Somer James never wanted to go to war.
“I didn’t want to get involved with killing people, shooting them with guns from far away, and getting involved with anything like that,” he explained. But this didn’t mean that James was unwilling to defend his country when war broke out.
This is why, in 1940, this 21-year-old joined Canada’s merchant navy as an ordinary seaman. Over the next five years, James served on 12 different ships, and won the British Empire Medal (civilian) and the Lloyd’s Medal for Bravery; both for his courageous actions on November 5, 1943.
The place was the Italian port of Torre Aningiatria. Following the successful Allied landing, our troops were being supplied by explosives-laden ships such as the Empire Lightning on which James was serving. Naturally, these ships were targeted by German bombers.
On that day when the bombers began their attack, the Empire Lightning was docked waiting to offload its dangerous cargo. Nearby on the quay were drums of high-octane fuel: Hit by a bomb, they burst into flames. Then the drums started exploding, searing the Empire Lightning’s hull with burning rain and setting two landing barges on fire.
The only way to prevent a catastrophe was to move the explosives - packed Empire Lightning further down the dock. But that could only happen if the mooring lines were set free; requiring someone to get into the danger zone to loose the heavy lines. Ordinary Seaman James volunteered to take the risk. Despite the flames, he fought with the ropes until the Empire Lightning was set free. But that’s not all: James then helped move a number of barges that were on fire. When the heat was literally on, he stayed cool.
The lives and materials Ordinary Seaman James saved are beyond calculation. To put the risk in context: When the explosives-laden Mont-Blanc blew up in Halifax harbour on December 6, 1917, the resulting shock wave and fireball killed more than 1900, injured 9,000 and leveled the city. Had the Empire Lightning’s munitions exploded, the loss to Allied troops of supplies and ships would have disastrous.
At war’s end, Somer James returned to Toronto with his new wife Jean, whom he had met in England. Soon after, they moved to Winnipeg, where James became a partner in a theatre poster business before establishing the Regency Coin & Stamp Company in 1958. From then until his death in 2005, James earned an international reputation as an expert, trustworthy coin and stamp dealer. As for his bravery that fateful day in Italy? Apparently Ordinary Seaman James didn’t speak of it much, nor of the medals he won. But they can be seen on display at the Canadian War Museum; silent testaments to the memory of this patriotic pacifist.
Great story. Thanks for sharing it.