On 2 July 1942, two young Canadian soldiers on duty drowned in the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa. Amid the major horrors of the Second World War the victims of this tragedy have been almost forgotten

Purchase, Gerry

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

A Rideau Canal TragedyGerry Purchase and Owen CookeLeft, the Minister of National Defence, Colonel the Hon. J.L. Ralston, meets one of the officers running the Army Week demonstration from 0.1 Officers Training School, Brockville, before the exercise begins. The photo was taken in the park on the west side of the Rideau Canal. Note the railway station platforms in the background across the canal just south of the present-day Government Conference Centre.National Archives of Canada PA 2047:Q n  2 Ju ly  1942, two young Canadian soldiers on du ty  drow ned in the R ideau  C anal in  dow ntow n O ttaw a.Amid the  m ajor ho rro rs of the  Second World War the  victim s of th is  tragedy have been  alm ost forgotten.T h a t  y e a r , th e  g o v e rn m e n t  designated  the  first week of Ju ly  as Army Week, to focus attention on a service which, with the notable exception of the debacle a t Hong Kong, had  seen virtually no action in the war. To a t t r a c t  r e c r u i t s  a n d  se ll V ic to ry  B o n d s , dem onstrations and displays took place in cities an d  tow ns across C anada and  in B ritain . In O ttaw a, two p latoons of officer cadets  from  the Officers T rain ing  C entre in  Brockville were to dem onstrate a mock attack  on the police station, which at th a t tim e was a t the no rth  end of Elgin S tre e t to w ard s C onfedera tion  S q u a re . One p la to o n  in ten d ed  to reach  the  objective by c ro ss in g  the  R ideau  C anal. The officer cadets p lanned  to drop into the east side of the  canal from  the  wall so u th  of Union Station, today the G overnm ent Conference C entre, and , in  full kit, swim the  canal a t an  angle, coming out a t a se t of steps, since d isappeared , a t a spo t u n d e r the p resen t- day Mackenzie King Bridge. Lieutenant T.M. MacDonald was to lead the swimmers. When they  emerged, the soldiers were to jo in  the o ther platoon for a  final a s sa u lt w ith b lank  am m unition  on the police station.The canal w as approxim ately  20 m etres wide an d  th ree  m etres deep, with a drop of two m etres from the bank  to the w ater surface. The officer cadets w ere all ex p e rien ced  so ld ie rs  th e n  u n d e rg o in g  t r a in in g  to  b e c o m e  su b a lte rn  officers. M any of them  had  a lr e a d y  s e rv e d  o v e rs e a s :  a ll h a d  p rac tised  the  swim in a  flooded quarry  n e a r  Brockville. The swim w as not p a rt  of their norm al tra in ing  program m e, b u t all m em bers of the platoon h a d  volunteered for it. They wore su m m e r figh ting  o rder: co tto n  s h o r ts  an d  sh irtsleeves w ith heavy boots and  pu ttees , full w e b b in g  e q u ip m e n t  w ith  s m a ll  p a c k s ,  w aterbottles, steel helm ets, rifles and  bayonets, abou t eighteen kilogram s (forty pounds) of kit in all. A lthough 20 m en would be in the w ater a t once, the  only safety p recau tions  consisted  of one m an  in  a boat an d  one on shore  serving as lifeguards. O nlookers a t the  d em o n stra tio n• J lH49© Canadian Military History, V olum e 11, N u m b er 1, W inter 200 2 , p p .49 -53 .The platoon carrying out the simulated assault water crossing drop into the water from the east side of the Rideau Canal. Note the drop down to the water which put some of the swimmers into difficulty.NAC PA 2047included a large crowd of w artim e civil servants ou t on the  canal b an k  for lunch , a s  well as the Hon. J.L. Ralston, M inister of National Defence.The initial drop from the  canal wall to the w ater surface, for w hich the  officer cadets  h ad  not practised, caused their packs to fill suddenly w ith w ater an d  m ade the  swim  m uch  m ore difficult. Although m any in the platoon m ade the crossing safely, a num ber of the swim m ers were so o n  in  t ro u b le  a n d  th e  l ife g u a rd s  w ere  o v e rw h e lm ed  in  th e i r  a t t e m p ts  to  r e a c h  everyone. S evera l o n lo o k ers , n o ta b ly  Able S eam an  R.W. R ichardson  from  Naval ServiceH eadquarters, dove into the w ater to rescue the struggling soldiers. In the  end, five sw im m ers were pulled  unconscious from the w ater and  a r t i f i c ia l  r e s p i r a t io n  a t t e m p t s  b e g a n  im m ediately. A lthough th ree  were revived and  h osp ita lized , Officer C adets  J a m e s  S tan ley  R ic h a rd so n  a n d  R aym ond L aw ton R oberts  drowned.M any of the  specta to rs  apparen tly  did not realize th a t anything was amiss, b u t Ralston was deeply affected by w hat he h ad  seen. He hurried  to the House of Com m ons to report the incident immediately.Below left: This officer cadet, with steel helmet and rifle, is swimming smoothly. Below right: Officer cadets (and rescuers?) in the Canal. The cadet in the foreground is still wearing his small pack, but there is no sign of helmet or rifle.NAC PA 204726 NAC PA 204729In this photo the officer cadets are still in the water, although one has reached the steps on the west side of the Rideau Canal. The crossing is at a considerable angle down the Canal.At the tim e, the  new spapers reported  and  com