The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES Dont worry about parking, take the free Santa Shuttle provided by Oakville Transit. The free Santa Shuttle runs every 15 minutes from the Oakville GO Station stopping at all regular stops along Reynolds to the Church/Dunn bus terminal. The Santa Shuttle will begin at 8 am with the last Santa Shuttle leaving downtown at 11:30 am. Please note that for safety reasons children must be removed from strollers and/or wagons while on the bus. Strollers must be folded and wagons put in an upright position. During the Parade, Oakville Transit will detour Routes 2, 14, 15 and 17 out of the Parade area. To ensure emergency vehicle and public access, visibility and traffic flow, residents and visitors are asked to adhere to parking regulations during the Parade. For more information on the Oakville Santa Claus Parade visit: www.oakvillesantaclausparade.ca or leave a message at: 905-815-5981 FREE SANTA SHUTTLE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20th - 9:00 a.m. Lakeshore Road from Allan Street to Kerr Street Kerr Street from Lakeshore Road to Stewart Street Stewart Street from Kerr Street to Maurice Drive Felan Avenue from Stewart Street to Rebecca Street Rebecca Street from Dorval Drive to Forsythe Street Robinson Street from Navy Street to Allan Street The co-operation of all motorists is requested. For additional information on road closures, contact Bob deHoog, Road Corridor/Permit Co-ordinator, 905.845.6601 ext. 3337. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN During the Santa Claus Parade, the following roads, and adjacent streets will be closed from 7-11 a.m.: hri HouHo 18-2 Four W., O 2 com ntic sele red deco and Cus Cus Per 8: 1 1 1 1 European Engineering Combined With Traditional Workmanship Building on the Brightest Ideas Around Glass 905.849.0266 w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , N ov em be r 1 2, 2 01 0 8 This appeared to happen one night during the voyage when Garside saw a torpedo shoot past his ship, missing it by mere feet. Again, it keeps you awake and keeps you looking, said Garside. Due to the reduced speed at which the convoy had to sail and the weather encountered, the trip across the Atlantic, which normally took 10 days, stretched into 30 days. Garside does not know how many ships or how many sailors were lost during this single crossing. In the end, Garsides convoy reached England where he spent Christmas with his family. Garside remembers this period fondly with the exception of one incident where he exploded at a man in a barbershop, who had just bragged about stealing several gallons of gasoline for his own personal use. Garside, who had just seen two tankers and most of their crews burned, knew the price that gasoline came at and was not impressed. After seven days leave, Garside and his convoy were on their way back across the Atlantic. Once again, the convoy encountered bad weather and while this kept the U-boats at bay, the convoy still took casualties. Garside said because of the heaving waves and strong winds a Liberty Ship, the SS Joseph Smith, broke in half directly in front of his ship. There was nothing we could do to get out of the way and we ran right over top of her as she was going down, he said. Garside learned only a few years ago that a Canadian corvette rescued every single crew member aboard that ship. The Crevier, however, was damaged after scraping against the sinking ship and had to leave the protection of the convoy so it could speed directly to a Brooklyn dry dock and repair. The Crevier made it to its destination safely where it was repaired and outfitted to carry a new precious cargo, mules. In February 1944, the Crevier began its journey to Gibraltar and from there to Karachi in India. In the Creviers hold were hundreds of mules, which were needed to move supplies over mountainous terrain as the British fought to retake Burma from the Japanese. The Creviers, and Garsides, luck contin- ued as bad weather made for a safe crossing to Gibraltar where the Crevier anchored and waited for the arrival of a convoy to take it across the Mediterranean. With the arrival of a convoy, the Crevier crossed the Mediterranean and entered the Suez Canal eventually emerging in the Indian Ocean. The Crevier delivered its cargo of mules in Karachi and then anchored at a harbour in Bombay (now Mumbai) where they planned to pick up supplies so they could go back to England. It was here the luck the ship had been enjoying finally ran out. On April 14, 1944 Garside said someone noticed that the Creviers sister ship, the SS Fort Stikine, which was also anchored at the Bombay harbour, had a trail of black smoke coming from it. A few hours later the gunners from the Stikine arrived at the Crevier and warned the crew they should evacuate the area as the Stikine was loaded with ammunition and was on fire. We decided in our wisdom that we would stay put and keep an eye on things, said Garside. Then I noticed that a fireboat had come alongside the one that was burning and I said to myself, Its okay, theyve got things under control. An hour later Garside and the ships 3rd engineer were passing a pair of binoculars back and forth watching the smoke coming from the Stikine when it suddenly exploded. It picked me up and blew me across the ship and into an open bunker about 25 feet away, said Garside. I was out, uncon- scious. The man Garside had been standing beside was killed when the blast slammed him into the bulkhead behind him. In the bunker, Garside had landed on a large pile of coal and regained consciousness when the bunkers steel lid came crashing down, only barely missing his head. Garside climbed out of the bunker only to discover his own ship was on fire due to the enormity of the blast. Im looking around and it is just like bed- lam. Ammunition is being blown up all over, he said. I decided to look around and I decid- ed to walk forward towards the bridge when I met the second mate coming towards me and he is covered in blood all down his face. Garside and another crewmember jumped 30 feet into the water then swam to the dock and ran up the dock away from the fire. At this point, a second explosion took place aboard the Stikine, again blowing Garside and the other crewmember off their feet, but not injuring them. This event, which became known as the Bombay Explosion, killed approximately 800 people. The third engineer, who had been standing next to Garside, was the only casu- alty aboard the Crevier. Garside narrowly escaped death when neighbouring ship exploded Continued from page 5