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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2013-11-06, Page 1212 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, November 6, 2013 Royal Navy veteran doesn't "have much to tell" about war Steven Goetz Kincardine News Richard Jenkins is modest when asked about his role in World War H and the Korean war. "Don't make it out that I am a hero who won the war," Jenkins says. "I don't have much to tell." But behind that modesty is quite the story. The 87 -year-old served in the Royal Navy as an engine and boiler room stoker during both wars. His orders sent him clear across the globe, with time stationed in Scotland, British Colum- bia, Singapore, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Bahrain. Jenkins was born in December 1925 in Mit- cham, Surrey - a little town in the manufacturing heartlands that is now part of south east Lon- don, England. He was at his grandmother's house on Sept. 3, 1939 - the day England declared war on Nazi Germany. He was sent home to his mother. He remembers the sirens blaring. He was too young to fight but too old to be evacuated to the country as his younger broth- ers were. His school was temporarily turned into a field hospital so he went to work - taking up to three jobs delivering bread, groceries and newspapers. IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM Jenkins served in the boiler room of the HMS Broadway, shown here in an archival photo. As England was pummelled by German bombs, he went to work with his bricklayer father building air raid shelters and later provid- ing emergency repairs to wrecked buildings. Approaching his 17th birthday, Jenkins was worried he would be assigned to work in the mines as were other boys his age. He enlisted and was sent to Malvern in the midlands for basic training. On the morning of his 18th birthday in December 1943, Jenkins was awoken and sent by train to the docks in Eastham where the HMS Broadway was in port. Originally the USS Hunt, the ship was one of Ituu- +iii CL 1. 12,6v1i. SiP1,ol hard Welcome to Kindergarten! The Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board is extremely proud of a quality learning opportunity for our youngest learners entering our Catholic schools. Our Junior and Senior Kindergarten classrooms offer a place where your child can grow and learn in a positive Christ - centred environment Faith and Learning....Celebrate the Journey!! For Senior Kindergarten Students must be 5 years of age on or before December 31, 2014. For Junior Kindergarten Students must be 4 years of age on or before December 31, 2014. Kindergarten Registration for 2014-2015 will take place for each school, on the following dates: All Huron County Schools -Full Day Kindergarten September 2014 St. Mary's, Goderich (519-524-9901) — November 1, 2013 Our Lady of Mount Carmel (519-237-3337) — November 4, 2013 Precious Blood, Exeter Program (519-235-1691) — November 5, 2013 Sacred Heart, Wingham (519-357-1090) — November 6, 2013 5t. Patrick's, Dublin Program (519-345-2033) — November 7, 2013 St. James, Seaforth (519-527-0321) — November 13, 2013 St. Boniface, Zurich (519-236-4335) — November 14, 2013 St. Joseph's, Clinton (519-482-7035) — November 22, 2013 Vince MacDonald Director of Education Call your local school for details of registration. For further information visit our website at: www.huronperthcatholic.ca 519-345-2440 / 1-800-265-8508 Jim McDade Chair of Board 50 American destroyers sold to Britain at the out- set of the war. Rechristened HMS Broadway in 1940, she served for three years as a supply ship escort in the Atlantic. She helped capture a German submarine, the U-110, whose infamous commander had made the first kill of the war. Broadway recovered an intact Enigma machine and later helped destroy another Ger- man submarine, U-89. She was refitted in Sept. 1943 to serve as a tar- get ship for aircraft and given a crew that included Jenkins. She was stationed to Rosyth, Scotland for the remainder of the war. Jenkins remembers the spectacle of the D -Day fleet returning up the coast towards Broadway's position. Nearly 7,000 vessels participated in the invasion creating the largest military fleet ever assembled. "That was the first time I saw some of the really big ships" he said. At the end of the war in May 1945, Broadway was sent to Norway. Jenkins remembers looking out at the other- worldly Nordic landscape as Broadway approached a large convoy of German submarines. They took charge of the submarines and escorted them into occupied hands. Jenkins describes working in the boiler rooms as chaotic, with machines leaking and "steam pissing everywhere." His job was, in part, to ensure the water was free of salt and other con- taminants that could affect the engines performance. The British Navy usually sleeps their men in hammocks but this being an American ship, they had bunks in rooms crammed with 20 to 30 men organized by rank and position. "Armament gets priority on a naval ship," Jenkins said. In 1945, he was again awoken in the early morning and sent on a train, this time to South- ampton where he was put on the famous Queen Elizabeth ocean liner. He landed in Halifax where he boarded another train for British Columbia, eventually reaching the Esquimalt barracks. He was assigned to the Portland Bill, an ord- nance repair ship just built. They took her out on speed trials, down to San Francisco, then over to Hawaii, taking on a group of ex -POWs in Singa- pore. They stopped in Bombay (now Mumbai) before travelling through the Suez Canal and back to Britain. Clean As You Go. STEVEN GOETZ KINCARDINE NEWS Local veteran Richard Jenkins served in the Royal Navy during World War II and the Korean war. He was home before his 21st birthday. Jenkins married Elizabeth, a girl from Scot- land he met at a fair. He worked installing store fittings up and down the country, travelling for long stretches of time. Jenkins was called back during the Korean war, serving 18 months and first stationed to the aircraft carrier HMS Vengeance. He was moved onto a cruiser, the HMS Cey- lon, assigned to "show the flag" and project British power in the Persian Gulf. When his tour was done, he convinced his wife to move to Canada, promising he would get a job that would have him home every night. He remembered a mail carrier he knew when he served in Canada. The man was able to afford a beautiful home and a nice car. In Britain, a mail carrier was paid a pittance. He thought if a mailman could make a good living, surely he would be able to get by in Canada. They arrived in 1958, stopping off to see his wife's sister who was living in Port Credit. By the time lunch was over on their first day, he had found his first job. Jenkins retired in 1989. Elizabeth passed away in July. He lives in the RVilla retirement home in Ripley. \eyOuro- RIPLEY REUNION POP-UP SHOP p LEAp gG HOME SATURDAY, NOV. 16 G>�t RIPLEY-HURON COMMUNITY CENTRE A 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. lu ALL Come out and buy your Reunion merchandise including hats, golf shirts, T-shirts, hoodies and more! Cash only please. Reunion Kick-off Dance tickets and History Book pre -sales will also be available, as will book gift certificates. Cash or cheque is accepted for book.