m ented on the  tragedy a t length  b u t it was soon overshadow ed by the m ajor events of the w ar and  forgotten by the  public. In Parliam ent, R alston prom ised a full inquiry, b u t the resu lts  were apparently  never m ade public. The military C ourt of Inquiry concluded only th a t there  hadbeen an  error in  judgem ent: the governm ent has n e v e r  r e le a s e d  th e  n a m e  of th e  o ff ic e r  responsible.F unera ls  for the  two officer cadets  who m et such  un fo rtunate  and  untim ely death  were held in  their respective hom etow ns.Soldiers coming out of canal on the west side. The officer cadets are carrying steel helmets, small packs and Lee- Enfield rifles, and are wearing heavy ankle boots. At bottom right, on the top step, are packages of .303 ammunition, presumably dry blanks for the ‘assault’ on the police station on Elgin Street. Note the crowds, many of themgovernment workers on lunch break.James Stanley Richardson was born in St.Stephen, NB, on 13 July 1920. He attended St. Stephen High School, 1934-1937, where he was an army cadet, following which he spent eight months at St. Stephen Business College, 1937-1938. After graduation he was employed as a junior bank clerk with the Bank of Nova Scotia, 1938-1940.He enlisted in the Carleton and York Regiment in Woodstock, NB, on 24 February 1940. He transferred to the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment on 12 September 1940 and was promoted Sergeant in the unit the same day. Richardson embarked at Halifax with his battalion on 18 July 1941. He served with the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment in the United Kingdom until 29 March 1942 when he returned to Canada to attend the Officer Training Centre, Brockville, Ont. He died just before his 22nd birthday.He is buried in the Rural Cemetery, St. Stephen, NB.Q a y m o n d  Lawton Roberts was born in Sydney, N.S., 23 June 1914. He moved I x f r o m  Nova Scotia to Toronto with his family at about age six. He attended the High School of Commerce, 1927-1929, and Farquharson Private School, 1929- 1930. He worked for the Ontario Treasury Department, 1929-1934, first as an office boy and later as a civil service clerk. In 1934, he moved on to British American Oil, then to Harris, Ramsay and Co., bond dealers, 1935-1940, as a trader, clerk, and office manager.On 30 June 1934, Roberts married Lillian Mae Yates at St. Michael’s and All Angels Anglican Church in Toronto. By 1940 they had two young daughters.Roberts served in the reserve battalion of the Royal Regiment of Canada from 16 July 1940 until he joined the Canadian Active Service Force 16 December 1940. He was promoted to Acting Sergeant the same day. He embarked from Halifax 4 February 1941. In Britain he served with 1 Canadian Infantry Holding Unit and 2 Division Infantry Reinforcement Unit, instructing on platoon weapons. He took courses in drill, Bren gun, internal economy and administration, and a physical training course at the Irish Guards Depot. He was appointed a Warrant Officer II, Company Sergeant Major, on 1 December 1941.In April 1942 Roberts returned to Canada for officer training. He apparently travelled as a prisoner of war escort before reporting to the the Officer Training Centre, Brockville, Ont. He was 28 at the time of his death.His military funeral was held in Toronto, and he is buried in Prospect Cemetery.The officer in helmet is likely Lieutenant T.M. MacDonald, the platoon commander, who led his officer cadets in the swim. To the left, a rescuer prepares to enter the water.SourcesThe au th o rs  are  m ost grateful to Mr. Peter R obertson, form erly of the N ational Archives of C anada, for draw ing th e ir a tten tio n  to  the series of National Defence photographs of the Canal tragedy. The late Ellwood Girling, who also tra in ed  a t th e  Officers T rain ing  C entre, Brockville, first told Gerry Purchase  abou t th is incident.N ational A rchives o f CanadaO l Officers Training Centre, Brockville, Ontario. War diary. Ju ly  1942. RG 24 vol. 16,936.Personnel FilesB-68092 Raym ond Lawton Roberts.G -17646 Jam es S tanley R ichardson.A rchives o f OntarioD epartm en t of A ttorney-G eneral for O ntario. R ideau C anal fatalities. RG 4-32, file 734 /1942 .Printed MaterialsC anada. Parliam ent. H ouse of Com m ons. D ebates. 2, 9 Ju ly  1942. The Evening Citizen  (Ottawa). 2-7 Ju ly  1942.The Globe a n d  Mail (Toronto). 3 Ju ly  1942.The Sa in t Croix Courier (St. S tephen , NB). 9 Ju ly  1942.Toronto Daily Star. 3, 6 Ju ly  1942.Gerry P u rchase  developed an  early in te re s t  in  m ilita ry  h is to ry  w hile s e rv in g  in  th e  w a r tim e  R ese rv e  Battalion of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and  la te r in the  C anad ian  Officers' T rain ing  Corps. His older b ro ther, L ieutenant Jo h n  R. Purchase, trained a t  th e  O fficers T ra in in g  C e n tre , Brockville and  vo lun teered  for the  Canloan program m e. He was killed in action  in  Ju ly  1944 while serving in th e  4 th  B a t ta l io n , R oyal W elch Fusiliers.O w en C ooke is  a n  in d e p e n d e n t  resea rch er and  archivist. For m any years, he w as chief arch iv ist a t the D irectorate of History, D epartm ent of National Defence.53

A Rideau Canal Tragedy

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A Rideau Canal Tragedy

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