THUNDER BAY - The flag known as Red Duster, which flew above the waves of the North Atlantic atop merchant vessels during the Second World War, is now flying at Thunder Bay City Hall.
The Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans Association of Thunder Bay held a flag raising ceremony at city hall on Tuesday to mark Merchant Navy Veterans Day observed the previous day.
The tradition was started by founding members of the Merchant Navy Veterans Association and the children and grandchildren of those members who have since passed on continue the tradition every year.
“I’m out here representing my father who was in the merchant navy and just carry on the tradition he started here,” said Chris Christiansen, son of Thornley Christiansen, a Merchant Navy veteran of the Second World War.
“He worked very hard to get recognition for the merchant navy with the monument down at the Kam River Park. He was very proud of what he did. It’s always been a topic in my family, so I am here to carry on the tradition.”
The flag that was raised is known as the Red Duster or Red Ensign and was used by the United Kingdom for merchant vessels and served as Canada’s national flag from Confederation until 1965.
Eugene Onchulenko, secretary of the Canadian Merchant Navy Veterans Association of Thunder Bay, said the group has done a lot of work around the city of Thunder Bay to preserve the memory of merchant navy veterans, including a plaque at St. Thomas Anglican Church and the memorial at the Kam River Heritage Park.
“It is because of the sacrifice that these people did,” he said. “Our group, all four of the men served the whole five years in the war from 1939 to 1946 and stayed with it the whole time.”
Merchant seamen served in the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest single battle of the Second World War, which was fought from 1939 until the end of the war in 1945.
“It was a very dangerous mission,” Onchulenko said. “These convoys were put together in Halifax and they were bringing all the goods and supplies needed to keep Britain going in World War Two and they were subject to sinking from the German Wolfpacks.”
More than 12,000 men and women served in Canada’s Merchant Navy, braving the treacherous waters of the North Atlantic and the constant threat from German U-boats.
Being in such peril resulted in the Canadian Merchant Navy having one of the highest casualty rates of all service arms during the war and more than 1,500 merchant seamen lost their lives and 59 Canadian merchant vessels were lost.
“The idea of the merchant navy was to honour the memory of all the allied sailors who were lost in World War Two,” Onchulenko said. “Our group put together some memorials to perpetuate the memory of those who were lost.”
Thornley Christiansen passed away in 2015, but every year, his family continues to carry on his legacy with the hoisting of the flag.
“I feel very proud and happy to see this and that the tradition is being carried on,” Chris Christiansen said. “It’s a good day for us because I think of my father every day, but even more today.”
