A Sailors Sailor!
TOP STORYSaturday, November 19, 2005
A sailor’s sailor’
Mourners flock to Chester to bid farewell to hero Piers
By Richard Dooley
The Daily News
CHESTER – Hundreds of aging naval veterans lined the streets of Chester to bid farewell to one of Canada’s greatest war heroes yesterday.
Retired rear-admiral Desmond William (Debby) Piers died Nov. 1 at the age of 92.
He was remembered for his valour during the D-Day invasion and his heroism protecting trans-Atlantic convoys from wolf packs of enemy submarines.
But he was also remembered for his love of his family, the navy and his compassion for fellow sailors.
“Above all, he was a sailor’s sailor,” said Rear-Admiral Dan McNeil.
McNeil said Piers’s leadership during the Second World War was instrumental in building today’s modern navy.
“Because of men like Desmond Piers, the Canadian navy came of age as Canada became a player on the world stage,” he said.
Piers was born in Halifax in 1913. He joined the navy in 1932 and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the youngest commanding officer in the fleet when he took command of HMCS Restigouche in 1941.
It was the year he married his wife of 64 years, Janet MacNeil.
Outstanding record
After an outstanding record of war service, Piers continued a distinguished naval career, rising to the rank of rear-admiral in 1962.
McNeil said Piers made a lasting impression on everyone he met.
“Speak to his shipmates; speak to his colleagues,” said McNeil.
“Listen to the love and respect for an extraordinary wartime and peacetime hero and leader.”
Soul of a musician
Piers’s grandson, Piers Baker, recalled his grandfather as a man with the soul of a musician who took pleasure in bringing joy to others. His family remembered him as a man who loved to sing songs around the supper table.
“I looked up to him in so many ways,” said Baker.
With a full military honour guard standing by outside St. Stephen’s United Church, the urn bearing Piers’s ashes passed by dozens of flag bearers as it was taken to the Chester waterfront.
It was taken to HMCS Toronto, which steamed into Chester harbour to escort the remains back to Halifax. Toronto saluted Piers with a 13-gun salute as the ashes were brought aboard.
As the ashes were taken aboard, family ashore and a host of naval officers shouted hip-hooray three times in honour of Piers.
The ashes will be interred in the naval columbarium at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Halifax’s Grand Parade.
Fellow sailors recalled Piers as a warrior who loved peace and a leader who was always concerned about the spirit and morale of his men.
Veteran Bob Whiteside, a member of the South Shore Admiral Piers Naval Association, served with Piers aboard HMCS Quebec in 1952.
His eyes grew misty as he recalled his admiration for the late rear-admiral.
“There wasn’t anyone in the navy who didn’t love him.”
Piers saved my life – former seaman
CHESTER - There’s little doubt in Frank Hammond’s mind that retired rear admiral Desmond Piers is the reason he’s alive.
It’s the reason Hammond came to bid farewell to one of Canada’s greatest military heroes.
Hammond, 80, was a young seaman serving with the Canadian 262nd Landing Craft Flotilla in 1944. His job was to ferry troops to the shores of Normandy during the D-Day invasion under heavy enemy fire.
While Hammond and the rest of the Canadian landing craft fleet headed to shore, Piers positioned his destroyer, HMCS Algonquin, to protect the smaller vessels and barrage the enemy defences with covering fire from the ship’s big guns.
Piers’s actions that day earned him France’s highest military award and the respect of the men hitting the beaches.
“Because of him, because of his skill, I am here today,” said Hammond following a memorial service in Chester for Piers, who died on Nov. 1 at the age of 92.
D-Day wasn’t the only time Hammond watched Piers put his skills as a naval tactician to work.
Piers earned a reputation as a solid military leader during the darkest days of the Second World War escorting convoys to Europe. His ability to engage the enemy and protect allied ships made him a rising star in the navy.
It also made the men under his command fiercely loyal to the man they affectionately called Debby.
Hammond also served aboard the corvette HMCS Oakville, escorting convoys. He still marvels at the way Piers was able to defend attacks on the ships making the perilous trans-Atlantic journey.
“He was very good at protecting us little guys in the corvettes,” he said.
Piers’s concern for the men under his command made him an enduring figure in the minds of a legion of Canadian naval veterans.
John Schumacher served twice under Piers’s command as a seaman, during and after the war.
“It was quite the mark of respect from the lower decks to say a naval officer was a gentleman,” said Schumacher.
“He was a gentleman.” - Richard Dooley
LIFE AND TIMES
Rear-admiral Desmond William (Debby) Piers CM, DSC, CD, DScMil:
• Born in Halifax, June 12, 1913.
• Joined the Royal Canadian Navy on Sept. 2, 1932 as a cadet with the Royal Military College of Canada.
• Served aboard the Canadian destroyer HMCS Restigouche at the outbreak of the Second World War.
• Appointed executive officer of HMCS Assiniboine in 1940.
• Named commanding officer of HMCS Restigouche in 1941. He is the youngest commanding officer in the navy at the age of 28.
• Married Janet MacNeill in September 1941.
• Left Restigouche in 1943 to serve as a training officer in Halifax.
• Returned to the war at sea in 1944 as commanding officer of HMCS Algonquin.
• In November 1944, Algonquin was part of an attack on a German convoy that sank or destroyed seven vessels.
• In 1945, Piers organized a Canada versus Russia hockey game during a layover in northern Russia.
• Served as a training officer after the war and as executive officer aboard the aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent. He was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed to naval headquarters.
• In 1952, was appointed to NATO’s headquarters in Norfolk, Va.
• At the rank of commodore, Piers was senior Canadian military officer in the Atlantic in 1956.
• Appointed honorary aide-de-camp to Gov.-Gen. Vincent Massey.
• He was assistant chief of naval Staff from 1960 to 1962.
• Promoted to the rank of rear-admiral in 1962.
• After 35 years of service, Piers retired from the navy on June 25, 1967.
• Piers and his wife took up permanent residence in Chester where they became known as active community volunteers.
• Appointed agent general of Nova Scotia for the United Kingdom and Europe in 1977.
• Granted an honorary doctorate of military science by the Royal Military College of Canada in 1982.
• During a Battle of the Atlantic dinner aboard HMCS Sackville in 2003, an 89-year-old Piers led veterans in sea shanties and naval songs, accompanying them with his ever-present harmonica.
• In 2004, Piers was award France’s highest award for military action, L’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur, for his valour on D-Day.
— Richard Dooley
HMCS Toronto crew fire a 13-gun salute in Chester Harbour yesterday as the ashes of retired rear-admiral Desmond Piers are carried to the frigate on a small navy boat. After a memorial service in Chester, Piers’s remains were brought to Halifax, where they will be interred in the naval columbarium at St. Paul’s Anglican Church. (Photo: Canadian Press)