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TheTHE GUARDIAN AJAX, ONTARIO $1.50 PER YEAR SINGLE COPY 10¢ VOL.2.No.13 AUTHORIZED AS SECOND CLASS MAIL, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,OTTAWA Published by R.KERTON,PRINT ING June 21,1961. Souvenir Edition Column 1 Inside this issue you will find the various programmes of activities for OLD HOME WEEK. Today we honour H.M.S. Ajax, Defence Industry employees, University personnel and graduates, and 1961 Ajax Men of Industry. We welcome all visitors to our town May you find Ajax, 1961, the friendly, progressive town we know it bo be. We welcome Hon. Micahl Starr, Minister of Labour as he opens the Industrial Exhibit in Slough Plaza showing the products made in Ajax Programme of Old Home Week page 12 Inside this issue you will find the various programmes of activities for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Old Home Week. Today we honour H.M.S. AJAX, Defence Industry employees, University personnel and graduates, and our own 1961 Ajax Men of Industry. On behalf of Ajax residents we welcome the Honourable Michael Starr, Minister of Labour as he opens the Industrial Exhibit showing the products of Ajax in the Slough Plaza, Thursday, June 22. May you find Ajax the friendly, progressive town we know it to be. DID YOU KNOW . . . ? Total selling value of 1957 factory shipments for the Town of Ajax $21,402,410.00 St. Andrews School to Have $79,000 Addition Page 16 Middle of columns 2 & 3 H.M.S. AJAX - Its Men and Fighting History Details concerning the men on the ship H.M.S. AJAX are coming to light through communications from some of the survivors and their families. The Admiralty has now notified the next-of-kin of those who were killed in H.M.S. AJAX and those who were decorated that a number of streets in our town are being named in their honour. Just what were the men like who served on the ship? How old were they? What happened with them just before December 13,1939 unknown to the movie script writers, unknown yet to historians? Such questions are forever in the minds of some Ajax citizens. W. H. O'Brien, now of Lancashire, was a seaman boy who joined with sixty other lads. The ship had just completed a seven month refit in the Pompey dockyard. Not one of the sixty knew another and all were green sailors. Most of the boys were between sixteen and eighteen years of age. "We worked like Trojans, cussed, and swore, drill drill, drill, and in the end we all got to know each other, lived with each other, helped each other. In our turret we had a three-badger "Sling-er" Woods. He fathered us boys. "Nutty" Gardner was always eating chocolates and hence his name. We had such characters as "Jeep" Lythgoe, "Seaboat" Jennings, "Kelp" Mason, "Toerot" Andrews, "Daisy" Adams,"Big Gob"Gibson,"Dog Lugs" Woods, and myself "Stooge" O'Brien because I used to take off the three stooges at our concerts. You can imagine the time we had in South America before the war broke out." His particular messmate was Boy Seaman "Blondie" Hills and he says: "Blondie was almost decapitated by the mainmast fag jack. It was shot away and fell on poor Blondie" who was manning the .5 air machine guns on the iron deck.î ìI was the sightsetter in Y turret, that is setting the range and deflection on the twin 6" gun turret. And I was scared, believe me! We were hit in our turret, and barbette but never felt it. We just couldnít train our guns round far enough. We loosened off 300 rounds and we hit the Graf Spee repeatedly in her control tower and put her fir-ing control out of action. She had sunk scores of our Freighters.