Smith, Philip Herman Dean

He was living in Prince Albert SK at the time of his enlistment into the navy.

He was enlisted as an an Ordinary Seaman RCNVR 1942.

He was appointed as an Able-Seaman RCNVR.

He served in HMCS Thunder. (He was demobilized.)

Winston Smith relates "Thunder was the first minesweeper of any Allied country to capture a German warship and crew intact. The capture of the armed trawler occurred a few days before VE Day when the Canadian 31st Minesweeping Flotilla was engaged in sweeping an approach channel to the German-held Ile d'Oleron in the Bay of Biscay. The Canadian Minesweepers were operating with the French Navy preparing the way for bombardment and landings. Canadian Warships operating with Thunder were Bangor minesweepers H.M.C. Kenora, Minas, Canso, Caraquet, and Bayfield. Part of a ten man boarding crew, Dean Smith served in the Prize Crew and was involved in removing the 14 prisoners, taking over the trawler and piloting it 400 miles to a British port."