Gun Shield Art in the Crow’s Nest Officers’ Club
- 13 hours ago
- 9 min read
by Gary Green and Margaret Morris
St. John’s, Newfoundland, was the home port for Royal Canadian Navy-led multinational escort groups, which shepherded merchant convoys through the most dangerous portion of the transatlantic voyage during WWII.(1) Recognizing the need to support the sailors doing this dangerous and stressful work, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) provided social and recreational services and facilities. Among them was the establishment of a club for the exclusive use of seagoing merchant and naval officers.
Opening night for the RCN’s Seagoing Officers’ Club (later known as The Crow’s Nest) on January 27, 1942, set in motion a chain of events which would see the creation of a new decorative art form for the RCN, some of its Allies, and the Club.
At some point in the proceedings, an officer scratched the name of his ship, HMCS Georgian, into the deckhead. The Club’s founder and president, Captain (D) Rollo Mainguy, halted the activities and pronounced that such decoration was not permitted in the Club. However, he realized that the sailors would likely continue to leave their mark in some form anyway and, to bring some order to the practice, announced that he would allocate to each ship a two foot by two foot space on the walls for a suitable memento.
The officers in HMCS Wetaskiwin knew exactly what they would contribute: a cartoon-like painting of a queen, the personification of the ship’s nickname. They wasted no time removing the painting from the ship’s officers’ mess (wardroom) and presenting it to the Club. Other ships followed suit. Imaginations went wild as sailors created paintings incorporating some event, symbol, or attribute of the ship or its namesake community, river, or First Nation.
Left to right: The Crow’s Nest northeast corner showing the entrance, guest book, and gun shields. // Interior west wall of the Crow’s Nest showing a portion of the bar, U-190’s periscope, and some gun shields. Photos: Donald Soulsby
Shortly after, Wetaskiwin’s officers missed their queen and the commanding officer, LCdr Guy Stanley Windeyer, had crew member and artist Burnie Forbes reproduce the painting on the ship’s forward gun shield where it could be viewed by all. Forbes, who was not an officer and so had never seen the painting, used the officers’ verbal descriptions and his own creativity to depict the gun shield version as a Queen of Hearts playing card.
The idea caught on, and soon other ships decorated their forward gun shields with versions of their painting in the Crow’s Nest. In some cases, ships without artwork in the Crow’s Nest reversed the order and created the ship’s artwork first, then painted a smaller version for the Club. As more ships joined in the practice, the Club’s walls became crowded and under constant reorganization to make room for new additions. Perhaps without realizing it, the sailors—mostly raw recruits without much, if any, knowledge of sea lore—recreated their own version of a faded tradition.
For thousands of years sailors around the world used various mediums to decorate their vessel’s exterior. The reasons for doing so varied: enhancing eye appeal, displaying wealth, seeking protection from evil spirits, identifying the ship, and so on. In the case of warships, the ornamentation could be boastful, touting the greatness of their countries, rulers, or a ship’s deeds and strength. Carvings or paintings of vicious animals, powerful gods, and previous victories could also be intimidating.
Despite their significance, factors including the high cost of creating, maintaining, and replacing major decorative elements such as figureheads and stern carvings, and their sometimes adverse effects on ship handling, contributed to their reduction after the 17th century, especially on warships. Though some ornamentation on merchant ships continued into the 19th century, it died out almost completely with the arrival of steam ships. By that time, badges replaced elaborate bow and stern decorations. However, during WWII, the RCN did not have even those.
The rapid wartime growth of the RCN from approximately 13 to 450 ships saw the elimination of frills such as official ships badges. The creation of gun shield art, much of which served the longstanding purposes of warship ornamentation, filled the void. The stories behind the images are as varied and interesting as the images themselves as the following examples illustrate.
Left to right: Unsigned, HMCS Wetaskiwin, c. 1941, oil on plywood 61h, 57w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection // Pete Younger, HMCS Moose Jaw, c. 1942, oil on plywood 61h, 61w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection // Unsigned, HMS Dianthus, c. 1942, oil on plywood 61h, 61w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection. Photos: Donald Soulsby
HMCS Wetaskiwin
WWII sailors affectionately gave ships nicknames, with some based on the ship’s official name. Thus, HMCS Wetaskiwin became the “Wet Ass Queen.” Wetaskiwin’s gun shield depicts a queen sitting in a puddle of water shaped like a portion of the island of Newfoundland. The date refers to the establishment of the RCN-led Newfoundland Escort Force in May 1941.
HMCS Moose Jaw
In September 1941, the newly commissioned HMCS Moose Jaw and its largely inexperienced ship’s company left St. John’s under the guidance of HMCS Chambly for training exercises. While at sea, the ships received orders to forgo the exercises and help defend convoy SC-42, which was under attack by several U-boats. As the ships arrived, they detected and attacked U-501. During battle, U-501 found itself so close to Moose Jaw that its CO jumped from the U-boat to the corvette’s deck without getting his feet wet. The battle between the two adversaries continued until Moose Jaw rammed U-501 causing the vessel to sink. It was Canada’s first U-boat victory.
Moose Jaw’s gun shield depicts this historic event. Moose Jaw, represented by a moose head, holds Hitler in its jaw by the seat of his pants. The small U-boat in the moose’s antlers indicates that the corvette got its adversary by charging it like a moose.
HMS Dianthus
Dianthus’ gun shield is a mixture of official and unofficial elements. Prime Minister Winston Churchill named Royal Navy (RN) corvettes after flowers in hopes that seeing the German fleet destroyed by “flowers” would further infuriate Hitler. Dianthus’ first ship’s company had no idea what a dianthus was. Consulting a seed catalogue, they learned that it was a small but hardy member of the carnation family. The words fit the small vessel and “small but hardy” became the ship’s motto.
