THE ELGIN MILITARY MUSEUM
  • The Elgin Military Museum
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Research Veterans Collection
  • The Services
    • ARMY >
      • D-Day
      • The Elgins
      • The Perfect Man
      • The Kangaroos
      • Afghanistan
      • Links to Army Stories
    • Navy >
      • HMCS St. Thomas
      • Radar Man
      • Links to Navy Stories
    • Air Force >
      • Flying 001
      • Commonwealth Air Training Plan
      • First Radar Dome
      • Links to Air Force Stories
    • Women in the Services >
      • Donna Price
    • Services for the Services
  • Stuff
    • The Boss
    • The Chair
    • Pride Pets & Pests
    • National Winner
  • EXHIBITS & EVENTS
    • Cold War at Home
    • Vimy Centennial at EMM
    • THE VIMY POPPY
    • Fragments
    • Hall of Honour
    • Remember
    • Model Ships
    • Jumbo
  • Plan Visit
    • Tours EMM
    • Tours HMCS Ojibwa
  • Education
  • Blog

lives lived

take a moment to walk in their shoes

The Question is Always Why

1/15/2019

3 Comments

 

The Answer is Often:
It was Meant to Be

We will never know why a very young Canadian seaman, ‘Bud’ Bridgman, volunteered to remain on lookout aboard HMCS Comox after the search for survivors of the Liberty Ship Martin Van Buren had ceased. Nevertheless, despite the bone chilling fog, Bud continued to scan what parts of the ocean he could see. Sixty six men are very grateful that he did.
Picture
Picture
Left: Seaman Arthur 'Bud' Bridgman
with 'Cookie' aboard HMCS Comox


Fog did not Spare Convoy BX-141 (Boston-Halifax)

The convoy departed Boston, Massachusetts formed up in eight columns; later, closer to Halifax, the formation altered to a single line in preparation to enter Halifax harbour. 

On January 14, 1945 German U-1232  sank or damaged beyond repair 3 ships in fifteen minutes – some reports indicate it may have been as little as thirteen minutes. The U-boat commander reported sinking four boats but he missed HMCS Ettrick and probably was unable to see that the Ettrick evaded the torpedo. Minutes later the Ettrick rammed the U-boat ‘causing extensive damage to the conning tower, periscopes and radio mast’ although U-1232 was able to evade subsequent depth charges and make for home. (Hitler’s U-Boat War by C. Blair).

U-1232

Picture

HMCS Ettrick

HMCS Ettrick - evaded the torpedo U-1232 meant for her and turned to ram the U-Boat causing extensive damage.
Picture

British Freedom

The first to be hit was the tanker British Freedom.  The Master was lost and 46 crew members and 9 gunners were picked up by the minesweeper HMCS Gaspe.
Picture

Martin Van Buren

Minutes later, the next torpedo found  the Liberty Ship Martin Van Buren. Three navy gunmen were lost, sixty three of the crew were rescued by HMCS Comox and three by HMCS Fundy).
Picture

Athelviking

The last ship hit was another tanker, the Athelviking. The Master and three members of the crew were lost and there were forty seven survivors.
Picture

To the Rescue

The fickle finger of fate may have taken three ships only seven nautical miles off their destination (Halifax); however, this did mean that help was close at hand despite the fog faced by Bud Bridgman aboard the Comox.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

More About Bud Bridgman

Arthur L. ‘Bud’ Bridgman grew up in St. Thomas, Ontario and enlisted in the R.C.N.V.R. as soon as his age allowed.  He saw active service in the Atlantic on board the minesweeper, HMCS Comox. His military service also included 18 years in the militia from 1947-1965. He was a Warrant Officer and received the Canadian Forces Decoration for Long Service.
Picture
Following the war, Mr. Bridgman began a long newspaper career, first as an advertising salesman and later the advertising manager for the St. Thomas Times-Journal. He left the Times- Journal in November of 1956 to join the advertising staff of the London Free Press and stayed until his retirement in May of 1991.  Bud was an active member of the Board of the Elgin Military Museum and also served as Chairman. He passed away in 2012. His son, the late Michael Bridgman, played a significant role in getting the museum to consider acquiring HMCS Ojibwa.
3 Comments
boat power pole link
2/24/2020 05:03:16 am

The set-up looked like a poorly created bucktail jig to me, and I doubted it would be as efficient as the Spro bucktails that are my favorite for bucktailing fluke.

Reply
Twin Lawson link
10/8/2021 08:44:19 am

Excellent article! Your post is essential today. Thanks for sharing, by the way.If you are looking for coupon codes and deals just visit coupon plus deals dot com

Reply
Travis Bridgman
11/29/2022 02:01:07 pm

I always come back to this article to read about this story. My grandfather was far braver than I. Thank you to all servicemen for their willingness to sacrifice their lives for us all. You will never be forgotten.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    The Elgin Military Museum has a vast collection of letters, articles, poems and pictures of veterans and others who served their community over a period of two hundred years.. This blog is our way of sharing them with you.

    Archives

    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    June 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016

    Categories

    All
    Air Force
    Army
    Bridge Too Far
    Caterpillar Club
    Ceremonies
    Christmas
    Churchill
    Citations
    Confidential Book Box
    D Day
    Devil's Brigade
    Dieppe
    Elgin Military Museum
    Elgin Regiment
    Goldfish Club
    Italian Campaign
    Late Arrivals Club
    Letters
    Merchant Marine
    Military Camps
    Military Cross
    Military Medical Care
    Momentous Events
    Nursing
    Obituaries
    PPCLI
    Radar
    Red Cross
    Roosevelt
    Royal Canadian Navy
    Royal Navy
    Tanks
    Trench Warfare
    U Boats
    WW I
    WW II

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • The Elgin Military Museum
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Research Veterans Collection
  • The Services
    • ARMY >
      • D-Day
      • The Elgins
      • The Perfect Man
      • The Kangaroos
      • Afghanistan
      • Links to Army Stories
    • Navy >
      • HMCS St. Thomas
      • Radar Man
      • Links to Navy Stories
    • Air Force >
      • Flying 001
      • Commonwealth Air Training Plan
      • First Radar Dome
      • Links to Air Force Stories
    • Women in the Services >
      • Donna Price
    • Services for the Services
  • Stuff
    • The Boss
    • The Chair
    • Pride Pets & Pests
    • National Winner
  • EXHIBITS & EVENTS
    • Cold War at Home
    • Vimy Centennial at EMM
    • THE VIMY POPPY
    • Fragments
    • Hall of Honour
    • Remember
    • Model Ships
    • Jumbo
  • Plan Visit
    • Tours EMM
    • Tours HMCS Ojibwa
  • Education
  • Blog