Born 23/02/1925 at Chatham, ON, the son of George and Vera (nee Clarke); the brother of Helen, Lois, Blanche and Clifford. Leonard was living at 17 Payne St. in Chatham when he enlisted with the 2^nd Kent Regt. on 26/05/1943.

Leonard enlisted with the Kent Regt. in 1942 at the age of 17. Turning 18, Leonard transferred to the RCNVR 1/02/1943 enlisting at HMCS Hunter in Windsor, ON. He was eventually shipped to HMCS Cornwallis in Halifax for  further training and when completed, was sent to Quebec as part of the original crew on the frigate, HMCS Stone Town (K531) which was launched in March 1944. He spent five months aboard the Stone Town (named for St. Mary’s, Ontario) and made nine crossings of the Atlantic to England and Scotland, on the ‘River Class’ frigate, escorting convoys on the “Derry-Newfy Run” (Newfoundland to Londonderry, Ireland) during the “Battle of the Atlantic. Len was aboard the Stone Town when it ran around near Berbuda while taking on water before re-crossing the Atlantic.

After five months at sea he was called to ‘shore duty’, eventually stationed at Sydney, NS. He was discharged from the Navy 18/18/1945.

On Canada Day of 2008, Len and son Gary attended a special ceremony at Cadzow Park in the town of St. Mary’s.  This was for the presentation of the ships bell from HMCS Stone Town to the town for which it was named. “I never expected to be the only guy here; I was expecting to see more, but they are spread all over, from Westminster to Verdon”. Son Gary remarked “ He didn’t talk a whole lot about the war when we were growing up, but he was always proud of what he did.”

Unable to attend the ceremony in St. Mary’s due to poor health, John Campbell of Toronto, who served as Lieut. Commander of HMCS Stone Town sent a letter read by his son Spencer which read in part.

“Through perilous times with all of us wondering if we would come home each time we sailed from port (some did not), it was a privilege to work with the young boys asked to be men who made Stone Town and Royal Navy crews… life has moved each of us along but I have never forgotten the camaraderie, the fun, the terror, and the adventure of those dark but illuminating days of World War II. I hope the lessons learned will be understood for generations to come.”

Leonard married Verlyn and they had Gary, Christine, Diane, Karen and Brad. Leonard did many things providing for his family, driving a horse drawn wagon of the Jackson Bakery around the streets of Chatham. He also worked at International Harvester (Navistar) for thirty-two years when he retired. Not being one to sit about, he served as Court Clerk at the Chatham courthouse and did custodial duties at St. Andrews United Church where he was a devout member. He worked with youth in the Boy Scouts and was an active member of the Royal Canadian Naval Association.

Leonard passed away 6/09/2013 at Chatham and was interred at Union Cemetery, Pardoville, ON.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

IODE(P), CCHR-V, CDN 2/02/45, Leonard’s “HMCS StoneTown memories set sail on Canada Day www.southwesternontario.ca

Age	born 1925
Birthplace	Chatham
Religion	Salvation Army
When Enlisted	May 26th 1943
Next of Kin	Mrs. George Shuttleworth (Mother)

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