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To make matters worse, a design flaw caused the ships boilers to go out, making it necessary for a tugboat to tow the Crevier to Halifax. In October of 1943, a month after the storm incident, the damage to the Crevier had been repaired, but it still lacked lifeboats that were needed before it could join a convoy. As the Creviers cargo was desper- ately needed the captain made a deal with the crew, stating that he would get them back to England in time for Christmas, if they agreed to sail with no lifeboats. The crew agreed. Garside, who had no say in the Inside Full Delivery: Dell Computers, Michaels of Canada, Partial Delivery: 2001 Audio, Niagara Life, The Brick, Atlantic Windows, Centennial Windows, Mississauga Booster, Home Hardware, Rabba Fine Foods, North Oakville, Bass pro Shops, Hoopers Pharmacy, Pennisuala Imports, Dot Patio, Alexanian Carpets, B&H Magazine Opinion............................................6 Living.............................................26 Sports.............................................28 Real Estate.....................................34 Classified.......................................36 For home delivery & customer service call (905) 845- 9742 Mon., Tues. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed., Thu., and Fri. 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (open for calls only after 5 p.m.) Closed Sat. and Sun. NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS call (905) 845- 9742 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com matter because he was Royal Navy, said he had no problem with this decision because the captain prom- ised to put extra life rafts on board. With the decision made, the Crevier joined the next convoy for the U.K., which left in the middle of November. This convoy consisted of about 60 ships, but while the Crevier had a maximum speed of 10 knots they were limited to the speed of the slow- est ship in the convoy, which was about six knots. The journey across the Atlantic had not been an easy one for the Allies since the start of the war. Groups of German U-boats (sub- marines), known as Wolf Packs, stalked the convoys, destroying as many ships as they could in an effort to cut the supply route from North America and starve England into sub- mission. For Garside, the reality that he was now at war came crashing home the very first night his convoy was at sea when U-boats torpedoed two tankers. Ill always remember seeing those blazing tankers, said Garside, choking back tears. It was pitch black at night, butit was a pretty nasty thing to see. There was no warning when an attack was coming, it would just hap- pen, said Garside. He described the strange range of thoughts that passed through his mind during these terrifying inci- dents. Most of the time, to be perfectly honest, we were scared. We were just kids when all was said and done, he said. But also, like kids, we thought we were fireproof. We thought noth- ing was going to happen to us, it always happens to the other guy. The attacks on the convoy came to an end briefly with the arrival of a severe storm, which Garside said was far more intense than the one he experienced in the Gaspay. Garside found he actually wel- comed these storms for, while the thrashing of the boat in the first storm had been a horrifying experi- ence, storms of this intensity also meant the U-boats, which usually surfaced to attack, could not operate in such bad weather. After about eight days, however, the bad weather ended and the war resumed. As the convoy drew closer to Europe, Garside said it was spotted by a Focke-Wulf Condor, a long range German airplane. While equipped with bombs and cannons the plane did not attack, but circled the convoy, well out of range of the anti-aircraft guns Garside was manning. They were the spotters for the submarines, he said. We knew they were telling other submarines exactly where we were. That kept us on our toes. When night fell, four more ships in the convoy were destroyed. While many of these ships were lost at the edges of the convoy, being closer to the centre, where the Crevier was, was not alway safe as some U-boats would actually surface within the convoys and destroy them from the inside. Crew agreed to cross Atlantic without lifeboats on board Continued from page 3 See Garside page 8