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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
SIMMONS, Herbert (H.J.) (Jack), V49240, RCNVR - Jack was survived by his wife Jean who passed away 12 Oct 2011. Jean's obituary is listed below. It appears that the photos of Albert, Robert and William Brown from Jack's collection are Jean's brothers.
Simmons, Jean - Passed away peacefully at Taunton Mills on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 at the age of 91. Loving daughter of the late Olive and Robert Brown. Beloved wife of the late Herbert "Jack". Jean was a loved sister of Audrey (John Savage), Bob (Gwen Brown), Al Brown, Ruth (Frank Smythe), William and Jean Brown. She will be dearly missed by many nieces and nephews, as well as by special friend Mathew Boah and family. Jean will be fondly remembered for her love of travel and animals. She will be missed by her travel mates. As per Jean's wishes there will be no formal service and private interment will take place at a later date. Arrangements entrusted to Oshawa Funeral Home, 847 King St. West (905-721-1234). Memorial donations will be gratefully accepted for David Sheldrick Foundation in Kenya or Durham Region Humane Society (Oshawa).
Ships served in:
The photos below are from the photo album of H.J. Simmons that was donated to RCSCC Bowmanville, Ont. This album was scanned and some of the photo relating to Jack's wartime service are shown here. Not all the photos are posted here - some have been placed in the galleries of the ship they pertain to. From the photos is appears that Jack served on HMCS Saskatchewan H70 but it is also possible he served on Fairmile MLs Q053, Q088 and Q099 as there were 3 Christmas cards in this album from those three Fairmiles with Jack's signature.
(HJS001) H.J. Simmons (HJS002) This photo was labeled Jack and Bill Shill on HMCS Saskatchewan. In this photo they are on the fo'c's'le of a Fairmile motor launch. It is not known if, when this photo was taken, they were still crew members of HMCS Saskatchewan H70 and had a photo taken on a Fairmile or if the photo was miss labelled and they were in fact crew members of one of the Fairmiles (HJS003) This image is double exposed but shows two unknown destroyers with a submarine between them. Date and place unknown (HJS004) Unknown destroyer (HJS006) (L-R): H.J. (Jack) Simmons, unknown, William Brown
(HJS007) Newspaper article on 3 brothers who are on active service - Albert, Robert and William Brown (HJS008) H.J. Simmons (left) and friends in Kingston, Jamaica
(HJS010) unknown group of sailors enjoying some beach time (HJS010) unknown sailor (HJS011) unknown sailor (HJS012) Sailors, ship and place unknown (possibly Kingston, Jamaica) (HJS013) unknown sailor
Webmaster's note: These 4 identical photos (HJS009 - HJS012) are also found in the collection of AB John A. Carpenter. It is apparent that both H.J. Simmons and John Carpenter served in the same ship ... it is just not known which ship
(HJS014) George Parker (HJS015) George Faraday, Halifax, May 1942 (HJS016) George Faraday on unknown corvette, Sep 1942 (HJS017) Albert Brown, Nov 1940 (HJS018) Albert Brown, Jan 1942
(HJS019) Doug Watson, 1941 (HJS020) Robert Brown 1940 (HJS021) William Brown 1940 (HJS022) unknown sailor (HJS023) unknown sailor
(HJS024) Newspaper article on the warships of the RCN that were lost during WW II (HJS025) Wedding announcement for Mr. & Mrs. H.J. Simmons (HJS026) University Avenue Toronto 1942. William and Robert Brown are in this group (HJS027 - HJS028) Newspaper article on 100 new entries traveling from HMCS York, Toronto to Esquimalt by train. Note: this article was folded in half over the edge of the photo album page. The missing text between the two sections from the result of the fold is: "the gals do like sailors. In Calgary they"
(HJS029) Newspaper article on 100 new entries traveling from HMCS York, Toronto to Esquimalt by train (HJS030) A few of the 100 sailors traveling from HMCS York, Toronto, Ont., to Esquimalt by train during WW II (HJS031) L-R: William (Bill) Brown, Robert (Bob) Brown and John Platt (HJS032) L-R: William (Bill) Brown, John Platt and Robert (Bob) Brown
