Macaulay Morrison Family
The Past & Present
Donald Macaulay in World World II
Donald Macaulay was the first child of Neil and Mary Macaulay. He was born in 1904 in Glasgow. On his military attestation form he states that he left school at age 14 after one year of high school education. He probably left school to earn money to help support the family. Later, Donald began an apprenticeship in steam engineering with J. Howden Co. Engineers in Glasgow. This training was interrupted when Donald and his family emigrated to Canada in 1924.
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By Neil Carey and Donald Peter Macaulay
A Sailor's Life in Peace and War
The family settled in Alberta at the Aird Moire training center that was set up by the Scottish Immigrant Aide Society. Donald worked with his brothers on farms in the Red Deer area to learn how to farm on the Alberta prairie. In 1926, the family was moved on to their farm in the Clandonald Colony. Donald worked with his family on the farm for the next two years.
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One surprising discovery about Donald is that he was seasick for most of the trip over from Scotland in 1924. His brother, Neil, wrote in the story of his life, that “It was a very rough trip so most of the people got seasick. Donald, who was to be a sailor, was the worst in our family. In later years he told us that, when he was on shore leave, he would still be sick. So you can imagine what a hard life it was for him”.
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In spite of this seasickness, he chose a life at sea as his occupation. Donald lived and worked for a time in Edmonton after he left the farm in 1928. Later, he moved to Vancouver and worked as an engineer on ships that sailed out of the west coast. One of the ships he worked on was a whaling vessel that sailed out of ports on Vancouver Island.
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Donald Macaulay on whaling vessel, late 1920’s
In the early 1930’s, Donald went back to Glasgow to complete his training in engineering. He returned to Canada when he was a fully qualified steam engineer and began working for Shell Oil on tanker ships out of the port of Montreal. Donald married Catherine ‘Katie’ Morrison in 1935 in Montreal and moved back to Vancouver. On his attestation form he lists his address as 4144 Windsor Street, Vancouver. (see the section called Donald Macaulay Marries Katie Morrison in the Clandonald Colony story for more details about the family during this time)
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By 1943, Donald was living in Vancouver with his wife Katie who was expecting their fifth child. Usual government policy was to enlist single men to serve in the Canadian military. That policy changed with the outbreak of war in 1939 because there was a shortage of skilled men to fill positions in the military. Donald Macaulay was a trained and experienced marine engineer so his skills would be useful to the navy.
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In 1943, Donald states that he was working for Burrard Dry Dock where he was a shipbuilding engineer. On June 9, 1942, Donald joined the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve as a Lieutenant Engineer. His Naval officer number was 0-43420. Donald, like his brother Peter, may have been ‘called up’ to serve in the Canadian military even though he was married and had several children. However, it is more likely that Donald joined the navy because he needed a secure job to support his family. He also seemed to enjoy the life style at sea of a steamship engineer.
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Donald first served with the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve in Vancouver. He continued to work at Burrard Dry Dock while he served as a part-time sailor with the naval reserve. Later in 1943 Donald was called to active service with the Canadian Navy. He was assigned to the base in Esquimalt.
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Donald was based at the Esquimalt Naval Base, which is located near Victoria, B.C. Records indicate that he served as a temporary engineer on several ships during his service in the navy. His service in the Canadian Naval Reserve was to last for the duration of the war so he is listed as a temporary appointment. We know that Donald was an experienced steamship marine engineer. He was, however, a new recruit in the Canadian Navy who would not have had the military experience or training to perform the duties of a Lieutenant. He needed training in the command structure and specialized procedures used by the Canadian Navy in a wartime setting. Donald joined the many new recruits at the Esquimalt base in training exercises to prepare for their duties on board the new Canadian warships being constructed in Vancouver and Victoria.
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The Canadian military was in the process of adding new personnel and equipment in all service branches. At the beginning of the war the Canadian military was small and not well equipped. The Canadian economy had not fully recovered from the lack of funding caused by the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Canadian governments at that time could not afford to spend large amounts of money on modernizing its military when there was no war to fight. That changed in 1939 when the Second World War began. When war broke out, Canada began a major rebuilding program to strengthen its armed forces. For the Canadian Navy that meant building new ships and adding sailors to man them. Donald Macaulay was part of that buildup of naval strength.
