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The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 31, 2001 - A5 Corvette crew had heroic return (Continued from page A4) The O ak v ille w as co m m issio n ed in M ontreal on N ovem ber 18, 1941, shortly after her christening here. It operated out o f H alifax H arbour on escort envoys to the C aribbean from C941 to 1946. In July 1942, HMCS O akville was escorting H alifax-A ruba convoys and, on her second arrival in A ruba in A ugust 1942, was diverted to support a convoy in the A ruba/K ey W est area. On Aug. 28, the convoy was attacked in the W indward Passage, near Haiti and four ships were lost. The HMCS O akville responded to the attack and succeeded in sinking a G erm an U-boat. The HMCS O akville gunned, then ram m ed the boat. A pproxim ately 18 G erm ans w ere lost while another dozen were taken prisoner. Lt. Hal Law rence o f Toronto and Petty O fficer A rthur Powell were the first from the HM CS O akville to board the sinking U -boat -- even as the O akville continued firing and the crew pelted the subm arine with w hatever they could lay hands on, nam ely pop bottles. The duo were soon regarded as heroes. "They went on a coast-to-coast publicity tour," said Stew art. A black-and-w hite poster dubbed "M en o f Valor," a graphic that depicts the duo boarding the U -boat, will be displayed at Erchless. Its original color version is at the w ar museum in Ottawa. The HM CS O akville had four captains over her lifetim e in the Canadian navy. She contin ued to serve in the C aribbean, had a m ajor refit in G alveston, Texas, which included a fo 'c 's 'le (forecastle) extension in 1944 and went back Into service near Bermuda. A nother refit began at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia's fam ed ship building centre in early April 1945, but was discontinued in June when HM CS O akville reached her service lim it and was sold to the Venezuelan Navy in 1946. She was renam ed Patria, and served as a patrol ship until 1962. "N ot m uch is know n about her after that," adm itted Stewart. The historian noted that form er Oakville m ayor Harry Barrett did his best to find out. "He tried to track her and find artifacts, but it cam e to no avail," said Stewart. Some artifacts were saved, however, and they will be on display at Erchless, along with photos, historical docum ents and a scale model o f the Oakville. O akville M useum is open T uesday to Sunday from 1p.m. -4:30 p.m. A dm ission costs $3 for adults; $2 for students/seniors; $1.50 for children (those under 5 get in free); and, $8 for a family. Call 905-338-4400. Free flu shots to end of Nov. T h ^ H alton R egion H ealth D ep artm en t is co n tin u in g its offer of free flu shots to Halton resid en ts w ho are over six m onths o f age at v accination clinics in the follow ing O akville locations: Wed. Nov. 7 - W hite Oaks Secondary School South gym na sium from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. T hurs.N ov. 8 - St. T hom as A quinas Secondary School cafe teria from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wed. Nov. 14 - T.A. Blakelock High School sm all gym from 3 p.m . to 8 p.m. Tues. Nov. 20 - H alton R egional C entre auditorium from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thurs. Nov. 22 - St. Ignatius o f Loyola Secondary School gym from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tues. Nov. 27 - H alton Regional C entre auditorium from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. W ed. Nov. 28 - O akville T rafalgar High School sm all gym from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Lt. A.C. Jones and Lady Mountbatten at christening of HMCS Oakville. Come u H O n e ... tA /x S e a /v // o u r Come AM! November 2nd 6 pm . to 9 p.m. November 3rd 9 am. to 6 p.m. 'e a r Please join us Friday, November 2nd at 7 p.m. for a cake cutting to celebrate . . . a n d c v e w o a id li/ m to th a n k u o t v tfr s m w u m !! R e f r e s h m e n ts w il l b e s e rv e d V ^ A R V E Y g FI NE ME N 'S WEAR Downtown Oakville ·183 Lakeshore Road East (905) 845 8911 ·Free one hour parking token for shoppers O p e n M o n d a y to W e d n e sd a y a n d S a tu rd a y , 9 a m to 6 p m , T h u r s d a y a n d F r id a y 9 a m to 9 p m