Friends of HMCS HAIDA
650 Catharine St N L8L 4V7 Hamilton, ON, Canada

A wonderful initiative to get behind - let’s share some gratitude!

These are great!

Congratulations to Cmdre Brad Peats on assuming command of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 in Lisbon today, and to HMCS Halifax taking up the role of flagship. #SiorGaisgiel

Season’s greetings from RAdm Brian Santarpia, Commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic & Joint Task Force Atlantic. Happy holidays! Message du temps des Fêtes d...u Cam Brian Santarpia, commandant des Forces maritimes de l’Atlantique et de la Force opérationnelle interarmées (Atlantique). Joyeuses Fêtes! See more

International Men’s Day observed on November 19 focuses on men’s health, improving gender relations, highlighting male role models, and promoting positive expre...ssions of masculinity. 1 in 4 men suffer from depression. 76 percent of suicide victims are men. This International Men's Day, we want to break the stigma associated with men talking about their mental health If you need help, we are here for you. https://www.canada.ca//benefit/military-mental-health.html #InternationalMensDay #ItsOkToTalk

Today is the 100th birthday of a remarkable Canadian. He is Commander (Retired) Peter Godwin Chance, of Sidney, BC. Cdr. Chance has lived through some of the m...ost momentous and turbulent times in world history. During the Second World War, Cdr. Chance served in a variety of Canadian warships including HMCS SKEENA, HMCS SEA CLIFF, and HMCS GATINEAU. He is one of the last remaining survivors of the long-running, hard-fought, Battle of the Atlantic, and also participated in the Korean War, when he saw combat again as part of Canada’s support of UN operations there. From April 1951 to July 1952, he served aboard the Tribal-class destroyer HMCS CAYUGA, overseeing navigation and air direction during bombardments along the coastline. Cdr. Chance has been a staunch supporter of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Armed Forces, and has contributed greatly to public understanding of the RCN’s important contribution to history. Through it all, he has retained the lively wit and sense of humour and fun which have won him countless friends and admirers. To celebrate the many achievements of Cdr. Chance, the museum is renaming its Battle of the Atlantic Gallery in his honour. It will now be called the Peter Godwin Chance Gallery. Happy centennial birthday, Cdr. Chance, on this monumental occasion. See more

Well, that’s a nice picture! Canadian Heroes

Oh wow - what a sight!

Your Navy Today #WeTheNavy Highlights NOVEMBER 2020 Operations Updates Battle of the Atlantic Special Reports... http://ow.ly/D9xN50CJdMB Actualité de votre marine #NousLaMarine NOVEMBRE 2020 Opérations La Bataille de l'Atlantique Rapports spéciaux http://ow.ly/E2dT50CJdOF Maritime Forces Pacific / Forces maritimes du Pacifique Maritime Forces Atlantic - Forces Maritimes de l'Atlantique Naval Reserve Réserve navale

The future Canadian Surface Combatant

Hanukkah Sameach! Sending my best wishes to all those celebrating this first day of Hanukkah! I hope that it is filled with peace and happiness. #Hanukkah2020

Ready to show some support over the holidays?

Pictures from HMCS Harry DeWolf's circumnavigation of Newfoundland from various points along the coast. Pictures courtesy of Rod Burry, Boyce Tec Inc, Jane Smith

