Protecting the Sea Lanes for the Normandy Invasion

One seaman’s personal account - Martin Bondy

Speaking in a family room festooned with Matane memorabilia, Martin Bondy told his story of being a seaman on the frigate HMCS Matane, and recalled with great pride how his beloved ship had, with assistance, sunk the German submarine U-311, on April 22, 1944, in the north Atlantic.

 Near the end of May, Bondy said, the Matane had been ordered into “strike force” readiness. “The commander didn’t give us any details. We knew we were going into a different operation. There was something big coming.”  As it turned out, their new task took them right into the heart of battle. They were to protect the western approaches of the English Channel, off the French coast, intercepting and destroying any German submarines or ships that they encountered. While patrolling the German-occupied French coast near the town of Brest, the Matane on occasion would move close to shore, immediately drawing fire from Nazi gun emplacements. “The Germans were firing at us,” said Bondy. “You could see the 16-inch shells falling in the water.”

 And then on June 6, 1944, the Allies launched their massive D-Day assault against Hitler’s formidable military, landing on the nearby beaches of Normandy, France. This event evoked a mixture of euphoria and apprehension all across Nazi-occupied Europe. When D-Day dawned, Bondy and his shipmates were still patrolling channel approaches. They now had the added responsibility of protecting the largest amphibious assault ever. More than 2 million Allied soldiers awaited transport from England to Normandy. They were supported by approximately 4,000 landing craft, 3,500 amphibious vehicles, 8,000 planes, and 284 major warships. And later that day when word began to spread that the Allies had landed, the young men aboard the Matane felt both elation and trepidation. “We had a feeling it might shorten the war,” reflected Bondy. “But there was no time for celebration. We knew our forces were now in France. But we didn’t know if it would be a success.”

 The battle of Normandy was still raging and the Matane, along with Canadian frigates Swansea, Meon, and Stormont, were still providing cover, when, on July 20, 1944, the German Luftwaffe tried to destroy the convoy.

 The HMCS Matane is hit!

 That evening, while patrolling the French coast near Brest, Bondy was doing messenger duty and had just finished piping the ship’s crew that “enemy action stations” would be held from 2100 hours until dusk, when suddenly and unexpectedly, three German “junkers” appeared and began releasing radio-controlled glider bombs—six in all. The first one hit the water near the HMCS Meon, situated on the Matane's starboard side, the explosion lifting its stern right out of the water.  Fire was immediately returned. “However, judging from the tracer shells from our 20mm Oerlikon antiaircraft guns," related Bondy, "we could not reach the planes, so we had to concentrate on hitting their incoming glider bombs instead. Suddenly we could see a bomb coming directly at us! It struck our ship's upper structure, then deflected downward into the sea, exploding near the waterline. The explosion blew a hole in the port side (left rear), flooding the engine room, and causing the boiler to burst. The latter caused a rush of hot steam to pour forth, shrouding us briefly in a fog. If the bomb had landed just 20 feet inboard it would have gone down our magazine hatch, and the ship would have been destroyed."

 The bomb's blast exacted a high price. The officer's steward, Paul Aucoin, was killed instantly, and the signalman, Doug Waterhouse, was blown out to sea. Leading stoker Scotty Laing drowned with the flooding of the engine room, and the blast from the boiler scalded engine room artificer (mechanic) James Cole.