HMCS Camrose
By Garth Paul Ukrainetz
POET LAUREATE OF THE BLACKMUD CREEK
In the heartland of Central Alberta
Lovely fields of canola and wheat
There’s a lake in a mirror reflecting
Where the people, like berries, grow sweet
But in London the bombs were exploding
Great Britain’s great fight to survive
Wicked Hitler in goose step advancing
Only war will keep freedom alive
She was launched in the chill of November
From a shipyard near Montreal shore
In June ‘41 her commission
She was ready to serve in the war
For the Royal Canadian Navy
For the Battle Atlantic travail
The pride and the joy of Alberta
Yes, Camrose the Corvette set sail
She guarded and herded the convoys
Like a shepherd looks after the sheep
Many dangerous wolf packs surrounding
Deadly submarines lurking the deep
From St. John’s she journeyed to Britain
Turned around and refueled, then returned
Back and forth she would cross the Atlantic
Keeping watch for torpedoes that burned
The waves were like mountaintops crashing
Over ship they would smash full of spray
And the boys sometimes feared they’d not make it
On their knees they would fall and would pray
Callous winter was worse than the waring
They were frozen so solid and cold
Like ice cubes they floated on ocean
In a drink that no stomach could hold
The slop in the mess deck was heinous
It was mouldy and soggy and vile
The boys wished they’d feed it to Hitler
If it killed him the whole world would smile
At night as the sea swayed their hammock
They would dream of their homes and their gals
Under warm starry nights of Alberta
Rowdy jamboree music with pals
And suddenly U-boats are striking
There is mayhem, explosions, and flare
Brave Camrose fights back with a vengeance
As her depth charges blow everywhere
She rushes and fires at the enemy
She chases them all out of sight
She rescues the merchant mariners
From their ships sinking down in the night
She sailed in the cold North Atlantic
She sailed along Newfoundland shore
She sailed to the Mediterranean
Past the rock of Gibraltar and more
Yes, she sailed through the Bay of the Biscay
Through the Channel of English she went
The whole crazy war she was sailing
But for freedom the time was well spent
On the 6th day of June the invasion
The great pushback of liberty came
And thousands of ships sailed for Normandy
An armada that crushed Hitler’s game
As the battles raged over the beaches
Over Juno and Gold on the sand
Over Utah and Sword and on Ohama
Camrose aided the soldiers to land
Then when the cruel war was all over
And the sourful grapes had been pressed
She pulled up her anchor from Portsmouth
And returned to her home of the blessed
To the heartland of Central Alberta
To the fields of canola and wheat
To the lake in a mirror reflecting
Where the people, like berries, grow sweet
Ⓒ2020 Garth Paul Ukrainetz
In celebration & remembrance of the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
1945 - 2020
“Lest We Forget”