One Archives | When World War II Came to Bell Island, Newfoundland

Lloyd Rees

Photograph of teenager Lloyd Rees standing on the Lance Cove wharf with his bicycle during World War II. You can read Lloyd Rees’ teenage memories of the Bell […]

Emma Rees

Photo of Emma Rees of Lance Cove, Bell Island. Survivors of the 1942 Bell Island sinkings were brought to several homes in Lance Cove, including the home of […]

Rick Stanley Interview on Remembrance Day 2019

Rick Stanley is the owner of Ocean Quest Adventures, which is a scuba diving operator in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. On November 11th each year (Remembrance […]

David Rees Interview and Virtual Tour, Lance Cove, Newfoundland

David Rees shares stories from his grandmother Emma Rees of how survivors from the two German U-boat attacks and sinkings in 1942 were cared for in Emma’s home […]

Diver swims through a torpedo hole in shipwreck

A female scuba diver swims through a torpedo hole in the hull of one of the Bell Island shipwrecks. The thick steel plates of the hull are bent […]

Diver exploring the Lord Strathcona shipwreck

A rebreather diver swims over the shipwreck of SS Lord Strathcona.

Ghost bow of P.L.M. 27

A diver hovers near the bow of the P.L.M. 27 shipwreck.

Navy diver clearing unexploded ammunition from Rose Castle shipwreck

A Canadian Forces clearance diver from Fleet Diving Unit – Atlantic shows an unexploded artillery shell (lower right) on the S.S. Rose Castle shipwreck. The Royal Canadian Navy […]

Eyewitness account of Rose Castle sinking by survivor Gordon Hardy

Eyewitness account of Gordon Walter Hardy from Ingonish, Nova Scotia, who survived the sinking of SS Rose Castle on November 2, 1942: “I joined the [Canadian] Merchant Navy […]

Rose Castle survivor Gordon Hardy in 1942

Gordon Walter Hardy of Ingonish, Nova Scotia was a 17-year-old steward on SS Rose Castle in 1942. He survived the sinking on November 2, 1942 and later enlisted […]

U-513 Commander Rolf Rüggeberg

Photo from U-boat commander Rolf Rüggeberg’s personal photograph collection. It is an informal portrait of U-513 commander Rüggeberg wearing his working uniform aboard the submarine.

U-518 commander Friedrich-Wilhelm Wissmann

Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich-Wilhelm Wissmannon on the bridge of his U-boat U-518 at sea