NEW Memory Project Video Highlighting the Merchant Navy in the Second World War

TORONTO – September 3, 2024 – 3 September 2024 marks Merchant Navy Veteran’s Day.

Our new video, entitled The Forgotten Navy highlights the experience of Canada’s Merchant Navy with first-hand accounts from Chief Steward Percival Smith and Captain Earle Wagner (1923-2023). Unofficially known as the “Fourth Arm of the Services,” the Merchant Navy endured serious threats from mines, aircraft, surface raiders, and a particularly vicious German U-boat blockade, all while having a limited means of self-defense in the Atlantic Ocean. In this new video, two Merchant Navy veterans share their stories of crossing the Atlantic to deliver vital goods to the war effort and the long fight to get their proper recognition.

For this production, Historica Canada worked with Toronto illustrator Jessie Durham, Bonfire Productions, and script consultants John Boileau, an author and media commentator who specializes in military history, and Matthew Moore, whose research focuses on the history of the Canadian Merchant Navy during and after the Second World War.

Historica Canada is a charitable organization that offers programs in both official languages that you can use to explore, learn, reflect on our history, and consider what it means to be Canadian. The Memory Project is a volunteer speakers bureau that arranges for veterans and Canadian Forces members to share their stories of military service at school and community events across the country.