1 of 4
Parks Canada.
Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park, PQ
Interpretation activity in Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park.
2 of 4
John R. Robertson Collection, Naval Museum of Québec
Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park, PQ
John R. Robertson in front of the tracker searchlight at Fort Peninsula during the Second World War.
3 of 4
Musée de la Gaspésie
Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park, PQ
A German submarine (U-Boat)
4 of 4
Parks Canada.
Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park, PQ
Interpretation activity in Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park.
By Émilie Devoe
A fascinating, yet little-known episode of World War II
In 1942, World War II was raging, and German submarines (U-boats) had penetrated the St. Lawrence Gulf and estuary, in Quebec. In what is now referred to as the Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, they ultimately sank 23 allied ships in this zone.
For the first time since the War of 1812, enemy warships inflicted death in Canada’s inland waters. The battle had now advanced to within 300 kilometres of Québec City! What had, until then, seemed a far-off reality suddenly became an immediate, threatening and pervasive presence in the lives of Quebecers.
One after another, European powers had fallen before the Nazi juggernaut. There was a real fear that Britain would be invaded. War leaders examined Canada’s east coast in search of a refuge for the mighty Royal Navy in the event that it had to withdraw from its bases in the United Kingdom.
Boasting an extensive sheltered harbour, one of the finest in North America, the city of Gaspé was considered a prime possibility. Indeed, the Gaspé Bay was blessed by both an advantageous coastal relief and the sand spits at Penouille and Sandy Beach, thus making it easy to defend the big ships that dropped anchor in this basin. In only a few weeks’ time, Gaspé was slated to become one of the east coast’s three leading naval ports, alongside those already established at Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The new Gaspé naval base, HMCS Fort Ramsay, was officially opened on May 1, 1942. It featured a huge anti-submarine net, stretched between Sandy Beach and Penouille (in order to block the bay entrance to U-Boats), and three coastal batteries: Fort Prével, Fort Haldimand and Fort Peninsula.
A little over a week later, Karl Thurmann, commander of the U-553, sailed his U-boat into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He had been assigned to Operation Drumbeat, Germany’s strategic submarine offensive against North America’s eastern seaboard. On the night of May 11, Thurmann sighted the Nicoya, a British freighter carrying war supplies, sailing outbound from Montreal. He torpedoed it 15 kilometres north of the village of Pointe-à-la-Frégate, located on the shore of the Gaspé Peninsula. Before dawn, he also sank the Leto, a Dutch freighter chartered to the British Ministry of War Transport, off Rivière-de-la-Madeleine. Six merchant seamen died in the first attack and a dozen in the second.
These incidents led to a major reinforcement of the Gaspé site. The Navy, the Army and the Air Force dispatched over 2,000 men to the base. The flotilla thus assembled included 19 warships: 5 minesweepers, 6 Fairmile patrol boats, 7 corvettes and 1 armed yacht. The Air Force also dispatched a few amphibious planes.
This military complex played a vital role in the Battle of the St. Lawrence. First, it was responsible for protecting allied ships sailing in the St. Lawrence Gulf and estuary. Second, it was charged with protecting Gaspé Bay, which had been selected to accommodate a portion of the British fleet in the event of a German invasion of Great Britain.
Today, the main vestige of this military complex is Fort Peninsula, an exceptional heritage site protected by Parks Canada in Forillon National Park.
The buildings at Fort Peninsula as well as the anti-submarine net were demolished in October 1944. Only the casemate (or pillbox) was preserved. It is the only World War II shore battery that has been completely preserved and that is open to the public in Quebec.
Fort Peninsula is a truly impressive site, especially as you look over the big guns and walk along the underground tunnels and through the storage rooms. Sounds reverberate down the damp dark corridors. It is quite a moving experience!
Over the years, the site has become an amazingly lively place of memory. It is a place where, quite spontaneously, people get together, share memories, tell their stories, and indeed narrate our history. People come here to chat, play music, or enjoy a picnic. It’s also a place people like to come back to – to remember, and to get a better understanding of events.
And perhaps it’s also a place for passing on to our children such cherished values as respect, freedom and peace.
For further details about Fort Peninsula and Forillon National Park, visit the following website: www.pc.gc.ca/forillon