|
Radio Operator onboard the RCMP Schooner St.
Roch when it sailed from Halifax to Vancouver
through the North West Passage in 1944. Was awarded the Polar Medal by the King in
1946. Was an Electronics Technician at the Scripps
Institute of Oceanography. Was Senior Electronics Technician onboard the
Global Challenger.
|
Opérateur radio à bord de la
goélette St. Roch de la GRC lorsqu'il a navigué de Halifax à Vancouver en
passant par le passage du Nord-Ouest en 1944. A reçu la médaille polaire du
roi en 1946. Il était technicien en électronique au Scripps Institute of
Oceanography. Était technicien électronique principal à bord du Global
Challenger. |
LLOYD GEORGE
RUSSILL was born on February 18, 1922, in Wauchope, Saskatchewan
Lloyd Russill on board the Global Challenger in 1972
AWARDED THE
POLAR MEDAL IN 1946
FOR HIS VOYAGE ON THE ST ROCH THROUGH THE NORTH WEST PASSAGE
in 1944-1945
Extract from
the book THE MORE NORTHERLY ROUTE
The following is an extract from the
book
ARCTIC WORKHORSE
The RCMP Schooner St. Roch
by author James P. Belgado
|
Radio Operator Lloyd Russill was a technician
who had never sent or received a message until he was at sea aboard St.
Roch |
This book is available from Amazon.ca
Click here for the link
The photos below came from the Russill
Collection in the book
THE MORE NORTHERLY ROUTE
by author John Beswarick Thompson
This book is available from Amazon.ca
Click here for the link
A PDF copy of this book is also
available from Parks Canada
Click here for the link
|
"I was in the Marine
Section of the Air Force. I was three years in the Air Force and never got
into the air. We had radio operators in the Marine Section. When they
weren't working at sea they'd stand around our shop and drink coffee. They
had heard about the St. Roch and a couple of them had gone over to look at
it, but they didn't want to take a trip up north for a possible three
years I was ready to move on. So that's what gave me the idea about going
on the St. Roch."
"Of course I wasn't
a radio operator. I was a technician. I'd taken the Morse Code but I'd
never ever taken a message. I'd never sent a message or received one until
I was on the St. Roch. Honest. First message I sent we were out near
Newfoundland and we were lost. Henry asked me to call up to the shore
station and get a bearing."
Lloyd Russill |
Above is the
crew of the St. Roch on the day the ship left Halifax in 1944.
Eighty-six
days and 7,295 miles later, the men and their ship were in Vancouver
having sailed
through the most northerly route of the Northwest Passage
R.C.M.P.
Reference Library
|
"That's me in the coat the
Eskimo lady on board made for Dickens, the cook.... At Akatan Dickens sold
his coat - I sold my radio - to an American. He got a better price than he
paid for it. $150,I think."
Lloyd Russill |
|
"The Eskimos were really great
people. I cannot think of anything but nice things about the Eskimo
people."
Lloyd Russill |
|
"I pulled this
little girl's tooth one day. I was in my cabin and they came in. They
didn't speak, but all of a sudden I heard a hiss like a snake. There she
was with her tooth sticking out. I had some needle-nosed pliers so I
pulled it. They were cute, quiet, little kids."
Lloyd Russill |
|
"I can remember the
day before we left Tuktoyaktuk . . . we were kind of waiting for the old
man to make up his mind if we should try the run or not. It was up to him
to decide to try for Point Barrow or not."
Lloyd Russill |
|
"Caught a lot of fish. We
filled the lifeboat up with them. Starboard boat. Salted salmon. Very
good."
Lloyd Russill |
|
"I was sick for about three
days. It was so rough that I put my mattress on the floor between my desk
and the bunk and didn't move.... Just come out of Akatan, a belly full of
beer, just hit the open sea and hit the storm. Oh wow.. !"
Lloyd Russill |
|
"In that first picture we
looked a little serious I guess. So the photographer said, 'What the
hell's the matter with you guys ? Aren't you happy to be here in beautiful
Vancouver ? How about a smile ?' So we smiled."
Lloyd Russill |
LLOYD GEORGE
RUSSILL died on March 1, 2008, in California, when he was 86 years old.