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Canada had been given the task of protecting the convoys of merchant ships that carried vital materials and personnel across the Atlantic to fight against enemy forces in Europe. One of the places that was a center for the construction of ships and training of personnel was Esquimalt Naval Base near Victoria, B. C. Donald Macaulay is listed as a Lieutenant Engineer on several of the Esquimalt Navy lists. He would have trained as one of the officers in charge of the engines and power plants on board the ships until he was fully qualified as a naval engineer officer. All of the ships needed qualified engineers to operate the engine systems. Donald was placed in a succession of positions as his training progressed. Two of the vessels that he is listed on were the HMCS Chignecto and the HMCS Givency. Both of these ships were based in Esquimalt and served as supply, antisubmarine patrol and training vessels for the Navy.
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HMCS Chignecto and HMCS Givenchy (note #1.)
​The Esquimalt Naval Base has a museum and web site that lists all naval personnel serving there. (Note #5.) In August 1943, Donald is listed as serving on the Chignecto in a temporary position as Lieutenant Engineer. The Chignecto J160 was built in 1940 by North Van Ship Repair. It was launched on December 12, 1940 and was commissioned into the Navy on October 31, 1941. She served with Esquimalt Force for local patrol and minesweeping. She also served as a training ship for the new sailors based on the west coast. HMCS Chignecto was based on the west coast for the whole of the Second World War alternating between Esquimalt Force and Prince Rupert Force.
The Canadian Navy list 31 August 1943 and The Canadian Navy list March 1945 (Note #5.)
On the October 1943 personnel list, Donald Macaulay is serving on the HMCS Givenchy also in the position of temporary engineer. Givenchy was an old battle class trawler built in 1917 in Montreal. She was commissioned into the Navy on June 22, 1918. After the First World War, she was transferred from Halifax to Esquimalt in May 1919. For several years after being transferred she served as a fisheries patrol vessel. HMCS Givency was returned to the Navy on April 15, 1939. She was too old and slow to be a combat ship in the navy but served as an auxiliary service ship in Esquimalt from June 25, 1940 until she was sold in 1946. Givency served as a ship that moved supplies and men around the Esquimalt base. She also served as a floating barracks for fisheries officers during the war.
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New ships for the Canadian Navy were constructed on both coasts. The east coast construction was mainly at shipyards in Quebec and Nova Scotia. On the west coast, Esquimalt and Vancouver were the site of several shipyards which built new vessels for the navy. Many of the ships constructed in Canada during the war were corvettes or frigates. These ships served on anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort duties, mainly in the Atlantic in what became known as the Battle of the Atlantic. (Note #6.) One of these new ships would be the next assignment for Donald Macaulay.
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On May 19, 1943 the Yarrows Lt. Shipyard in Esquimalt began the construction of a new frigate. This ship would become the HMCS Orkney. The keel was laid down and construction began in May and was completed on September 18, 1943. The ship was launched and sea trials began. Lt. Donald Macaulay would have been assigned to the Orkney during that period of time.
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After the trial and training period was completed, the ship was commissioned by the Canadian Navy as HMCS Orkney K448 on April 18, 1944. Orkney was one of 60 frigates built by Canada during World War II. Orkney served throughout the rest of the war on anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort duty until she was retired on January 22, 1946.
HMCS Orkney K448 (Note #3)
HMCS Orkney was known as a River Class frigate. This group of ships were built from a British design which was used by Canadian, British and American forces throughout the war. The ships were named after rivers in Britain which gave this class its name. In the Canadian Navy, the ships were named after towns and cities in Canada. The new ship was named after Orkney, Saskatchewan.
The crew of HMCS Orkney in 1945 (Note #3)
These new frigates had the latest equipment and armaments to fight against the submarines of the German Navy. The Unterseeboots, or U-boats, as they were called, were designed by Germany to intercept and sink enemy ships. These submarines were a constant menace to all shipping, especially in the vital supply lines of the North Atlantic. The frigates, destroyers and corvettes of the allied navies patrolled all the important sea lanes to detect and destroy the submarines. River Class frigates had a crew of 157 men and were larger, better armed and faster that previous escort vessels. HMCS Orkney was 91.9 meters (283 Feet) long and had a beam of 11.13 meters (36 feet). She could sail 7,500 nautical miles at 15 knots per hour.
