| Joanne Hatherly |
| Times Colonist |
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
|
It's not Christmas yet, but the Naval and Military Museum at the Canadian Forces Base in Esquimalt is hoping for a gift in the form of the repatriation of Canadian war hero Lt.-Cmdr. Edward Theodore "Ted" Simmons's medals and Second World War memorabilia from an auction house in Great Britain.
The museum cannot bid for the items which are valued between $30,000 and $40,000 that will be auctioned Nov. 18 on behalf of the estate, so they're hoping for their own Santa Claus to step forward and do so.
"It would be sad to see them go somewhere other than Canada," said Claire Sugrue, a spokeswoman for the museum. The museum is funded in part by the Department of National Defence and operates under a policy that prohibits it from spending public funds to acquire artifacts.
In 1939, Simmons was a 30-year-old interior decorator at Standard Furniture in Victoria when he signed on with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. Six years later, he was a heavily decorated officer and lieutenant commander in charge of a fleet of vessels.
Jan Drent, a retired naval commodore who writes on naval history, disagrees with purchasing war memorabilia, which he feels should be donated to museums or handed down through families, but notes that Simmons is an important historical figure in Canadian naval history.
"He personifies the achievements of civilians who joined the navy and formed the bulk of its strength in officers and men," Drent said, adding that Simmons was instrumental in one of Canada's first successful battles against a German U-boat.
According to museum records, Simmons, who was born in Vernon, distinguished himself early in his service when he man found himself in the Battle of the Atlantic in September 1941.
At the time, he was the second-in-command of HMCS Chambly.
On Sept. 10, the Chambly rushed to rescue merchant ships that were surrounded by German U-boats off Greenland's coast.
During the ensuing battle, Simmons leapt atop a sinking submarine in hopes of capturing a German cipher machine or code book.
"This Victoria resident had the right moxie, the right stuff," Drent said.
"The significance of these artifacts being auctioned off is that they are a visual link to a Canadian who rose to the challenge of war."
After the war, Simmons found employment at Distillers Corporation Canada where he eventually rose to lead the company as its president.
In 1965, he retired to England.
He died there in 1989, and was cremated and buried at sea off HMCS Huron.
On Nov.18, Simmons' war-time memorabilia will be auctioned at the Wallis and Wallis auction house in East Sussex, England.
Those objects include seven medals which include the Atlantic Star, the Africa Star, the Distinguished Service Order, and 20 Naval Message sheets, some marked "Secret from Admiralty" detailing Nazi U-boat surrenders
Sugrue said. "Just to see them come back to Canada would be something of a victory.
jhatherly@tc.canwest.com
