Born in Wallaceburg, ON., 4 July, 1921. The son of Theo and Mathilda (nee Bogaart) DeMoor. The brother of Joseph, Peter and Elizabeth, Marie. The husband of Leona (nee Watson) the father of son Larry and daughter Judy (nee Roe).

Frank enlisted in the RCNVR in 1941 and served until 1945 

Prior to the war Frank and his good friend Albert Lauwereys worked togethet at Schulitz, then at Oosterling’s butcher shop. With the war on Frank and Albert talked about which branch of the service they were looking at. Albert said he was not going to the Navy as he could not swim.  Frank did want to join the Navy, no trenches for him. Besides he told Albert it didn’t matter if he could swim or not, the ocean is to big to swim across, Albert did join the Army and Frank the Navy. Sadly his friend Albert would DOW 12/12/43 in Italy.

During his training Frank discovered many parts of Canada. He enlisted at HMCS Hunter in Windsor, ON. His basic traing began in Toronto, then to Nanaimo, BC.where he qualified to be a naval cook. It was off to the east coast arriving at Halifax. He was assigned to HMCS Cobalt (K124), a Flower Class Corvette. Frank told reporter Al Mann that “We would escort merchant ships to the mid-Atlantic, which was known as the “Black Hole”, it was the area that was beyond air protection and the feeding grounds for the German U-Boats. Naval ships from the UK would return with the loaded ship and the Cobalt and other escorts would escort the empty merchant ships back to Halifax. Frank was always concerned about sailing in winter where you not only had to watch for U-Boats but also the amount of ice that would coat the Corvettes, heavy enough to roll a ship in a high seas.

One of Franks adventures involved a tanker ship that collided with another ship in the convoy HMCS Cobalt was escorting. The tanker caught fire and could be seen for miles. It just so happened that HMCS Cobalt picked up the sound of a torpedo heading towards their ship. The Captain manovere the ship out of harms was and for a time the U-Boat was being attacked.

After breaking off contact HMCS CoBalt was order to put a boat in the water and o to help the crew on the burning tanker. They did accomplish their task and the tanker was put in Tow to England. In 1951 Frank received a cheque for $9.95 his share of the reward for helping to save the tanker.Frank stayed with HMCS Cobalt for the duration of the war. He was discharged 13 Dec. 1945. Frank returned to Wallaceburg rejoining the staff at Oosterling’s Butcher shop on Nelson St. . He would later be the owner of the shop for six years. From there he joined the LCBO and was eventually made manager of the store.

A column in the Wallaceburg News 5/11/42 “Letter from Boys on Active Service” reported the following letter:

                                                                                    Esquimalt, BC.

                                                                                    Oct. 22, 1942

 

   Editor, The News.

   Dear Sirs,

I received the first copy of the Wallaceburg News yesterday and Hank and I appreciate it very much. We read a lot of news of our home town which was very interwsting to us and I want to thank you very much.

   Sincerely.

 

Frank DeMoore, AC. V44297

HMCS Naden,

Mess 159,

c/o Fleet Mail Office,

Esquimalt, BC.

In January 1944 he was reported serving aboard HMCS Cobalt. WN 27/01/44

 

A lifetime member of RCL Branch 28. He passed away 11/02/2009 at the age of 87 years. Internment at Riverview Cemetery, Wallaceburg, ON.  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

W-RH, Larry DeMoor (son), GOHS,  Courier Press- Al Mann article 14/03/2007

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