Stoker John Michael Wheelton

John (Jack) Michael Wheelton was born September 4, 1921, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton. He attended St. Brigid School and Cathedral High School in Hamilton. In 1937, Jack moved to Brantford where he attended Brantford Collegiate Institute. He started work on March 4, 1940, at Massey-Harris as an apprentice Tool & Die Maker.

On August 10, 1942, he volunteered with Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve at HMCS Provost in London. He trained in Esquimalt, BC on the HMCS Naden until July 29, 1943.

On February 23, 1942, the RMS Queen Elizabeth secretly docked at the Esquimalt Graving Dock on February 23, 1942. The RMS Queen Elizabeth served as a massive, high-speed troopship during WWII. Capable of outrunning enemy U-boats, she safely transported over 750,000 Allied troops without a naval escort, carrying up to 15,000 personnel at once. She was later fitted out in Sydney with massive kitchens and hospital facilities to serve as the world's largest troopship. Operating without an escort due to her incredible 32-knot top speed, she ferried Allied servicemen across the Atlantic, the Pacific, and to the Middle East. Her presence at the Esquimalt Graving Dock became one of Vancouver Island's worst-kept but most strictly enforced wartime secrets. Because Japan had entered the war and Singapore had just fallen, the Admiralty diverted the massive liner to the Pacific Northwest for urgent hull cleaning, maintenance, and refit work.

Standing 20 stories tall above the waterline, the ship was taller than any building in downtown Victoria and was clearly visible across the strait from Port Angeles, Washington. Despite her immense size and over 1,000 local civilians working around the clock in two shifts, the entire population adhered to the strict "loose lips sink ships" rule. Not a single word was printed in local newspapers or spoken on the radio. Over 13 days in drydock, crews scraped her hull, reinforced underwater valves, added armaments, and installed an additional 3,000 troop berths. Jack Wheelton had training on this ship.

His next ship was HMCS Givenchy and on August 12, 1943, until December 8, 1943, he was aboard HMCS Stadacona in Halifax. From December 9, 1943, to April 21, 1944, he served on HMCS Port Arthur and in April 1944 she was assigned to Western Approaches Command for invasion duties and left St. John’s on Apr. 24, 1944, for Londonderry. During the following four months she was occupied as a convoy escort in support of the invasion. In Sept she joined Portsmouth Command. Jack was assigned to HMCS Peregrine in Halifax from November 26, 1944 to January 19, 1945. His last ship was HMCS Star, berthed in Hamilton, from August 28 to October 17, 1945, when he was discharged with the rank of Stoker First Class and Engine Room Artificer, Fourth Class.

On June 8, 1946, Jack married Marie Dorothy Moriarity. They moved to Paris and raised four children at 5 McCosh Street. Jack returned to Masseys and completed his training as a tool and die maker. He retired from Verity Works in February 1980 at the age of 59, having become a Maintenance Foreman. He was a lifetime member of the Legion Paris Branch 29, the Navy Club and the Knights of Columbus.

Stoker Jack Wheelton died on December 15, 2006, and is buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery with his wife.