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In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
SOWERBY, John Cornelius - My father was born in 1916 and grew up mostly in the Vancouver, BC, area. He died in 1983 in Nanaimo. His family always vacationed and spent time seaside and were active boaters and fishing people. The Navy was a good place for him to be.
He went to UBC and received a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering in 1937. Our son accidently found his grandfather's graduation class photo in the engineering building when he was doing his own electrical engineering degree there.
He worked at BC Telephone for a few years after graduating university. He then volunteered for the Navy in 1941.
After the war he retired from the Navy (April 1946) and returned to BC Telephone in Vancouver. The type of work he did there was obviously to do with communications at that time. For instance I remember he had management responsibility for microwave installations on Vancouver Island after we moved to Victoria.
He married my mother, Sally Courneya, late in 1946. She had served in the WRCNS as a photographer in Halifax and that is how and where they met. She had amazing wartime photos but I don't know what happened to them. They had 4 children, raising them in Victoria, BC after moving from Vancouver. Dad retired from BC Telephone (or whatever the name was at the time...not Telus though) after 40 yrs! (submitted by daughter Pat Lucas)
Ships served in: VANCOUVER DIVISION RCNVR - Listed as a Probationary Sub-Lieutenant, RCNVR (Navy List Aug 1941) HMCS KINGS - Appointed to KINGS 21 Nov 1941 (Navy List Dec 1941) * Appointed Sub-Lieutenant, RCNVR (seniority 10 Nov 1941) (Navy List Apr 1942) HMCS SUDEROY IV - Appointed to SUDEROY IV 26 Mar 1942 (Navy List Apr 1942) HMCS PORT HOPE - Appointed to PORT HOPE 02 Jun 1942 (Navy List Sep 1942) * Appointed Lieutenant, RCNVR (seniority 10 Nov 1942) (Navy List Mar 1943) HMCS RED DEER - Appointed to RED DEER 11 Feb 1943 (Navy List Aug 1943) HMCS KINGS - Appointed to KINGS 13 Nov 1943 for Short 'N' Course (Navy List Oct 1943) // Note: The Short 'N' Course is a condensed version of the Navigator's Course. * Qualified for Navigator Duties (n) (Navy List Feb 1944) * Seniority amended to 10 Nov 1941 (Navy List Feb 1944) HMCS NIOBE - Appointed to NIOBE (Standby for HMCS ANNAN) (Navy List Feb 1944) HMCS ANNAN - Appointed to ANNAN 07 Mar 1944 for Navigator Duties (Navy List Jul 1944) * Commissioning crew. Appointed dated amended to 13 Jun 1944 (Navy List Nov 1944) * Demobilized Apr 1946 * Transferred to the Retired List as a Lieutenant, RCN(R) (Navy List Apr 1946) * Appointed Lieutenant-Commander, RCN(R). Promoted on the Retired List. (seniority 10 Nov 1949) (Navy List Jul 1952) * Recorded on the Retired List at HMCS DISCOVERY (Navy List Jul 1952) * Last noted in the Retired List for Jan 1959 at HMCS DISCOVERY as a Lieutenant-Commander, RCN(R)
(JCS001) Lt John Sowerby (right) with unknown friend - date and location unknown (JCS002) Lt John Sowerby on unknown ship (JCS003) Lt John Sowerby on the bridge of HMCS ANNAN K404 (JCS004) Lt John Sowerby (foreground) and Lt David Howitt on the bridge of HMCS ANNAN (JCS005) British Columbia crew members of HMCS ANNAN share in the honours awarded to HMCS ANNAN after the sinking of U-1006 on 16 Oct 1944 // Listed in the article: AB Secil Marshall of Vancouver; AB Tom Collier of Vancouver; AB Bernard Swan of Vancouver; CPO Doug Barr of Victoria; AB Roy Soper of Vancouver; Lt John Sowerby of Vancouver.
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