Depth charge training off the coast of Vancouver Island (Note #3)
HMCS Orkney had two powerful engines that drove twin screws (propellers) at a top speed of 19 knots. They had several large guns to fight enemy targets on the surface. In addition, they had an array of anti-submarine mortars (Hedgehogs) and depth charges to deal with underwater targets. The frigates used the latest electronic detection systems to locate and chase enemy submarines. These included the new 147B Sword horizontal fan echo transmitter (SONAR) system. The HMCS Orkney had all these features in place and was ready to face the enemy in the Atlantic when she was commissioned in April. (Note #2)
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HMCS Orkney left Esquimalt in late May 1944 bound for its new duties in the Atlantic. She travelled down the west coast and through the Panama Canal arriving in Halifax on June 8.
Postcards from Panama (Note #3)
At the naval base in Halifax, the ship was provisioned, refueled and the men given shore leave. Orkney was then assigned to the Bermuda area for anti-submarine patrol duty. Orkney participated in several antisubmarine patrols in the areas around the naval base in Bermuda over the next few weeks. Next, Orkney was ordered to move north to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to provide anti-submarine protection to the vital shipping lanes in that area.
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​The next assignment for Orkney was to join convoy Escort Group 16 and move to the naval base in Halifax. The convoy escort system was vital for the delivery of essential food and military supplies to Britain. Convoys were organized in the large ports in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and were protected by the warships of the British, American and Canadian Navies. Convoys left every week during the war. There were 117 convoys in total during the war made up of over 6,800 merchant ships. The journey across the Atlantic would take between 14 – 18 days depending on the speed of the ships. There were about 340 ships lost during the war. Most of these sinkings were the result of submarine attacks.
Merchant ship sinking off coast of Newfoundland (Note #3)
HMCS Orkney sailed east across the Atlantic with her first convoy in the summer of 1944. She successfully escorted this convoy to the port of Liverpool. Orkney was then assigned to patrol duty out of the naval base in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She joined Escort group EG25 and was designated as senior officer’s ship. Orkney completed several patrols in the North Sea over the next weeks.
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Orkney’s next assignment was to escort a convoy heading west back to Halifax. After arriving in Halifax, Orkney was reprovisioned and refueled in preparation for her next assignment as escort to Convoy HX.317 which crossed the Atlantic in late October, 1944. Orkney and other naval vessels escorted that convoy across the Atlantic which took about 17 days. When the convoy was delivered to the port of Liverpool, Orkney rejoined Escort Group EG25 in Londonderry. Next, Orkney was sent on several antisubmarine patrol missions in the North and Irish Seas.
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In February 1945, HMCS Orkney was involved in an unfortunate accident which resulted in damage to the bow of the ship. Orkney was on patrol duty In the Irish Sea providing anti-submarine support to convoys entering the port of Liverpool. On February 13, Orkney was on patrol in the narrow approach to the Mersey River which leads to the port of Liverpool. There are several sand bars in this area which made navigation difficult. The accident occurred when weather conditions were poor – wind, heavy rain and fog made visibility difficult. Orkney collided with the merchant ship SS Blairnevis which caused extensive damage to both ships. The merchant ship suffered a large gash in her side which caused the ship to fill with water. The crew was able to ground the ship on a sand bar so it did not block the entry to the port of Liverpool. The ship continued to take on water and eventually sank. Fortunately, all of the crew were rescued.
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​An investigation was conducted to try to understand what had caused the incident. The narrow, congested entrance to the port of Liverpool and the bad weather conditions were all found to be factors that led to the collision. The investigation also found that HMCS Orkney was the primary cause of the accident. The helmsman who was in control of the Orkney at the time of the incident and the officers on the bridge had made several navigational errors. They were subject to a navy court martial and were reprimanded for their actions.
Damage to bow of Orkney (Note #3)
HMCS Orkney suffered major damage to her bow and was run aground on sand bars to remain afloat. Damage assessment revealed that Orkney was still seaworthy enough to sail slowly to Dunstaffage, Scotland where she could be repaired. Orkney was accompanied by a tugboat to ensure her safe arrival at the repair depot. Repairs to Orkney were completed in late April and she returned to active duty at Londonderry after a test cruise out of Tobermary, Scotland. Orkney remained at Londonderry until the war ended on May 8, 1945 (VE Day).
Orkney Crew - Donald Closeup (Note #3)
and Lt. Macaulay playing the bagpipes on VE Day (Note #3)
Orkney sailed back home to Canada in late May 1945. Canada was still participating in the war in the Pacific against Japan. The navy decided that Orkney would be sent to the Pacific as her next assignment. She needed to be refitted to operate in a tropical setting. These changes were carried out in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia but were not completed until October 1945. However, the war against Japan had already ended on August 2, 1945, so there was no need for Orkney to fight again. Orkney served locally in the Nova Scotia area for several months and was put into reserve at Bedford Basin on January 22, 1946. This ended the wartime service of HMCS Orkney. The ship was later sold to Israel for use as a passenger ship and later used as a warship in the Israeli Navy.
