NEW GLASGOW – The year was 1942. Harold Lowe was working as a telephone repairman in Antigonish and seeing his sweetheart, Leona. Around him, all the other young men were joining up to help with the war effort, but Lowe’s job was considered an essential service and he didn’t have to go.
But that didn’t stop Lowe, then 19. A strong sense of duty had him following in the footsteps of two of his great-uncles, who were sea captains in the Navy, and his uncle to join the navy. He married Leona and shipped out shortly afterwards as an able seaman.
“It wasn’t too long after the first war, and back then we just wanted to get the war over with,” he said. “I think we were all kind of thinking, ‘why didn’t they just finish this the first time around?’”
Lowe was assigned to HMCS Restigouche, which was on convoy duty in the North Atlantic. Lowe spent many an hour behind the wheel of the ship, as well as working as a gunner and quartermaster.
The Atlantic Ocean was one of the main battlegrounds of the war. Hundreds of Allied sailors and merchant mariners, and their German counterparts, met their ends in the swirling waters. The Royal Canadian Navy and RCN Volunteer Reserves numbered only 366 officers and 3,477 men at the beginning of the war in 1939, but by 1945 the numbers grew to 96,000 men and women with over 400 ships.
“We were only as fast as our slowest merchant ship,” Lowe recalled. “Sometimes it would take us two weeks to get across.”
Many a time the ship was caught in a tight spot, he said.
“We were in quite a bit of action. We had torpedoes fired at us. We used to have metal strung out behind the ship because the torpedoes would go towards the noise from that instead of blowing up the engine,” he said.
If the metal was struck, they’d quickly throw out another piece to act as another diversion while they tried to figure out the location of the German U-Boat. Generally, he said, by the second torpedo, they’d be able to detect the ship.
That wasn’t the only risk, however. Not only did they have to keep an eye on the sea – and under it – they had to watch from above as well as they were bombed from planes. Lowe can vividly recall one time when a bomb was dropped just three meters from the ship. Thankfully, he said, it didn’t go off.
“That was lucky,” he said. “Another time, they blew a hole in the after mast. I was in the after magazine, handing out the cordite to the 4.7-inch guns. That was close, I guess. The fellow from above was looking after us.”
Being separated from his wife was also difficult. They would write, but censors blacked out many of Lowe’s words, and they would get batches of several letters at once.
Luckily, Lowe would return to Halifax frequently while on convoy duty and would be given 48 hours leave while new ships were maneuvered into position. He didn’t linger in the city, instead hopping on a train and heading home to his sweetheart in Antigonish.
“A fellow from he Royal George Hotel would meet the train in the middle of the night and he always gave me a ride home. I’d get in, spend the day and go back, but it was great to get home.”
During D-Day, Lowe was stationed in the English Channel, ferrying troops to the beaches.
“It just seems like yesterday, but it was 66 years ago since D-Day,” Lowe said. “I’m glad I went through it, but I wouldn’t want to go through it again.”
In 1946, Lowe was discharged and came home for good. The father of three eventually settled in New Glasgow 40 years ago and has been active in the community since. A lifetime member of the Royal Canadian Legion, he’s served on just about every committee and as president, and is also active in three local choirs.
“Being the president of the legion took my shyness away,” he admits with a grin, telling tales of the many times he’d been thrust into the spotlight to make a speech unprepared. “I figured, if this was how it was going to be, whatever’s going to come I’ll do it.”
Now 86, Lowe is proud to announce that he doesn’t take a pill and keeps active by riding two kilometers on a stationary bike every day, as well as doing sit-ups and bend-overs. He loves to do crossword puzzles in the paper and is quick to point out the portraits of his nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, proudly displayed on the mantel.
Earlier this month, a representative from Veteran’s Affairs notified Lowe that he had been nominated to receive the Ministers of Veterans Affairs Commendation.
The commendation is awarded to individuals who have performed commendable service to the Veteran community and who represent commendable role models for their fellow veterans.
Lowe, along with his daughter, Nancy MacKenzie, will attend a service in Halifax that will see Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs, decorate the recipients with the commendation.
“It’s an honour,” Lowe said about receiving the award. “I can’t find out who nominated me – they said that’s a secret. I’m excited about it, it’s nice of them to recognize me for something.”