î "I'm proud of the Ajax and of its crew and now its citizens and I would like to say this to you all YOU HAVE A REPUTATION TO KEEP UP!'" Bottom of columns 2 & 3, middle of column 4 LIVERPOOL ECHO Thursday, April 27,1961 A story in the LIVERPOOL ECHO, April 27,1961 tells about Ajax with a brief history of our town. According to the newspaper, the following is the list of new streets with the name of the man honoured: Petty Officer William Taylor, of Bishops Road, Fulham; Ordinary Seaman Samuel Preston, Sultan Road, Wanstead, and Boy Seaman George Hills, of Alfred Road, Feitham, Middlesex. Royal Marine casualties commemorated include Corporal James Clements, of East Ham; Marine William Lombard of Pains Road, Southsea, and Marine Albert Burrells, of Harrold, Bedfordshire. Able Seaman Harold O'Dell of Church Cottages, Hitchen killed soon after the Battle of the River Plate Also has a street named after him. "Five new roads have been named after Kent men" the story ends "Steward Ernest Frankcom of Dover, Seaman William Farley Ramsgate, Artificer Herbert Foord, Bexleyheath; Petty Officer William Simpson, Gillingham, and Royal Marine Sergeant Harry Follett of Chatham" . As you know the town of Ajax was named after the H.M.S. AJAX to commemorate the battle of the River Plate, when the Ajax in company with two other cruisers forced the German pocket battleship Graf Spee to enter Mont-evideo harbour and later scuttle herself. What is known not known generally is the history of H.M.S. Ajax..... Lower portion of column 4, all of column 5 HMS Ajax was a cruiser of the "Leander" type, with a displacement of 6985 tons, a speed of 32Ω knots, and an armament of eight six-inch and smaller guns and eight torpedo tubes. She was built and engined by Vickers - Arm-strongs, Ltd., Burrow-in-Furness, and completed in April, 1935. When the Second World War began on September 3, 1939, she was in the South American Divi-son. On December 13, the Ajax was one of the three cruisers which engaged the German, pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate, forcing her to take refuge in Montevideo, whence she emerged four days later to scuttle. The Ajax flew the broad pennant of Commodore H. H. Harwood, Commanding the British Squad-ron, and was commanded by Captain C.H. L. Woodhouse, who was appointed a CB for his services. The ship sustained damage from shell fire, and after transferring the flag of Rear- Admiral Harwood (who was promoted from the date of the action) to HMS Achilles she preceeded to England for repairs end of July 1940(?). IN D-DAY INVASION On D-Day, June 6, the Ajax was in the bombardment force which supported the Assault Force G in the landing at Asnelles. The enemy battery at Longues opened fire at 0558 on the headquarters ship Buloio; no hits were ob-tained, and the battery was si-lenced by the Ajax at 0620. The ship returned to the Mediterran-ian in mid-July. A month later, on Aug. 15, she took part in the landing in South-ern France, Operation Dragoon', supporting the 3rd Division in the Bonnes area. On Oct. 15, an operation, "Manna' was launched to intro-duce into the Athens area a Brit-ish force to maintain law and order, to establish the Greek Government, and to arrange Greek relief. The Ajax was among the ships which took part. On Oct. 18 the garrison of Santorin surren-dered to her. SERVED AS FLAGSHIP In the Greek Civil War in De-cember, 1944, the Ajax served as flagship of Rear-Admiral J. M. Mansfield, Commanding the 15th(?) Cruiser Squadron, and on Dec. 26 it was on board her that a con-ference was held, attended among others by Mr. Churchill and his Foreign Secretary, Mr. Eden. It was at this conference that Archbishop Demaskinos was ap-pointed Regent of Greece. On Jan. 4, 1945 a threatening situation developed at Patras, and the Ajax proceeded mere from Piraeus. A military ultimatum to ELAS forces to surrender or evacuate the town by Jan. 11 ended the trouble, the enemy leaving during the previous night The Ajax was able to return to the Piraeus on the 15th. When the war in Europe ended on May 8, the Ajax was at Taran-to. A fortnight later, her presence was needed at Trieste, where she remained until July. In January, 1946, the Ajax pro-ceeded to South America to escort the Highland Monarch to the United Kingdom with German in-ternees from her old antagonist, the Admiral Graf Spee. Included in her program was a visit to Rio de Janeiro as flagship of Ad-miral of the fleet Sir James Som-erville for the inauguration of the President of Brazil on Jan. 31. The Ajax was scrapped in 1949, and in December of that year her bell was presented to the Govern-ment of Uruguay. WELCOME-AJAX OLD HOMERS Guardian June 21, 1961 Souvenir Edition