(HJS033) S.T. Class 5, May 1943 1st Row: H. Sanderson, B. Fabbin (?Habbin), Jack Simmons, W. Robinson, D. Herman, J.E. Clancy 2nd Row: H. Parnell, G.H. Olsen, B. Cormack, J. Bloomer, M. Eurke, M.R. Jenkins, William Rudy 3rd Row: N.J. Lowman, L. Helm, Lorne S. Kelsey, V.E. Henderson SPO, S.G. Johnston, R. Tunall, Art Skoda
HMCS CRESCENT
(HJS033) Newspaper article on the arrival of HMCS CRESCENT at Esquimalt, BC (HJS034) Newspaper articles on the arrival of HMCS CRESCENT at Esquimalt, BC (HJS035) "Hello darling! Welcome home! // Newspaper article on the arrival of HMCS CRESCENT at Esquimalt, BC (HJS036)Newspaper article on the arrival of HMCS CRESCENT at Esquimalt, BC
HMCS SASKATCHEWAN H70
(HJS037) HMCS SASKATCHEWAN H70 (HJS038) Leave ticket for H.J. Simmons, March 1944 (HJS039) Newspaper article from the Oshawa Times, 09 Apr 1991 // Jack Kimber, HMCS SASKATCHEWAN H70, remembers what it was like to return from war (HJS040) Torpedo Party, 1944 Standing (L-R): Al Phillips, Jack Telfer, Dan Belyea, Frank Aldred, Alex Bell Kneeling (L-R): John Lawrie, Mark Ennis, Jack Simmons Background (Left) - QM Bill Shill
Photos from the collection of H.J. Simmons and John Carpenter
HMCS SASKATCHEWAN H70 or HMCS ST LAURENT H83
The photos here are from the collections of two sailors. It is known that H.J. Simmons served in HMCS SASKATCHEWAN and it is known that John Carpenter served in HMCS ST Laurent. However, it is not known which ship these were taken from. Did both serve on the same ship at some point, or were they friends and shared photos.
As it is not known which ship these were taken on - they have been included on the pages of both HMCS ST LAURENT and HMCS SASKATCHEWAN
(SK-SL-001 - SK-SL-002) "Hands to Bathe" (SK-SL-003) Sailors on the quarterdeck of ........ John Carpenter directly in front of 2nd man from left, back row (SK-SL-004) Sailors on the quarterdeck of ..... John Carpenter directly in front of 2nd man from left, back row (SK-SL-005) Crew members of .......
(SK-SL-006) Locals trying to sell goods to the crew of ....... (SK-SL-007) Looking aft on ....... (SK-SL-008) Unknown sailor on a gun mount on ..... (SK-SL-009) Unknown sailor on a gun mount on ....... (SK-SL-010) Torpedo tube on .....
(SK-SL-011 - SK-SL-012) Launching a torpedo from ....... (SK-SL-013) Recovering the torpedo (SK-SL-014) Gun mount on ....... (SK-SL-015) Sailors by the torpedo tubes on .....
(SK-SL-016) Sailor on after gun platform on ..... Webmaster's note: above photos 2, 9, 12, 14 and 15 - were from the collection of John Carpenter. There were included in this section as they appear to have been taken on a destroyer and some fit the sequence of photos that were identical
The photos below are from the collection of H.J. Simmons. It is known he served in HMCS SASKATCHEWAN H70 - and these photos were in a album which included his leave ticket while on HMCS SASKATCHEWAN. However, a number of his photos (above) are identical to those in the collection of John Carpenter. It is known John served in HMCS ST LAURENT H83. While the photos below are not found in John's collection, there is reason to wonder if they were taken on/from SASKATCHEWAN or ST LAURENT.
None of the photos from either sailors collection has their ship's name written on the back - so at this point, until these photos can be positively placed as being taken on one ship or the other, they will be included on the pages for both.
(SK-SL-017) Looking aft on ..... (SK-SL-018) Four crew members on ..... (SK-SL-019) HMCS SASKATCHEWAN H70 (SK-SL-020) Four crew members on .....
(SK-SL-021) H.J. (Jack) Simmons on ..... Jun 1944 (SK-SL-022) Life below decks on ..... (SK-SL-023) Destroyers turning into formation. Photo taken from ..... (SK-SL-024) bow of .....
D-Day as seen from ..... (SK-SL-026) An explosion in the distance (SK-SL-027) Ships going in - note the barrage balloons (SK-SL-028) Ships at anchor - note the barrage balloons (SK-SL-029) King George V class battleship
(SK-SL-031) Three unknown crew members on ..... (SK-SL-032) An iceberg seen from .... (SK-SL-033) A convoy as seen from ..... (SK-SL-034) Merchant ships in convoy with escort carrier From the collection of H.J. Simmons Courtesy of RCSCC Bowmanville
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