 Hajo
Hermann was one of the Luftwaffe's
boldest and most innovative air tacticians during WWII. Beginning
his military career at an infantry officer academy, he was commissioned
in the newly formed Luftwaffe in 1935. He became a founder member
of the Condor Legion in Spain and upon returning to Germany
in 1937, joined KG-4, and wrote several highly praised tactics
reports. When WWII began, he flew He-111's in Poland and Norway.
By 1940 Hermann was Commander of the 7th Staffel of KG-4, and
led many attacks on England during the Battle of Britain. In
February of 1941 his group went to Sicily, where they flew against
Malta and Greece. In one such
attack, he placed a single bomb on a munitions ship. The resulting
explosion sank 11 ships and made the Greek port of Piraeus
unusable for months. In early 1942 he was Commander of III/KG30,
attacking arctic convoys from Norway, including the famous
attacks on PQ-17. July of 1942 saw him assigned to the general
staff in Germany, where he became a close confidant of Hermann
Goering. Hajo Hermann was creator of the 'wild boar' tactics
of night fighting in the Defence of the Reich. By 1944 he
was Inspector General of night fighters. He has a tally of
over three hundred operational missions and nine RAF bombers
destroyed. Hajo Hermann received the Knight's Cross with Oak
Leaves and Swords. He is currently practicing law in Germany.
 Frank
Saies-Jones entered the navy
in 1941 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the age of fifteen and
a half. Drafted to the Royal Navy, he was en route to England
on HMS Rajputana when she was torpedoed by U-108. After training
in England, he traveled to South Africa and India. He eventually
joined HMS Kelvin, a Destroyer Flotilla based in Alexandria,
Egypt. He returned to the UK in 1943 and underwent more training
before being sent to the USA to join a newly commissioned
escort vessel in New York. While doing work-ups in Bermuda,
he was posted ashore to the HMS Malabar to join the staff
of the A/S school on that island, where he served in the Oberon
before being sent to Sydney, Australia, to join the submarine
Vox. Back in the UK, Saies-Jones was drafted to the submarine
HMS Sportsman. He retired with the rank of Lt. Commander with
the 1939-45 Star, the Africa Star, the Atlantic Star, the
CVSM & Clasp, the Defense Medal, the Victory Medal, the
Canadian Centennial Medal, the Canadian Forces Decoration
& Bar, and the Malta Medal. Saies-Jones is currently the
General Manager of Operations and Curator of the Naval Museum
of Alberta, Canada.
 Donald
W. Newman volunteered for
service in the Royal Canadian Navy in March 1942 at the age
of seventeen and a half. After Gunnery Training he was sent
to England on the Queen Elizabeth (then fitted as a troopship).
In June of 1943 he joined the Tribal Class Destroyer H.M.C.S.
Athabaskan which at that time was operating in the Bay of
Biscay. In August she was hit by a radio controlled glider
bomb dropped by a Luftwaffe aircraft, necessitating repairs
at Plymouth, England. Rejoining the fleet at Scapa Flow in
Scotland, Athabaskan sailed on convoy duty to Russia in December
1943 and was later re-assigned to the 10th Destroyer Flotilla.
On April 29, 1943, in company with Haida, she engaged enemy
warships off the coast of France. Athabaskan was torpedoed
and sank with the loss of 128 killed and 86 captured from
a total complement of 255. Don Newman survived the sinking
to be taken prisoner by the Germans.
For service to his country, he was awarded
the 1939 - 45 Star, the Atlantic Star, the Defense Medal,
the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with the Clasp, the Victory
Medal and the Soviet 40th Anniversary Medal (Murmansk Medal).
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 John
C. (Jim) Colman served on the
Canadian Tribal Class destroyer H.M.C.S. Huron, which was part
of the famous British 10th Destroyer Flotilla along with other
Canadian Tribal and Free Polish destroyers, operating from the
Plymouth in the English Channel. H.M.C.S. Huron also served
with the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow and escorted convoys
from Loch Ewe and the Clyde in Scotland through the Arctic Ocean
to the port of Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula in northern Russia.
The convoys had to contend with the torpedo bombers of the Luftwaffe,
U-boats, the mined entrance to the Kola Inlet, the threat of
German warships, and the arctic weather. The
10th Flotilla also took part in Operation Tunnel and Operation
Hostile, leading up to the D-day invasion. During the D-day
landings, the flotilla was part of Operation Neptune, providing
naval support for the landings.
Able Seaman Gunner Jim Colman served all
of his sea time in the destroyer Huron. He was awarded the
1939 - 45 Star, France - Germany Star, Canadian Volunteer
Service Medal & Clasp, the War Medal, and the Soviet 40th
Anniversary Medal (Murmansk Medal).
Jim is the Secretary and Past President
of the H.M.C.S. Huron Association and a Life Member of the
Russian Convoy Club.
 C.
N. Mawer was a First Lieutenant
in H.M.C.S. Nootka at war's start, and later Gunnery Control
Officer on H.M.C.S. Haida, a tribal class destroyer, based
at Scapa Flow as part of the British Home Fleet, screening
the battle fleet and escorting Russia-bound convoys. He was
close to such a convoy when the German ship Scharnhorst was
sunk. In early 1944, Mawer was transferred to Plymouth as
part of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla. He was in a large number
of actions afterwards, including an action on April 26, 1944,
when his crew sank a German destroyer but in turn, H.M.C.S.
Athabaska went to the bottom. He was awarded a Mention in
Dispatches. On June 9, 1944, his flotilla was in action with
German destroyers, where his crew sank two. He was then awarded
the Distinguished Service Cross. He was transferred ashore
in December 1944, to become Staff Officer Operations in the
Newfoundland command with the rank of Lt. Commander and then
promoted to Commander in March 1945.
In addition to the award mentioned above,
Commander Mawer received the 1939 - 45 Star, the Atlantic
Star with France & Germany Bar, the Volunteer Medal, the
Victory Medal, the British Arctic Medal and the Russian Medal.
The Canadian Contingent sign Arctic Encounter.
From background to foreground: Frank Jones; C. N. Mawer; John
C. Colman; Donald W. Newman. Signing took place at the Alberta
Naval Museum in Calgary on October 31, 1998. |
