|
Rear Admiral Desmond William Piers, (June 12, 1913 – November 1, 2005) was a rear-admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. Born in Halifax and long-time resident of Chester, Nova Scotia, Piers served in the RCN from 1932 to 1967. In 1930, he was the first graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada (student # 2184) to join the RCN. He became agent general of Nova Scotia in the United Kingdom in 1977. Rear Admiral Piers is best known for his courageous actions in 1944 when, as the 30-year-old Commanding Officer of HMCS ''Algonquin'', he directly participated in the invasion in France where he guided his ship and her crew through the conflagration of D-Day. In recognition of his actions he received the Légion d'Honneur, France's highest recognition for bravery in military action and service. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his vigorous and invaluable service at sea during the Battle of the Atlantic. ==Convoy SC 107== Piers was captain of the Canadian destroyer HMCS ''Restigouche'' from June 1941 (previously her First Lieutenant), during the battle to maintain the critical convoy routes to Britain. He was at the centre of a crisis in this battle. In October, 1942 Piers commanded escort group C4 (''Restigouche'' and six corvettes) which was to escort the slow convoy SC107, from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Liverpool. At the time, Canadian escort ships were regarded as inferior to their British equivalents and they were generally assigned to the slower, more vulnerable convoys. On this occasion, ''Restigouche'' was the only ship of Piers' group with working radar and direction finding equipment, both necessary to locate u-boats. In the circumstances, exacerbated by a failure to reroute the convoy away from the u-boats, it is unsurprising that the convoy, once found, would be severely mauled, losing 15 of its 42 ships. This level of losses was unsustainable and Admiral Sir Percy Noble, the then Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches, insisted that Canadian escorts immediately be withdrawn for training or reassigned to less vulnerable routes. Although Piers received criticism for his group's performance, he had been aggressive in the convoy's defence. This was recognised by the award of the Distinguished Service Cross, some months later〔The citation for the award said: "This officer has served continuously in His Majesty's Canadian destroyers since the commencement of hostilities. As Senior Officer of Convoy Escort Groups in the North Atlantic, he has, by his vigorous leadership and aggressive attack, been an inspiration to those under his command."〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Desmond Piers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|