McGuinness was one of 85 crew serving on the H.M.C.S. LINDSAY, named for his hometown, during WWII. As a stoker, he was one of 10-16 men responsible for keeping the boilers running and the engines in peak condition. The LINDSAY was one of 46 ships and 163 flotilla landing vessels that participated in Operation Overlord as the navel contingent for the invasion of Normandy- or D-Day as it is more commonly known. The LINDSAY was one of 19 corvettes that was assigned to provide escort service to the many ships and floating docks heading for assembly points on the south coast of England one week before the invasion date. This was to guard against the constant German U-Boat threat.
Only hours before the invasion, Canadian “Bangor” Class minesweepers cleared shipping lanes of mines and then ensured that the anchorage swept clear. The last part of their assignment was to sweep the lanes for the assault boats, right to the limit of the deep water. While under a moonlit sky, they crept within 2.4 kilometres of shore, pretty well under the noses of the unsuspecting Germans.
Mines and other underwater obstructions were a constant threat to the landing craft and few escaped without some sort of damage. Leading the second wave were 26 landing craft of the RCN’s 260th, 262nd and 264th Flotillas. These flotillas were carrying a combined force of 4,617 soldiers, primarily from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Six speedy and deadly MTBs (motor torpedo boat) were assigned to patrol the Seine estuary. RCN corvettes would go on to escort additional convoys into Baie de la Seine during the rest of the day. Naval losses were described as “incredibly light”, especially considering how many enemy long-range naval guns and other weapons were still operational at the time of the landings.
Thomas McGuinness survived the war. After his tour of duty, McGuinness came home to marry his wife Edna Vera Syrett and move to Brantford where the couple raised their sons, Wayne and Ross.
Thomas and Edna McGuiness - Brantford Expositor photo 2014