-with thanks to a heart of gold at the home of Haida
He loved the sea like the generations of Smiths from the north of Scotland before him. They tamed the wildest waters from the English Channel to the mighty Atlantic in both war and peace...and his memory lives on along the Hamilton waterfront.
It was only fitting then that our father’s memory bench overlook the harbour next to “Canada’s most fightingest ship”, the legendary HMCS Haida. Every Father’s Day since his passing almost seven years ago, I’d sit on that bench and wonder what he’d think about the state of the world today. But not this Father’s Day…
Robert Prahm Smith didn’t serve on Haida or any ship. He couldn’t. He was colour blind. But while he couldn’t join the navy, he could join the army. So after the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941, he crossed the border from Canada where his family had settled and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was 16 and lied about his age.
You see while my father was born in New Jersey, the family was deported to the closest British colony because their immigration papers were not in order. It was during my nomadic grandfather’s second crossing from Scotland in his search for a better life for his young family that began during the Great Depression. He heard Hamilton had a nice harbour.
My Dad served in Italy throughout World War II and then joined the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, where he became a basic training officer while earning his degree at McMaster University. He went on to co-found an American Legion post in Burlington and served as president of the Royal Hamilton Military Institute.
Meanwhile in the backyard of their modest east end home my grandfather with the help of my dad, built a sailboat that became famous or infamous, depending on whom you talk to, as it sailed Lake Ontario. The Tradewind made headlines when it was wrecked in a storm in the early 50’s. All that was salvaged was its little wooden dinghy.
For one Father’s Day feature news story for CHCH-TV, I arranged to have that dingy brought down from the rafters of the Hamilton Harbour Commissioners warehouse, where it had been stored for decades and surprised my Dad with cameras rolling.
Many Father’s Days passed. In civilian life, R.P. Smith became an insurance adjuster and still feeling the pull of the sea, eventually specialized in marine claims. He was still crawling all over pleasure craft into his 80’s, as a sought-after marine surveyor. Nicknamed Skipper by his harbour pals, he was outfitted with a fluorescent orange life jacket, “in case he fell in.“
His friends from the harbour and the military were there when we dedicated his memory bench beside HMCS Haida. I still have that life jacket and the remains of Tradewind’s dinghy has found a special place at our cottage.
When I contacted Haida to see if I could make my scheduled Father’s Day visit, I was told that the Parks Canada site was closed due to the pandemic. I said thank you and to say hello to my dad for me if any staffers happened to be there.
Tuesday, June 22 - Message from HMCS Haida National Historic Site:
“Good morning Connie, my colleague and friend was going to Haida this morning to do some cleaning so I asked her to take a couple of pictures of your father’s bench. I know it’s not the same as having a good sit on it for Father’s Day but until we re-open, I hope this can hold you over… Hope to see you soon!”
When I thanked them for such a kind and unexpected gesture, Joel Anthony Forget and Johan Brydson told me they were to happy to put I smile on my face and that’s exactly what they did.
HMCS Haida is the last of 27 Tribal-class destroyers that served in the Second World War, the Korean Conflict and the Cold War, all named after Indigenous communities. She is birthed next to HMCS Star Naval Reserve, Hamilton. For updates on a resumption in tours, visit https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/haida ...and say hi to “Skipper” for me.