Roger Litwiller - White Ensign Flying Corvette HMCS Trentonian

W hite Ensign Flying is a work of love and respect by a true amateur of naval history (adopting the French usage denoting an enthusiast). Roger Litwiller refuses to resort to the customary telling of a ships history, one long on technical facts and details of equipment and operational manoeuvres. Instead, his focus is the true essence of the story, the dedication and engagement of the officers and men who comprised her crew.

It is hard to imagine the pace of wartime ship construction and training. Trentonian was a typical corvette of the time laid down and launched in six months; fitted out, manned, and passed workups in another six; with convoy duty immediately following. Todays frigates bristling with complex systems for surveillance, communications, and weapons control bear no resemblance to Trentonian . Ships of its era went to sea searching for hostile submarines and ocean raiders with no longer-range sensors than the human eye and only the vigilance of the crew for the ships effectiveness.

And who were these men? As Roger Litwiller shows us, they were novices in the extreme. The commanding officer had less than thirty months sea time and the executive officer only six. The crew came from all walks of life and all corners of Canada. Often they had no experience of the sea and were surprised by its alternating moods of calm and ferocity. They suffered the extraordinary discomfort of the wet corvettes mess tins balanced across open decks often arriving with more salt water than food; hammocks little different from the days of Nelson; sleep a commodity seldom sufficient.

In 2002 I had the privilege of meeting some of Trentonian s crew. Seldom did their stories dwell on the difficult times. Often they remembered their own pride and determination to do their part in the campaign against Nazi Germany. And they were in the midst of it. They remember with dignity their role in the chaos of the English Channel during Operation Neptune and the fierce resistance that ensued. They look back with sadness to Trentonian s final days in the Channel, attacked, severely damaged, and eventually sunk by a German submarines torpedo. They remember with reverence the sacrifice of six of their friends and they look back with gratitude to the victory that the Allied nations wrought. When I look back over my own career, whether serving with Canadians or the many nations of our allies, it has been the strength of the individual sailor, regardless of nation, that stands out.

This book is the story of each Trentonian told with care and compassion. It is a vital addition to the history and tradition which has surrounded and sustained the Royal Canadian Navy for more than one hundred years. I am grateful to Roger Litwiller for the opportunity to offer these few words as a preface to a much more valuable work and I commend the story of Trentonian to the Canadian people as a reflection of the strength of a nation in difficult times.

David Morse

Rear-Admiral (Ret)

Royal Canadian Navy