Donald Macaulay with his mother (1946)
Lt. Donald Macaulay left the navy in the spring of 1946 after Orkney arrived back in Canada. The navy list for 1946 shows that he was still assigned to the Orkney. His daughter Patricia remembers that he was ‘demobbed’ sometime in the spring. Naval records note that Donald was transferred to several ships after the end of the war as the navy reorganized its fleet of vessels. Many of these ships were sent to Bedford Basin, Nova Scotia, where they were stored and later sold as they were no longer needed. Donald served as relief engineer on several of these ships. Donald was eventually transferred to Esquimalt Naval Base where he was given leave before being discharged and demobilized on April 29, 1946.
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He would have received paid leave as a form of severance package when he left the navy. Donald would then have travelled back to Vancouver to rejoin his family as a civilian sailor. Donald resumed his career as an engineer on merchant ships sailing out of the ports of Vancouver and Victoria. He used his experience and training in the navy to qualify for his next assignment.
Donald on deck of weathership with binoculars and
Donald on deck in coveralls
Donald was hired to be Chief Engineer on one of the weatherships operated by Canadian Coast guard on the west coast. Donald served on the CCGS St. Catharine which had her home base in Esquimalt. Two weatherships took turns performing the shared duty of monitoring the conditions at sea and weather patterns in the upper atmosphere. The ships were stationed at a point designated as Station P (for Peter or Papa) in the system that monitored the North Pacific. The ships would stay within 100 miles of Station Papa – drifting most of the time. The ships would be at sea for over six weeks at a time. This included the trip out to the weather station, then six weeks on station followed by the journey to get back to Esquimalt. The crew would then have several weeks shore leave before returning for the next trip. Donald played the bagpipes each time the ship departed or arrived in the port of Esquimalt. He also spent much of his free time in his cabin where he often played the chanter or bagpipes.
Donald piping on deck of CCGS St. Catharine
Patricia remembers the radiophone calls that he made to his family in Vancouver while he was at sea. She thought that the calls came from a radio station that was set up for fathers to talk to their children. That was why it was called Station Papa.
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Map of weather stations in the Pacific region (Note #4.)
During his time aboard the weathership, Donald was joined by his sons who all served during the summer season. Donald Francis served as a chef in the kitchen on the St. Catharine. Neil served on both of the weather ships as cabin steward in the officer’s mess. Alex and Angus both served as seamen on the St. Catharine. Alex remembered when he was assigned to paint the hull of the ship while it was at sea. This surprised him! He found himself hanging precariously over the side of the ship on ropes while he painted the hull. The ship must have been drifting slowly in calm weather for this to be a safe thing to do. Patricia recalled that her brother, Angus, remembered that the crew couldn’t believe that the extrovert (Angus) was the son of the gruff, laconic Chief Engineer who spent most of his free time in his cabin.
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Donald Macaulay served as a Chief Engineer with the Coast Guard on the St. Catharine until she was replaced in 1967. Donald continued to serve as ship’s engineer until the St. Catharine was moved to the scrapyard in Victoria. He retired at that time and returned to Vancouver.
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Notes:
#1. Websites: HMCS Chignecto and HMCS Givency
#2. Website: HMCS Orkney
#3. Website: - For Posterity Sake - HMCS Orkney
The following images can be found on this website:
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Crew of HMCS Orkney K448 at Londonderry, April 1945 - Collection of Marcel Chasse
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Depth charge from HMCS Orkney – west coast Vancouver Island April/May 1944 – collection of Marcel Chasse
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Souvenir photo taken at Club Atlantico, Panama – collection of James Thorpe Friend
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A British freighter sinking south of Newfoundland – Collection of Marcel Chasse
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Damage to bow of HMCS Orkney, Feb.13, 1945 – Cheryl’s blog-on-the-sea photos from WWII
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Enlargement of crew photo of HMCS Orkney – Collection of Marcel Chasse
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Lt. Macaulay playing the bagpipes on V. E. Day in Londonderry – Collection of Marcel Chasse
#4. Website: Weather station Papa
#5. Website: Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum.org
#6. Website: Battle of the Atlantic