Sands of Remembrance at Normandy Beach By Rudi Williams American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, 2004... For the director of the White House Commission on Remembrance, some of the most enduring images of this month's 60th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landing at Normandy, France, will be the sand on the beach a 30-by-30-foot sand sculpture. A sand sculpture of troops disembarking from a landing craft during the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of the beaches of Normandy, France. Photo by Bernard Clerc-Renaud "Look at that! Look at that! I've never seen anything like that in my life!" a man exclaimed when he saw the sand sculpture on Omaha Beach, Carmella LaSpada said. "I've never seen anything that was so awesome, so overwhelming," she said. "People from all over the world -- Russia, Greece, Belgium, Hungary, the United States -- had tears in their eyes. Some people said, 'This is the third time I've come. Each time I come, it touches me.'" Initiated by the White House Commission on Remembrance, the "Sands of Remembrance" memorial caused an 8-year-old French girl to exclaim, "Wow! Magnifique!" when she saw the sculpture depicting soldiers landing on Normandy beaches. The sculpture was made from 50 tons of sand from the five landing beaches that were codenamed Gold, Juno, Omaha, Sword and Utah. LaSpada recalled more of the comments she heard: "I feel the presence of those who died." "No other commemoration for those who died has so much meaning." "How could this have been done? It's unbelievable." "It brought tears to my eyes." "It sums it up, what happened." "It makes you think." "You feel gratitude." The commemoration involved many displays and events, LaSpada said, but none matched the sand sculpture for emotional effect. "You have your commemorations, concerts, parades, ceremonies and your speeches, but nothing that touches the mind and heart like the sculptures did," she said. "And the way it touched young people and old people alike was just amazing." French television aired a story about the sculpture May 30, and the next day some people said they drove more than 50 miles just to see it, LaSpada said. "It was also on the front page of the Daily Telegraph and the London Times newspapers," she noted. "People cut out pictures of the sculptures from a Stockholm (Sweden) newspaper and brought them with them." LaSpada said she listened to a father from the United Kingdon explaining the meaning of the sculpture to his 7-year-old daughter. "When he finished talking, she looked at everything again, her eyes wondering, and took a deep breath, and said, 'Daddy, the next time we go to the beach I want to make a sand castle for (the soldiers who died on Normandy beaches),'" LaSpada said. "That says it all. They died for kids to be able to play in the sand on those beaches. I wish the world could have seen the sculptures." She said a woman from the World War II French resistance was pleased to find out that the resistance contributions to victory were recognized in the sculpture. "Veterans from the United States said it was so touching to them," LaSpada said. "They said it made them think about all their friends who died on the beaches, and that it was wonderful to honor them is such a special way." LaSpada said it was necessary to perform maintenance on the sculptures every day; otherwise they would have fallen apart. "Every day my assistant had to mix wood glue and water and spray it on them in the morning and in the afternoon to keep them from crumbling," LaSpada said. "We had a tent around it to protect it from the winds." After the ceremonies were over, the sculpture was broken down and the sand returned to the beaches wence it came. "It was important to return the sand to the beach it came from, because that's were the soldiers shed their blood," LaSpada said. Sand sculptors John Gowdy and Matthew Deibert of the United States; Mark Anderson and Edward Dudley of the United Kingdon; Dale Murdock of Canada; and Julien Legaes and Guillaume Pelletier of France created a historically accurate sand sculpture of the Normandy invasion, LaSpada noted. The sculpture was dedicated on May 30 and remained on exhibit through June 8. LaSpada said people protested when workers were breaking down the sculpture to haul the sand away on June 8. "They didn't want it taken down," she noted. "One of the sculptors had to get the mayor to explain to the people why the sculptures had to be taken down. That sums up what this meant to them. "'Sands of Remembrance' was symbolic, so I wanted to make it special and it was." LaSpada said.

First look at the emergency steering position on HMCS Harry DeWolf. Picture courtesy of Corporal David Veldman

Fern Blodgett, a young Canadian also known as a Sparks was the first woman ever to serve deep sea as a wireless radio operator. No one expected her to make th...at initial return voyage, but with great courage, resilience, and devotion to duty, Fern kept a bucket by her side, and sailed with the Mosdale for 78 of its recorded 96 transatlantic voyages. Read more about her story: http://www.navy-marine.forces.gc.ca//news-/news-view.page #SheTheNavy #BOA75

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A great Christmas gift idea: FoH membership! Get a tax deductible membership and help make Canadian naval history, available for future generations. https://foh-4547cd.ingress-alpha.easywp.com/