Eldridge survived to tell the tale
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BEAVER HARBOUR - When his corvette was torpedoed off the
coast of England during the second world war Gilbert "Gib"
Eldridge got a cold dousing in the English Channel but he survived
to tell the tale unlike some of his comrades.
The 84-year-old Beaver Harbour native was 20
years old when the second world war broke out and by the time he
celebrated his 21st birthday he was in Bermuda serving on board
a British ship which had been a passenger vessel in peace time.
Eldridge signed up for the navy in Saint John in
1940 and was there for a couple of weeks before he was moved to
Halifax for some basic training but he was only there a short while
too before volunteering to serve on board The Maloja.
"There was a call for volunteers to go on
this British armed ship The Maloja which had been a big passenger
ship in peace time. It had been fitted with eight
six-inch guns. There were British navy on board her as well as
some merchant marines. The gunners and the officers were all from
the British navy - and the officers were quite strict."
He recalled that a lot of the new sailors were
seasick at first but, fortunately, it didn't bother him.
Some of those who joined the navy and came to Halifax had come from
out west, he said, and had never even seen a boat before.While on board the vessel Eldridge said the Canadians were paid $1.65 a day which wasn't much but was quite a bit more than the British who were only getting the equivalent of 52c a day. The Canadian sailors were getting as much as the British officers, he said. The ship went from Halifax to Bermuda were they picked up convoys and escorted merchant vessels bound for the British coast stopping in Iceland on the way to fuel up. Eldridge remained with The Maloja for only ten months then he was sent back to Saint John where he joined the corvette Amherst.
The Amherst sailed between St. John's,
Newfoundland and Londonderry, Ireland, and he served on board the
corvette for 18 months making 22 crossings during that period.
"We would pick the convoys up in St. John's
and cross over to England with them and then escort the empty ships
back. We lost a lot of ships but during that period I
never even broke a finger."
After serving on board the Amherst Eldridge went
back to Halifax for three months training as a petty officer then he
was sent to Trenton, Ontario to pick up another corvette the
Trentonian.
The corvette was doing escort duty and they were
also on the beaches on D-Day then the vessel was assigned to a small
convey traveling between Cardiff, Wales and Antwerp, Belgium.
"We made one trip and Belgium was all clear
of the Germans. We were going down with the second
convoy when we got torpedoed eight miles off Falmouth (Devon) and
the ship went down in less than 15 minutes."
There were 101 people on board the corvette, said
Eldridge, and eight of them were killed - one of them a buddy of his
who was an electrician from Grand Manan.
"It hit the stern of the boat and blew the
stern right off. I was down in the boiler room but he
was setting depth charges. He was killed and so were
seven other people."
When the corvette went down there were lifeboats
but Eldridge didn't make it into one so he jumped into the water
which was pretty cold since it was Feb 22, 1945.
"Everyone was detailed for a float and mine
was on the upper deck but by the time I was up out of the boiler
room I could not get in so I had to jump in the water but I had a
life jacket. I wasn't the only one. There
were quite a few heads bobbing in the water."
Fortunately, he said, they were rescued fairly
quickly and were only in the water for about half-an-hour before
help arrived.
By that time Eldridge said he was getting pretty
cold since he had only been wearing a pair of dungarees and a shirt
as he had been working in the boiler room when the corvette was hit.
The crew were taken into Falmouth and from there
they were sent by train to Scotland. From Scotland he
was supposed to join a troop ship to England but Eldridge said he
never went to sea again.
Even though he was a long way from home it was
while he was here that he meet another New Brunswicker - Herb
Matthews from L'Etete.
Eldridge said he heard this voice asking the way
to the wet canteen and realized he recognized it. He had
known Matthews back home.
"They had taken over an old hotel and they
kept us there then in April I came home. I got annual
leave and 30 days survivor leave. I was home on VE
day."
After the war Eldridge worked for a short while
on a small coastal freighter belonging to Connors Bros and then in
1950 he joined the Department of Fisheries and Oceans as a fishery
officer where he remained until he remained until he retired in
1984.
He met his wife, Amy, when she came on holiday to
New Brunswick from PEI and the couple were married in 1949 - they
have one son.
Although he stills sees Matthews, who he said
often talks about their chance meeting in Scotland during the war,
Eldridge said he has not kept in touch with any of his old comrades
since the reunions are always held in Ontario although he said he
got to know a lot of people during his service in the navy.
Since his retirement Eldridge said he has not
done too much except to enjoy hunting and fishing.
He and his wife continue to live in the house on
the water's edge where Eldridge was born and grew up.
Apart from his service during the war he has
spent most of his life in Beaver Harbour. He went to
school in Beaver Harbour and when he left school went lobster
fishing with his father.
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