Henry J. Rees

Harry Rees was born in 1918 in Cardiff, Wales to Hugh Ernest Rees and Mary McNaughton. Mary's father James McNaughton, a Scot from Ayr, was a member of the merchant marine who was killed when his ship was torpedoed by the Germans in 1918.

In 1920 Harry's sister Margaret arrived and a brother Ernest Trevor followed in 1924. By 1927, the family had left Wales and were living in Toronto at 568 Woodbine Avenue on the northwest corner of Woodbine and Corley Avenue. Harry probably started Norway in Grade 3. The family were soon living down the street at 23 Corley. Another son, James Bruce was born in 1928.

In December 1929, Harry's father was working as a night operator at McColl-Frontenac Oil at the foot of Cherry Street. The company shipped oil on freighters. On the evening of December 16, Ernest was with another employee in the operating room under the oil tank when a gauge broke and caused a spark by hitting the oil tank. There was an explosion and it was the biggest oil fire in Toronto history. Ernest was badly burned. The other employee was severely burned when he attempted to shut off the oil pump. The two men were taken to St. Michael's Hospital. Ernest recovered well enough to return to work and by the mid-1930s he was a foreman at Colgate-Palmolive near Queen and Carlaw.

The Toronto Star, December 17, 1929.

Harry completed Grade 8 at Norway in 1932 and started at Danforth Tech. When he left Danforth he became a wireless operator on ships. He operated the radio transmitter on two passenger ships Cayuga and Dalhousie City that crossed Lake Ontario from Toronto to Niagara-on-the-Lake and Port Dalhousie. He was known as “Sparks” to thousands of Torontonians who would take excursions across the lake. He was also well known to groups of children who were interested in wireless operation.

Ernest died in 1938, aged approximately 59. This left Harry as practically the sole support for the family.

Soon after World War II began on September 3, 1939, Harry left his job, using his skills to join the merchant navy. Supplies like food and oil were needed from North America for the British war effort. Merchant vessels usually travelled in convoys, protected by navy ships, to prevent destruction by enemy submarines and aircraft. Harry's salary would have been much higher in the merchant navy.

Harry on one of his ships. The Toronto Star, October 31, 1940.

Soon after World War II began on September 3, 1939, Harry left his job, using his skills to join the merchant navy. Supplies like food and oil were needed from North America for the British war effort. Merchant vessels usually travelled in convoys, protected by navy ships, to prevent destruction by enemy submarines and aircraft. Harry's salary would have been much higher in the merchant navy.

He signed on to an oil tanker and experienced heavy bombing near the French coast. By mid-August 1940 Harry had returned to visit his family and left on August 15, signing on with a ship that was sailing to the West Indies. After that he went to England and France with an oil tanker. When he returned to Canada, he joined the St. Malô, a freighter that had been seized from France at the beginning of the war. She sailed from St. John's, New Brunswick for Liverpool at the end of September as part of convoy HX-77. Her cargo was general goods, including steel and grain. Normally a ship could travel across the Atlantic in about a week, but convoys zig-zagged across the ocean, trying to avoid detection by U-boats.

St. Malô Source: www.frenchlines.com.

On October 11, three ships in the convoy were sunk by one U-boat. On the next day, the 12th, another U-boat sunk a fourth ship. St. Malô strayed from the convoy about 500 kilometres west of Scotland and at 2325 hrs, U-boat 101 launched a torpedo that hit St. Malô amidships, splitting her in two. She sank after 30 minutes. 16 crew members were able to make it to a lifeboat and were later rescued and taken to England. As the chief radio officer, Harry would have been one of the last able to leave the ship. Of the 44 crew members, 28 died including 22 year old Harry.

Harry is commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, dedicated to sailors and soldiers who were lost at sea during the wars.

In the 1940s, Harry's mother and siblings moved to Woodmount Avenue near Cosburn and Woodbine. Mary lived there until she died in 1972.