Backgrounder
Born and raised on a farm in Stettler, Alberta in 1922, Trevor Shuckburgh grew restless and wanted to see the world. At 17 years old, and with the help of his mother, Shuckburgh travelled to the west coast and joined the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1940 as a Boy Seaman. He received basic military training at HMCS Naden, a naval training center near Victoria, British Columbia.
His first active posting at sea came when he was assigned to HMCS Prince Henry in 1940. Built as a Canadian National Steamship Company passenger liner, Prince Henry, along with her sister ships HMCS Prince David and HMCS Prince Robert, were acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War (1939-45), and converted to serve as armed merchant cruisers. Aboard, Shuckburgh received gunnery training.
Assigned to the Pacific Ocean, Prince Henry and her crew patrolled the west coast of South America where, she intercepted two German merchant ships, Muenchen and Hermonthis in 1941, returning her prisoners to Esquimalt, British Columbia.
Shuckburgh's next postings were aboard Canadian-built minesweepers: HMCS Gananoque operating in the waters off the coast of Newfoundland, then HMCS Stratford. Motivated to study and work hard, Shuckburgh quickly rose through the ranks to Petty Officer.
By the winter of 1944, Shuckburgh was serving aboard the frigate HMCS Teme, one of 6,900 vessels, including warships of the allied navies, landing ships and craft, auxiliary and merchant vessels, which participated in the largest seaborne invasion in history. Codenamed 'Operation Neptune,' this amphibious mission enabled the Allied invasion of Normandy which began on D-Day (6 June, 1944) to liberate German-occupied France, and later to free northwestern Europe from Nazi control. The lasting impression on those who took part in the operation was the imposing sight of innumerable vessels approaching on all horizons, as far as the eye could see.
As the Normandy landings continued, the Teme formed part of an escort group responsible for sweeping the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay for enemy submarines. In the pre-dawn hours of 10 June 1944, sonar contact was made with a U-boat and the Teme gave chase, but was nearly cut in half by friendly escort carrier HMS Tracker, which was also in pursuit of the enemy vessel. Shuckburgh led a team of volunteers who remained aboard Teme to see her safely towed to Cardiff, Wales, for significant repairs.
The action onboard Teme continued months later when, in March 1945, the ship was struck astern by a torpedo, sheering off a 60 foot section and killing one crew member and injuring three others. The valour Shuckburgh demonstrated in helping save the ship from sinking earned him a Commander-in-Chief Commendation.
Though the war came to an end in September 1945, Shuckburgh chose to remain in service with the RCN.
In 1947, Shuckburgh was assigned as one of four gunnery training instructors to the Royal Navy's state-of-the-art training vessel, HMS Finisterre. He was the only Canadian onboard and the only non-commissioned gunnery instructor. As such, he was selected by the crew to represent the ship at the Royal Naval Review by King George and Queen Elizabeth in Scotland that year. Having completed correspondence courses offered by the Royal Canadian Legion to expand upon his education, he was selected for a commission and became a gunnery officer.
Eventually promoted to the rank of commander, he led the planning for the Naval Assembly Atlantic held in Halifax during Canada's Centennial celebrations in 1967 in which 40 warships from 16 countries participated. During his career as a Commissioned Officer, Shuckburgh served at sea in the capacity of Gunnery Officer in HMCS Magnificant and HMCS Ontario, was the Executive Officer of HMCS Ste. Therese, HMCS Ottawa, and HMCS Bonaventure, and commanded warships HMCS Sussexvale and HMCS Columbia.
Highlights of Shuckburgh's career include acting as Department of National Defence Co-ordinator for the Royal Visit to British Columbia in 1971 and serving as Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Major General George Pearkes from 1962 to 1965. In 1962, he had the honour of carrying the remains of Mungo Martin, the revered Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations artist, from Victoria to his final resting place at Alert Bay aboard HMCS Columbia.
In 1972, after a 32-year naval career, Trevor Shuckburgh retired in Victoria, British Columbia, which he continues to call home to this day.
