USS BLOCK ISLAND REUNION - MAY 29 – JUNE 3, 2007

The aircraft carrier USS Block Island CVE-106 was part of a task force including another carrier - the USS Santee CVE-29, and several American and British Royal Navy ships, that rescued the Allied prisoners of war from Taiwan in September 1945. The former crewmembers hold a reunion every year and last fall I received an invitation from the organizers to attend this year’s event in Providence Rhode Island. The theme was going to be on the POW evacuation, so I was invited to attend to meet the men who had taken part and also to share more of the POWs’ story with them. In the months that followed we also found one of the former POWs, Cecil Clarke of the Royal Engineers living in the UK and he joined us for the reunion as well.

The USS Block Island CVE-106 off
Formosa in 1945

It was such a great honour to meet the former crewmembers of the USS Block Island and one from the USS Santee who came this year. There were thirteen in all who actually took part in the evacuation of the POWs. It was wonderful to listen to their stories and I want to thank all those who took the time to talk with me and shared some of their experiences of that memorable rescue mission which meant so much to all of the POWs at that time.

Interviewing Bill Connolly (BI) &
Andy Soucy (USS Barr DE-576)

One of the events that I enjoyed most during the reunion was a visit to Battleship Cove at Fall River, Mass. on Memorial Day – May 30th. It was great to see the mighty battleship USS Massachusetts and the destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy and the PT boat exhibit, and to have a tour of the battleship, lunch in the mess, and then to go on deck and witness the 21-gun salute in honour of all the veterans.

The battleship USS Massachusetts &
submarine SS Lionfish at Battleship Cove
Naval Museum, Fall River, Mass

Following that I had another very moving experience when I visited the submarine SS Lionfish that was anchored nearby. It was a sister-ship of this sub - the SS Sealion, which had sunk the hellship that my two Australian second cousins were on, resulting in them being lost at sea on September 12, 1944.

I had brought a “Poppy Cross” with me in memory of my cousins and I wanted to have a photo taken with it and have a moment’s silence on board the sub on their behalf. It was a very solemn moment as I contemplated my cousins’ last hours after the sinking of the ship. Both survived the sinking but were lost at sea in the days that followed. 159 men were eventually rescued by the Sealion and several other US submarines.

Remembering the hellship victims on the submarine SS Lionfish

Other events during the 5-day reunion included a visit to Block Island RI - the namesake of the ships, the memorial service, a city tram-tour of Boston, a visit to the Quonset Point Air Museum and the Block Island annual meeting.

With former Taiwan POW Cecil Clarke, reading Maurice Rooney’s Poem “Liberation” at the Memorial Service.

POW Cecil Clarke (c) is reunited with his former rescuers

Chuck Bartley - USS Santee, at Quonset Point Air Museum in front of ¾ scale F6F Hellcat like he flew over Taihoku in 1945

Ben Hruska, Ken Bruce and all of the local people on Block Island who worked so hard to put on such a great reunion, deserve a huge thank you for a job well done. The organized tours and visits and the warm hospitality we received will be memories that we will all take with us for a long time to come. I wish all the former crewmembers and their families all the best and I thank you all again for inviting me to be a part of your wonderful reunion.

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