We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of D.H. ‘Buster’ Brown, an icon amongst submariners, on Saturday, April 11th, 2020. From the time, HMCS Ojibwa became a gleam in our eye, Buster was put forward as a font of all knowledge when it came to Oberons. What is more, he took great pains to document his experiences and those of his mates over forty years. This effort is critical to the understanding the men of the Silent Service in Canada and includes a peek into the Royal Navy with whom he served aboard HMS Aeneas, an A-boat, during in the Indonesia-Malaysia conflict in the 1960s. This conflict saw the division of the island of Borneo into Malaysia, Sarawak and Indonesia.

This story comes to us from retired submariner George Roach who is usually to be found in the Control Room of HMCS Ojibwa on Saturdays or Sundays until it's time to head south for the winter. This summer, he was very pleased to see young Jasmine DeBoer at Ojibwa. He is a fixture at many Remembrance Day ceremonies in his area and George recalled that Jasmine played the Last Post at the previous Remembrance Day service at the Haldimand Legion.

Long referred to as the ‘demon’ rum it has nevertheless been used for hundreds of years to discourage the ravages of cold, wet, lack of sleep and depression along with most other maladies faced by serving men. Rum rose to prominence because it did not ‘turn’ or ‘go off’ as beer and wine did. Our Facebook entry regarding the location of the rum stores aboard HMCS Ojibwa jogged the memory of Jim ‘Lucky’ Gordon – and helps us understand the nickname ‘Lucky’.

It has been tradition, for centuries, to baptize children using the ship’s bell as the baptismal font. The child’s name was usually engraved somewhere on the bell, usually inside the mouth. Canadian submarines have maintained that tradition.

During the baptismal ceremony, the bell is inverted in its box and filled with water used for the blessing. On completion of the baptism, the water is ceremoniously poured over the side. That ritual is marked by piping the still and the carry on with a bos’n’s call.