FAINT FOOTSTEPS, WW2 by G. Harrison: The Day After the Burial at Sea (17D)

Photos From Halifax, June 2010. (And one video)

I didn't sing the blues (or eat ribs) after giving SS Walnut

a mighty toss into the Atlantic via Mackerel Cove.

On Saturday I arrived in Halifax. On Sunday I buried my Dad at sea as per his wishes. On Monday I didn't exactly jump out of bed, but I awoke with some energy and decided to enjoy a good walk-about and see what I could see.

Halifax is one fine city, ribs or no ribs!

Photos from along the way:

I head downhill toward the harbour and waterfront walkway

I pass many significant buildings and doorways

A bit of fog still in the air

Wet Paint!

I will get a closer look during a boat tour

I think my grandparents would have entered Canada via Pier 21

At the time I believed my father had been a Merchant Marine. Not so

I later toured the Acadia and took a tour of Halifax harbour and more

The Museum of the Atlantic was of great interest to me, and I

donated two books (re RCNVR and Combined Operations)

Dad had shown me a postcard re this statue in the 1980s and

stated he wanted to be buried at sea. Well, the deed was done!

The Sailor's Monument is found at Sackville Landing, 100 metres

from the front door of the Museum of the Atlantic

Go up this street (Lower Sackville?) to get to Maxwell's Plum (pub)

I believed at the time that Dad had served on some of these ships

The card above, at the feet of the member of RCNVR says:

This statue is a replica of the Sailor's Monument at Sackville Landing and is a tribute to all those valiant men and women who served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. Courtesy Atlantic Chief and Petty Officers Association

Canadian Merchant Seamen are mentioned. I wondered why anyone, including

Dad, would want to be a Merchant Seaman and target of German U-boats

"The Earl of Athlone, Governor General of Canada, and the Countess

of Athlone, visit the Halifax Dockyard, June 29, 1941"

(My father joined the RCNVR in June, 1941)

My father was rescued from cold waters off the shore of Irvine Scotland

- late at night - in 1942 by a seaman using an Aldis lamp, above

During a boat tour I get a bit closer to a well-known landmark

I imagined that I'd walked along that distant shore the day before

but I likely had been around the farthest corner and beyond

Our boat tour guide explains how to determine the sex of a lobster.

She is from London ONT (I knew one of her former teachers)

Male or female? I honestly forget. The guide would make

a good teacher nonetheless!

"Sail on, Dad!"

Before returning to shore I took one short and shaky video that included a look toward Pennant Point - perhaps, if my bearings can be trusted. It reveals the great length of shoreline one can see from a boat, and I still felt as if I'd walked it all just the day before.

Link to A YouTube video. (Link - https://youtu.be/8vCn-C34VSc)