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The Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre Foundation
RONALD PEDLAR:
merchant mariner and wireless operator in the deadly Mediterranean
By Brant Scott
Our staff and volunteers strive to make each day special for our residents
– here is one of their untold stories.
The brave men of the merchant
marine who dared cross the
icy Atlantic during World War II
know how it feels to be hunted.
German U-boat and warship
captains knew that every time they
sent a merchant marine ship to
the bottom, they were sinking a
valuable piece of the Allies’ war
effort. Traversing an ocean with
tanks, heavy artillery, bombs, and
other supplies below decks made
you a prime target for a watery
grave.
Ronald Pedlar, now an 87 year
old resident at the Perley and
Rideau Veterans' Health Centre,
was one of the hunted. A native of
Parkhill, Ontario, he made the trip
from St. John’s, Newfoundland to
various Mediterranean ports without
a scratch a half dozen times.
The merchant marine owes much
to the naval vessels that accompanied
them, and too often convoys
were reduced to smoke and oil on
salt water as the German torpedoaimers
honed their craft.
Pedlar’s acumen for electronics
would stand him in good stead
during the war and long after. He
communicated with dashes and
dots on the high seas in a small
room just behind the bridge on
two Norwegian ships and later on
Canada’s “Park ships.” He joined
the service at 22 years old and was
soon promoted to chief wireless
operator.
“I still remember Morse code,”
says Pedlar, “but I’m not as fast as I
used to be. I never did use voice
communications on the Park ships.
We used to send Morse at a pretty
good rate, though.”
Pedlar didn’t see any U-boats
in his crossings in his four-year
stint with the merchant marine,
but he heard lots of radio communications
from the less fortunate.
“There wasn’t a day that went
by when we didn’t hear from ships
that were being sunk,” he recalls.
“Ships were being sunk in the
Mediterranean all around us. We
could hear their SOS every day up
to about a hundred miles away.”
His ship travelled to Algeria,
Italy and Sicily to deliver the goods
of war. The Mediterranean Sea was
a dangerous place for Canadian
merchant mariners because the
Germans were pressing hard from
above and below the waves.
“We were escorted by
corvettes, destroyers and cruisers,”
he says. “They were protecting us,
but the risk was the same for all of
us. The Park ships had their own
guns, though. I don’t really
remember any fear.”
At 33, Pedlar took a three-year
electronics course in just two years
at Ryerson Institute of Technology
in Toronto. In combination with
his wartime training, Pedlar was
moving full steam ahead into a
career with Northern Electric and
other private sector firms.
Later joining the Department
of National Defence with civilian
status, he worked out of Rockcliffe
Military Base in Ottawa for several
years monitoring military electronics
equipment. He enjoyed his second
career with DND until he
Ronald Pedlar
retired in 1985. He married Jessie
Gilchrist of Kincardine, Ontario in
1952 and she passed on in 1995.
From the comfort of his room
at the Perley Rideau, Ronald
Pedlar still enjoys reading about
the exploits of others who negotiated
the seas of war. He considers
himself fortunate to have tempted
fate a half dozen times in the
Atlantic and returned safely.
Canada was poised to launch into
an era of unprecedented prosperity,
and he would contribute to it in
every way he could.
The Perley Rideau is home to 450
residents, 250 of whom are war
veterans. We appreciate your support
by making a bequest in your will or
making a donation.
Please contact Paul S. Finn
The Perley and Rideau
Veterans’ Health Centre Foundation
1750 Russell Road
Ottawa ON K1G 5Z6
Email: foundation@prvhc.com
Internet: www.prvhc.com
613-526-7194