Volunteer Reserve sailors altered course of Battle of the Atlantic

From humble beginnings early in the 20th century to exemplary service during the Battle of the Atlantic, sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) reserve force have made an extraordinary commitment to Canada.

Throughout the Second World War, the reserve force was the backbone of the RCN, providing recruits from across Canada, including those in land-locked communities far from its three oceans.

As it celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, the Naval Reserve continues to generate trained sailors for Canadian Armed Forces operations, both domestically and abroad, while at the same time supporting the Navy’s efforts in connecting with Canadians through positive interactions in the community. Many of these sailors also hold down full-time jobs in the civilian world.

Created in 1923 by Rear-Admiral (RAdm) Walter Hose, a predecessor of today’s modern reserve force was called the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR). This force, along with the RCN Reserve (RCNR), provided additional support to the RCN when needed.

The RCNVR was established at a time when the Navy was under drastic budget cuts. RAdm Hose saw a volunteer reserve force as a great way for the fledgling RCN to build support from coast to coast, and he created Naval Reserve Divisions in every major Canadian city. These buildings were called “stone frigates” and carried the designation of His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS).

Its worth was demonstrated in 1939 at the onset of the Second World War, when it was used to recruit and build much of Canada’s wartime navy. By the end of the war, Canada had the third largest navy in the world with a complement of nearly 100,000, most of whom were members of the RCNVR.

Officers in the regular navy wore straight stripes on their uniform sleeves, while RCNVR officers had wavy stripes, giving rise to the nickname “Wavy Navy.”

While their RCNR colleagues were largely professional sailors with experience in the merchant marine, RCNVR sailors were amateurs with limited pre-war training or simple experience as yachtsmen.

For those who made the initial selection, life in the RCNVR began with the enlistment process at their closest Naval Reserve Division, and the promise of $48 pay per month. After completing a medical board and swearing an oath of loyalty to the King, new recruits were taken on divisional strength and issued a uniform.

While training began at the local level, recruits were eventually sent to the coasts for advanced training; however, this training was far from adequate when compared with pre-war regular force standards. Instead, it was tailored  to give them just enough information on ship handling and anti-submarine warfare to at least survive on the bridge of a ship.

On September 10, 1939, the RCNVR went to war, joining Canada’s fleet of six destroyers, four minesweepers and a schooner, along with 2,000 officers and men of the RCN.  

An organization of 19 recruiting and basic training centres across the country provided the RCN with all necessary man power, further inland than the Navy had ever reached before.

Overnight the RCNVR almost doubled the size of the RCN, and by January 1941 more than 8,000 of the 15,000-strong RCN were volunteer reserves. At the peak of the war, nearly 100,000 Canadians wore navy blue. Of those, more than 77,000 were proud members of the Wavy Navy.

According to naval author Richard Mayne, what had not been taught in pre-war training had to be quickly learned aboard ship.

“Both the sea and enemy inflicted many painful lessons,” he wrote in Citizen Sailors: Chronicles of Canada’s Naval Reserve, 1910-2010. “As confusing as training ashore for young men fresh out of school, the office, or off the farm, life on the North Atlantic was worse: long periods of boredom and sea sickness, followed by convoy actions and moments of sheer terror. In time, however, reserve sailors would become just as professional as their regular force counterparts.”

The Canadian sailors also had an uphill battle in winning recognition from the Royal Navy (RN), but eventually proved their value.

“Those RCNVR boys won Canada a good name,” wrote Lieutenant Gordon B. Jackson, the first RNCVR officer to be commissioned from the ranks. “Their record was a good one. We won the respect of the RN and that takes some doing.”

The Battle of the Atlantic, fought largely by reservists, was the longest continuous battle of the Second World War and one in which Canada and the RCNVR played a central role. The battle began on the opening day of the war in September 1939 and ended almost six years later with Germany’s surrender in May 1945.

At stake was the survival of Great Britain and the liberation of western Europe from German occupation. Britain could be saved from starvation and strengthened into the launching pad for the liberation of Europe only by the delivery of supplies, troops and equipment from Canada and the United States.

Everything had to be carried in vulnerable merchant ships that faced a gauntlet of enemy naval forces in the notoriously unforgiving North Atlantic. The most important measure of its success was the safe passage during the war of over 25,000 merchant ships under Canadian escort. These cargo vessels delivered nearly 165 million tons of supplies to Britain and to the Allied forces that liberated Europe.

In the course of these operations, the RCN sank, or shared in the destruction, of 31 enemy submarines. For its part, the RCN lost 14 warships to U-boat attacks and another eight ships to collisions and other accidents in the north Atlantic. Most of the 2,000 members of the RCN who lost their lives died in combat in the Atlantic.

Following the war in 1946, the RCNVR and the RCNR were combined to form the Navy’s new Reserve Force. With the merger, the distinctive RCNVR wavy lace was exchanged for the regular force braid, ending an era.

While celebrating the accomplishments and proud history of the Naval Reserve during its centennial this year, the RCN looks forward to the continued exceptional contribution of its 4,100 citizen sailors in 24 Naval Reserve Divisions across the country.