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| Above and below: The former base at Cornwallis was situated on the southern shore of the Annapolis Basin near Digby N.S. It now appears that the surrounding town bears the same name as the base. (Photo above courtesy Google Earth. Photo below courtesy Microsoft Live Maps) |
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| Besides the marchpast, this undated photo of Cornwallis (likely taken in late wartime) indicates some construction is still in progress. Looking approximately NW, the camera is situated one block west of Broadway. The Gym is under construction in the distance, just in front of the almost completed South Block. The Band is just crossing the RR tracks - not clearly seen - that run from left to right. The new Gunnery School is immediately to the left, just off camera. The Dry Canteen is the building on the right. (From the collection of H.B. Jefferson [1] Via Gary Pollock) |
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| From a different vantage point, this camera is situated atop the Seamanship School, looking roughly NW. The troops are marching down Broadway. The 'H' shaped building on the left contains the tailor and barber shops, (at least from 1961 onwards). The Dry Canteen is the building top centre, with the dark Gymnasium building under construction behind it. Once again, the South Block can be seen on the other side of the Gym as can part of the Wardroom at the very top of the photo on the right, behind South Block. (From the collection of H.B. Jefferson [1] Via Gary Pollock) |
Elsa Lessard remembers her posting to Cornwallis. "HMCS Cornwallis was set up as a basic training establishment for all the male Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserves RCNVR. Because I already had office experience, I was given a 2 week course in Navy office procedure and posted to Cornwallis from April to Sept 1943. I worked in a building known as the NEW ENTRY Administration Office. One duty I remember was issuing cards with the assigned bed numbers in the various dormitory blocks (barracks) to new recruits. For some reason the name Anson Block sticks in my mind. Maybe that is where my younger brother was assigned. He and I were both on the base at the same time. After basic training he went to St Hy to train as a visual signaller and was then posted to the corvette HMCS Moosejaw. In front of the counter in the office was a "Requestman's Deck". Here I saw many young lads standing before Duty Officers with various requests or explanations. I and a buddy were requestmen once - trying to get permission to go on the submarine Seawolf on a dive in the Bay of Fundy. It was denied. But... we had many a Sunday dinner on the sub. The Post War Wrens (1952 onwards) received their basic training at HMCS Cornwallis which was not at all like the wartime training. Also, the uniforms were similar but different".
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| Aerial view of Cornwallis. (Photo source unknown, Via Lloyd McIntee) |
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| An opposite aerial view of Cornwallis. (Photo via Pierre Dubuc) |
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| A twin 4 inch naval gun stands as a gate guardian. |
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| 1951: CPO Lawrence is providing instruction to WREN Irene Lowen. |
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| 1951: LCdr. Murdock supervises buzzer exercises at the Communications School. (DND photos via Terry Whalley) |
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1951: Graduating class W2 - October 30, 1951 to December 9, 1951. Click on image to enlarge and read names. This was the first wave of post war WRENS. All twenty six WRENS went from Basic Training to the Comm School course which lasted from Oct to Dec 1951. Then it was a posting to HMCS Coverdale for Communications Research training before going to HMCS Churchill or becoming part of DSRA staff. Irene Lowen went to both. (DND photo via Terry Whalley) |
This series of late 1950's photos illustrates some of the physical training that new recruits had to undergo.
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| Scaling the wall. |
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| Crawling isn't that easy when barbed wire is being avoided. |
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| Crossing on the rope bridge. |
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| It's not that easy if one has to also carry rifle with both hands. |
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| Jumping over obstacles. |
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| The lad bent over in the creek has not fallen down. He is entering a 30 inch by 30 foot culvert half full of ice and running water fed from the pond in the background. The trainee had to go through with his back rubbing on the top of the culvert in order to keep his face out of the water. |
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| All photos in this table by Pierre Dubuc. |
NOTES:[1] H.B. Jefferson was a well known journalist in the Maritimes in the 1930's to the 60's.
Contributors and Credits:1) Pierre Dubuc <sailorcop(at)sympatico.ca>
2) Terence Whalley <terry.whalley(at)sympatico.ca>
3) Lloyd McIntee <lfm(at)nbnet.nb.ca>
4) Gary Pollock <gary.pollock(at)sympatico.ca>
5) Elsa Lessard <elsal@rogers.com>
6) ABRM2 Don Moneypenny 65356-H (aka "Cash") RCN 1964 - 1969 <dmpenny(at)shaw.ca>
Nov 29/10