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Albert Edward Sayer in World War II

During World War II, Albert Edward Sayer served in the Canadian Navy. He was Chief Engineroom Artificer on H.M.C.S. Shelburne & Naden II, and on H.M.C.S. Guysborough (a Bangor-class minesweeper). The crew of the Guysborough ("Guy") rescued a U.S. Navy subchaser in the North Atlantic in 1944. A.E. Sayer was on board Guysborough for the D-Day landing. He was on shore studying for his Warrant Officer exams when the Guysborough was sunk on March 17, 1945 by two torpedoes from a German U-boat while enroute between Horta and Plymouth, England. There were 51 deaths out of a ship's company of 90.

I received a note from Bryan Gregor-Pearse regarding the sinking of the Guysborough, as follows: "I came across your bio of your Grandpa, Albert Edward Sayer, Warrant Officer, WW ll. It brought me back 64 Years... I was an RCNVR, DEMS Gnr. on board the SS Noranda Park. For a period in March of 1945 we were in and out of the Azores; a number of times under going some repair to our steering or missing a rendezvous due to bad weather with an east bound convoy. While there we met with some of the Guysborough crew on the jetty as we were all waiting for the "Bum Boat" (water taxi) to take us back to the ship. I recall sometime later on our way to Canada, we got word from our Senior Radio Operator, Henry Gardner, that the Guysborough had been sunk, March 17. The terrible news was hard to believe."

I think that most of the photos on this page were taken in 1943 or 1944, but if anyone can identify them more precisely, I'd appreciate the information. (Also, if someone would like to write a better naval bio of Grandpa than the one I wrote above, please let me know!)

People

Places

D-Day

H.M.C.S. Guysborough

Other ships