Unlike the RCN, the RN continued to design official ships’ badges during the war. Dianthus’ badge was a representation of its namesake flower. While escorting a convoy in August 1941, Dianthus spotted U-379 on the surface. After a prolonged depth charge and gun battle, Dianthus rammed U-379 repeatedly until it sank. Dianthus’ gun shield shows its badge and motto as well as the ship as a victorious ram with a U-boat impaled on its horn.
Clockwise from top left: Unsigned, FNFL Mimosa, 1942, oil on plywood, 61h, 61w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection // Unsigned, HMCS Dauphin, c. 1942, oil on plywood, 55h, 55w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection // Unsigned, HMCS Skeena, c. 1942, oil on plywood 62h, 61w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection // R. Sutherland, SS Bury, 1942, oil on wood, 23h, 32w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection. Photos: Donald Soulsby
FNFL Mimosa
With the fall of France in 1940, Charles De Gaulle fled to England where he established the Free French Forces and chose the Cross of Lorraine as its symbol. Sailors in the Forces Navales Françaises Libres (FNFL) wore a red cross on a blue kite-shaped metal badge on their chest. Mimosa’s gun shield is a version of the FNFL chest badge.
HMCS Dauphin
Prior to becoming Dauphin’s first CO, T/Lt R.A.S. MacNeil was an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Marine Division and Skipper of the RCMPV Laurier. MacNeil’s nautical skills and pleasant outgoing personality made him well respected by fellow officers and ratings alike. He was awarded the Royal Norwegian War Medal for Gallantry for rescuing Norwegian merchant seamen under dangerous conditions. The ship’s company, sometimes referred to as Clan MacNeil, was proud of their CO. Dauphin’s gun shield depicts an RCMP officer in full dress uniform with gun drawn leading the charge against the enemy while astride a U-boat.
SS Bury
As WWII dragged on, the dangerous and demanding job of rescuing and caring for survivors eventually fell to specially modified and purpose-built small, maneuverable ships that saved thousands of lives. Bury was one of those ships.
The Saint and Popeye, two popular unrelated fictional characters of the time, appear together on Bury’s gun shield to carry on a longtime warship decorative theme of mocking the enemy. The Saint on board Bury rescues Popeye, a merchant seaman, from a Hitler-faced U-boat. Popeye gives the U-boat a rather rude mocking hand gesture.
HMCS Skeena
The Skeena, British Columbia’s second longest river, is important for salmon fishing and transportation. While escorting convoy ON 115 in July 1942, Skeena and Wetaskiwin sank U-588 after a lengthy depth charge attack.
Skeena’s gun shield depicts both a traditional style badge based on the namesake river’s natural resources and a cartoon of the battle. The artist portrayed the ship as a seductive salmon holding a depth charge luring a U-boat to its destruction.
Left to right: Unsigned, Ye Old Crow’s Nest, c. 1942, paint on glass, 46h, 46w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection // Unsigned, HMCS Capilano, 1945, oil on plywood 77h, 77w, 1d cm. Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Collection
Crow’s Nest
Early in the Seagoing Officers’ Club’s history, Lt A.H. “Pete” Stevens, a young officer from the Canadian Army’s Newfoundland HQ, paid a visit. On a cold and snowy winter’s day he climbed the rickety 59 steps up the outside of the building, shook the snow from his greatcoat, and entered the Club’s warm cozy room. He declared the place a snug little crow’s nest. Those present gave their approval and the name stuck.
At some point, the Club got its own place on the wall. Its gun shield, the only one painted on glass, has a nesting crow with an RCN naval officer’s cap badge in the background.
HMCS Capilano
The River class frigate HMCS Capilano was named for the Capilano River that runs through North Vancouver. The area is home to the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) who presented the ship with a totem pole. Capilano mounted the pole on its bridge, making it highly visible. The ship’s gun shield depicts the totem pole and pays homage to the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw.
The wartime practice of placing gun shield art in the Crow’s Nest ended with the addition of Capilano’s gun shield to the wall on May 7, 1945, the day the Germans surrendered. When the Battle of the Atlantic ended, Canada quickly closed its overseas Atlantic bases, including St. John’s, to focus on the conflict in the Pacific. The navy made plans to replicate the Crow’s Nest in some prominent mess in Canada. Subsequently, it moved the gun shields and other artifacts to MacGregor House in Montreal.
The Crow’s Nest remained shuttered until July 1946, when it reopened as a club for Newfoundland WWI and WWII veteran officers from all branches who then filled the Club’s walls with their mementos. When MacGregor House closed in the mid 1960s, the gun shields returned to the Club and became the central feature of its collection. RCN photographs taken at war’s end allowed the Club to place many of the gun shields exactly where they were in 1945, so that visitors can experience the look and feel of the wartime Club. Many are visibly moved.
Modern-day RCN ships have revived the tradition of gun shield art and the walls on the Club’s lower floor are once again filling up. Just as in WWII, sailors from visiting ships scan those walls looking for old favourites and recent additions as they recall times and shipmates. Long may they continue to do so.
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Gary Green, a past president of both the Crow’s Nest Officers’ Club and the Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association, writes about and gives presentations on the Club’s history.
Margaret Morris is a former fisheries observer, a retired naval officer, and a long-time member of the Club. She enjoys sharing the history of the Crow's Nest at every opportunity.
This article appears in the Fall/Winter 2025 issue of Ornamentum magazine. To purchase the issue or subscribe, head to our store.
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Endnotes
Newfoundland and Labrador did not become a Canadian province until 1949. During WWII, this region was a separate dominion called Newfoundland and the Canadian military and naval bases situated there were considered to be overseas.
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