Garth Ukrainetz, known as the poet laureate of the Blackmud Creek in Edmonton, has written the following poem in observance of the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic, in honour of all the Flower-class corvettes. The Town of Kamsack had a “Flower Corvette”, the HMCS Kamsack, named after it.
The Battle of the Atlantic has been called the "longest, largest, and most complex" naval battle in history, according to information found on the Internet. The campaign started immediately after the European War began, during the so-called "Phoney War" and lasted more than five years, until the German surrender in May 1945. It involved thousands of ships in more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters, in a theatre covering millions of square miles of ocean.
Western Flowers of the Sea
By Garth Ukrainetz, Poet Laureate of the Blackmud Creek
Five and Twenty warriors
From Dominion’s western side
Feisty little fighting ships
Full of hometown pride
The wild roses of Alberta
The Yukon and BC
Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Western flowers of the sea
Vancouver and Regina
Lethbridge and Quesnel
Calgary and Rosthern
Weyburn fighting hell
Brandon and Nanaimo
Here comes Chilliwack
Moose Jaw ramming U-boats
Kamloops striking back
Saskatoon and Dawson
Agassiz and Trail
Battleford and Dauphin
Mighty Morden setting sail
Kamsack and Drumheller
New Westminster on the guard
Alberni and Wetaskiwin
With Camrose charging hard
Royal Canadian Navy
Western Canada Corvettes
On the water fighting bravely
Lest we all forget
The wild roses of Alberta
The Yukon and BC
Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Western flowers of the sea
ⓒ2019 Garth Paul Ukrainetz
