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An Episode in the Battle of the St. Lawrence River – Surveillance, Defence and Propaganda

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An Episode in the Battle of the St. Lawrence River – Surveillance, Defence and Propaganda HISTORY CWM 19710261-1049 Harold Beament, “St. Lawrence Convoy”. THE SUMMER OF 1943: AN EPISODE IN THE BATTLE OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER – SURVEILLANCE, DEFENCE AND PROPAGANDA by André Kirouac n 19 June 1943, the newspaper La Presse at an altitude of exactly 510 feet. It is thus likely that Champoux published, as part of its series, “Are we being was looking at a GL type radar of the Canadian Army. defended?”, an article by the journalist Roger Champoux, which began as follows: To understand the need for installing radars along the Gaspé coast of the St. Lawrence during the Second World O War, we must go back to the beginning of an extraordinary “From a port on the St. Lawrence, 19[?]. We are at an story that started with the outbreak of hostilities in elevation of 510 feet. The church steeple of the village at the September 1939, and one which has had ramifications for bottom of the cliff is a thin silver spindle. The land undulates decades thereafter. towards the river which, at this point, is no less than 40 miles wide. We are in the secret zone of the Gaspé region, where Amongst all the access routes to North America, the the Coast Defence Service has installed its first observation St. Lawrence is, without doubt, the one that penetrates most post. Since we are bound to secrecy, we cannot report what deeply into the continent. It is not surprising, therefore, that we can see. We can say, however, that modern science has during the Second World War, Canadian authorities conceived been put to use and that the Engineering Branch of the army a detailed plan of the best ways to both counter enemy threats has provided the region with the most perfect facility that and to assure the continuity of navigation on the river. could be.” Without giving a complete description of all the events related to what is called the Battle of the St. Lawrence, it What did Champoux see for him to describe some military should be noted that 15 German submarines penetrated the facilities as being very modern? In a secret report of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River, particularly Department of National Defence, entitled Coastal Defence, during 1942, and, to a much lesser extent, late in 1944. Eight of Batteries and Radars,1 the chapter, “Army radar – Gaspé these submarines torpedoed 21 merchant ships and 5 warships, Area” described the locations of 10 GL (Gun Laying) type of which 4 were Canadian and 1 was American. radar stations operated by the army. According to the report, the first of these radar stations was installed near the small municipality of Rivière-Blanche, a short distance André Kirouac is the Director of the Musée naval de Québec. from the village of Matane, some 400 kilometres east He has worked for more than 25 years in museums in Québec and of Quebec City, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, the United States, specializing in naval or maritime history. Spring 2006 ● Canadian Military Journal 57 witnesses, aside from the warriors themselves, to the ship torpedoings. By the end of 1942, people who had some knowledge of the situation came to the general con- clusion that the German submarines were in control in Canadian waters. It is a belief that is still widespread, even though more and more sources have revealed that reality was very different matter. With the technological means available to them, Canadian military personnel attacked and counter- attacked repeatedly to CMJ collection prevent more torpedoings. We know today that the German crews knew 1942 they were being pursued and that it “By the end of 1942, became increasingly difficult for them to ajor confrontations took place during people who had attack as the navigation season continued M the summer and autumn of 1942. some knowledge to roll on. However, the decision to close Often, the coastal population watched the St. Lawrence to transatlantic ships powerless as corvettes hunted German of the situation came during the autumn of 1942 led many submarines with depth charges. to the general Canadians to believe that their country conclusion that could not successfully counter the German During the year, throughout the submarines. In fact, there was an entirely navigation season (the navigable season the German different reason for this measure, but at on the river, when it is ice-free), Sasseville submarines were the time it appeared to be an admission Roy, Member for the Gaspé region in in control in of defeat. The actual cause of this the House of Commons, echoed his decision was the great demand for ships constituents’ concerns by broaching the Canadian waters.” for Operation Torch, the Allied landings subject of the torpedoings. He repeatedly questioned the appropriate Ministers on the measures being taken to protect both the shipping and the population. The answers were often vague and laconic. They advised Roy to be more discrete and not to reveal anything that could be useful to the enemy. As for the newspapers, the journalists reported as best they could the very first torpe- doings. But the censors quickly took to task everyone involved in the release of this infor- mation, and the riverside population remained, by and large, the only likely CMJ collection 58 Canadian Military Journal ● Spring 2006 in North Africa. Without a sufficiently with the citizens of the region. The officers large fleet, Canada could not participate “Nonetheless, the of the Reserve units who lived in the simultaneously in these overseas operations term radar did not villages would also be ex-officio members of and protect the St. Lawrence River. observer groups for the Aircraft Detection appear in either of the Corps, and they would be responsible Nonetheless, the rumours had had two military reports, for training new members of these groups. HISTORY their effect, and the Canadian government or in the newspaper needed to both reassure the population The authors of the Report provided articles or and to demonstrate that they were clear instructions on how to involve taking the events occurring on the river documentaries.” the general population. Military personnel seriously. To that end, the military were to go to the coastal villages to authorities held a series of planning meet with the inhabitants, and to inform meetings aimed at improving the defences of the St. Lawrence them of the measures taken by the government for during the upcoming 1943 navigation season. According coastal defence. It was necessary to: to period documents, the military personnel who prepared these meetings and took part in them were very serious a) Carry out these missions, in which regular Army and about protecting the inland waters. Meanwhile, military Reserve officers would participate, and, as early considerations aside, the political authorities wanted to as possible in the spring; reassure the local population and to silence their critics in the wake of the torpedoings of 1942. b) travel to the coasts of the St. Lawrence, the Baie des Chaleurs and Anticosti Island; 1943 c) prepare itineraries and organize meetings which would hile concrete and often ultra-secret military activities be chaired by a member of the clergy, of the local Wwere occurring during the summer of 1943, some council, or by other community leaders; other events of that summer demonstrated that a propaganda campaign was also being well orchestrated. d) plan the meetings, with particular attention to presentations On 30 January 1943, the first of two reports, entitled and films; General Review and Report upon Defences in the Gulf and River St. Lawrence Areas by a Committee Formed e) post public notices in French and English; under the Direction of the Chiefs of Staff Committee,2 described the measures to be taken against enemy f) ensure that the people who wished to participate submarines and to prevent the landing of spies. The in the meetings were notified through the media; and authors of this Report described the events that had happened during 1942, and the principal measures taken g) create educational advertising as to what everyone by the three branches of the armed forces to counter could do to help. and to prevent attacks. They hinted that the enemy would probably return in 1943, and that Canadian military The Civil Protection Committee for Quebec would authorities did not rule out the possibility that land prepare this campaign, in conjunction with the public installations would be attacked or that mines would be affairs officers of the three branches of the armed forces. laid. A detailed plan, the cost of which was estimated to be more than one million dollars, explained the Clearly, 1943 was a year marked by an extensive specific roles of the navy, the air force, the army, education of the riverside population. Could this be the police, the Civil Protection Committee and the called a propaganda campaign, rather than an educational Aircraft Detection Corps. campaign? Judging by the media accounts and by the methods used during the summer of 1943, this was a The second report,3 published on 18 April of the major propaganda campaign, aimed at dispelling the same year, was a response to a tasking from the Chief perceptions of defeat created in 1942. The Champoux of the General Staff, who considered it essential that article, as well as all the others that appeared in the ‘dailies’, the three branches of the armed forces work together, enthusiastically championed the measures taken by the in conjunction with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the military. They described the procedures for capturing provincial police and all the other services involved in spies or saboteurs, acknowledged the participation coastal defence.
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