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"A Name if Necessary, But Not Necessarily a Name": Why There was No HMCS Edmonton

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Bruce Ibsen

Reprinted with permission of the author and publisher of For King and Country: Alberta in the Second World War

For King and CountryThe growing frustration of this situation was beginning to become apparent. In his response on 12 October Pennington appears somewhat testy.

[It] is regretted that the prefix "Fort" is reserved exclusively for ships building under the programme of Wartime Merchant Shipping Limited. ... It is regretted therefore that it will not be possible to apply this name to one of H.M. C. Ships. I am accordingly directed to request once more that three alternative names, having some local significance, may be supplied to this Department. 8

Apparently Pennington was unaware that, contrary to what he had informed City Council, it was and had been possible to name one of His Majesty's Canadian Ships after a fort. The HMCS Fort William, a Bangor Class minesweeper, was commissioned on 2S August 1942, Later the HMCS Fort Erie, a River Class frigate, would be commissioned on 27 October 1944, while the HMCS Fort Francis, another Bangor Class minesweeper, would be commissioned on 28 October 1944.

These naval manoeuvres seemed to be wearing down Council, and during the regular meeting of 26 October, Commissioners' Report Number 26 recommended that "the matter had better be dropped unless some name of real local significance [can] be suggested."9 However, during this same meeting Alderman Harry Ainlay made an interesting recommendation, suggesting "that this ship be called 'Stettler' after the Town of Stettler."10 The suggestion was put to a vote and subsequently agreed to by Council.

Why Stettler? A letter dated 28 October 1942, from Mayor John Fry to FJ. Kirby, the Mayor of Stettler, offers some insight into this recommendation. After summarizing Council's recent experience with the Naval Board and the difficulty they were having with Ottawa, he explained why Council had suggested the Town of Stettler as an alternative name.

It was pointed out that your Town had been always among the forefront of Towns in respect to Victory Loan Campaigns, and also that many of your brave sons honoured Alberta and Canada by their actions at Dieppe. We hope that you will accept this action as an expression of goodwill toward one of the most progressive towns in Alberta. 11

In Ottawa, Edmonton MP James MacKinnon had been lobbying on behalf of the City. However, it seems he encountered the same problem that City Council had. On 29 October 1942 the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services, the Honourable Angus L. MacDonald, wrote to MacKinnon informing him that "the Admiralty will not approve the name H.M.C.S. 'Edmonton'."12 However, he indicated that "[if] the citizens of Edmonton are particularly anxious to have the name 'Edmonton' given to a ship, I have no doubt that Wartime Merchant Shipping, Limited, would name one of their ships Fort Edmonton."13

The Mayor also received a letter of the same date from Merchant Shipping Limited of Montreal, explaining this point in further detail.

We have been naming the 10,000 ton cargo ships built under our programme after historical forts in Canada .... The only reason we have not yet allocated the name" Fort Edmonton" to one of our ships is that we were under the impression that the Naval Service were going to name a corvette the "H.M.C.S. Edmonton" and we wished to avoid any confusion .... If you wish to do so, we will be only too pleased to have one of the ships building in a Pacific Coast yard named the SS. "Fort Edmonton." 14

On 30 October 1942 City Council received a letter from a grateful Mayor FJ. Kirby of the Town of Stettler expressing his surprise and enthusiasm at Edmonton's decision to have a ship named in their honour. Mayor Kirby complimented Edmonton's action, describing it as "a humble tribute to the gallant men of Stettler who fought and died at Dieppe ...."15

A few days later, on 3 November, Mayor John Fry wrote to Senator James MacKinnon informing him of Council's decision to name the Corvette "Stettler." He also mentioned the offer from Wartime Merchant Shipping to name a 10,000-ton cargo ship "Fort Edmonton." Fry told MacKinnon that Council would be pleased with this offer and he was preparing to send a brief history of Fort Edmonton to be placed on a plaque on the cargo ship.

Fry wrote to E.L. Harrison the next day explaining that Council would "expect to avail ourselves of your offer but first we would like to hear from the Secretary of the Naval Board as to the final disposition of our name in regard to a Warship."16

Almost a year passed before the matter of naming the ship surfaced again. On 4 August 1943 Wartime Merchant Shipping wrote the City asking for information concerning Fort Edmonton: "We are considering naming one the S.S. 'Fort Edmonton' .... Could you help us in obtaining an authentic history of Fort Edmonton."17

The Mayor responded to this request with a brief history and a promotional brochure. Eight days later John 1. Connolly, Executive Assistant to Angus L. MacDonald, wrote inviting Mayor Fry to the launching of the HMCS Stettler. On 18 August 1943 City Commissioner John Hodgson replied that Mayor Fry was away at a conference in the United States and would not be able to attend the ceremony. However, James MacKinnon attended the event to represent the City of Edmonton.

Notes

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. EA, RG 11, Class 111, File 2.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

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