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George Downie
Captain George Downie, naval officer, military figure in the WAR OF 1812 (b at New Ross, Ireland; d near Plattsburgh, NY, 11 Sept 1814). George Downie joined the Royal Navy in the 1790s and was promoted to lieutenant in 1802.
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Captain George Downie, naval officer, military figure in the WAR OF 1812 (b at New Ross, Ireland; d near Plattsburgh, NY, 11 Sept 1814). George Downie joined the Royal Navy in the 1790s and was promoted to lieutenant in 1802.
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Harry George DeWolf, naval officer and veteran of the Second World War, vice-admiral, Chief of Naval Staff, Royal Canadian Navy (born 26 June 1903 in Bedford, NS). DeWolf was best known as the commanding officer of HMCS Haida, one of Canada’s eight Tribal Class destroyers during the Second World War. DeWolf entered the navy in 1918 and retired in 1961. A new class of offshore patrol vessels has been named in his honour.
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Hugh Palliser, naval officer, governor of Newfoundland (b at Kirk Deighton, Eng 26 Feb 1722/ 23; d at Chalfont St Giles, Eng 19 Mar 1796). He was a naval officer at the siege of Québec in 1759, and was appointed governor of Newfoundland 1764.
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Isaac de Razilly, naval captain, knight of Malta, colonizer and lieutenant-general in Acadia (b at Château d'Oiseaumelle, Touraine, France 1587; d at La Hève, Acadia 1636).
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Isabel Janet Macneill, OC, OBE, naval officer and correctional system supervisor (born 4 June 1908 in Halifax, NS; died 18 August 1990 in Mill Village, NS). Isabel Macneill was a pioneering woman in nontraditional leadership positions. She was the first female commanding officer of a navy ship in the British Commonwealth and the first female prison superintendent in Canada.
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Jack Hamilton (Jake) Warren, OC, public servant, diplomat, business executive (born 10 April 1921 in Howard Township, ON; died in April 2008 in Ottawa, ON).
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Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de La Jonquière, Marquis de La Jonquière, naval officer, governor general of New France, appointed 1746, served 1749-52 (b near Albi, France 18 Apr 1685; d at Québec 17 Mar 1752). In 1746 La Jonquière was a veteran of 49 years in the French navy.
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James Campbell Clouston, naval officer (born 31 August 1900 in Montréal, Québec; died 2 or 3 June 1940 at sea, in the English Channel near Gravelines, France). Born and raised in Montréal, Campbell Clouston joined the British Royal Navy in 1918 and served on ships in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. During the Second World War, Clouston acted as pier master during the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk, overseeing the evacuation of nearly 200,000 servicemen between 27 May and 2 June 1940. He died at sea after his boat was sunk by German aircraft. In September 2017, a commemorative plaque was dedicated to him in Montréal.
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John Meares, sea captain, entrepreneur, fur trader (b 1756?; d 1809). He entered the Royal Navy in 1771, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1778. After leaving the navy in 1783, Meares formed a company for trading furs on the
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Marie Thérèse Josée Kurtz (née Boisclair), naval officer, rear admiral, maritime commander (born 2 October 1968 in Joliette, QC). A career naval officer, Kurtz has achieved many firsts as a woman in both the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Kurtz was the first woman to command a major warship (HMCS Halifax, 2009), Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG2, 2019), and RCN coastal formation (Maritime Forces Atlantic, 2023). Kurtz was also the first female commandant of the Royal Military College (2021).
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Joseph Pierre Roméo Vachon, pilot, airline executive (b at Ste-Marie-de-la-Beauce, Qué 29 June 1898; d at Ottawa 17 Dec 1954). After service in the RCNVR during WWI, Vachon joined Laurentide Air Service in 1921 and in 1924-25 performed an aerial survey of Québec's North Shore.
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Leonard Warren Murray, naval officer (b at Granton, NS 22 June 1896; d at Derbyshire, Eng 25 Nov 1971). Murray joined the navy in 1911, served in WWI and by 1939 was deputy chief of the naval staff.
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Margaret Martha Brooke, MBE, dietician, naval officer, war hero, paleontologist (born 10 April 1915 in Ardath, SK; died 9 January 2016 in Victoria, BC). Brooke was a nursing sister during the Second World War and survived the torpedoing of the SS Caribou. For her heroism immediately after the sinking, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), the first Canadian nursing sister so recognized.
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Memory Project Archive
Al Swance served in the navy during the Second World War. Read and listen to Al Swance’s testimony below.Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
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