Page 13 - William B. Lake

Bill’s Arrival at Halifax & Rail Travel in Canada & Across USA

The troopship on which Bill and a contingent of other RAAF volunteers embarked for Canada
th
departed from the Port of Melbourne on 7 September 1942. The troopship’s route most probably
was via New Zealand (to pick up NZ aircrew recruits) and from there possibly via Honolulu (for fuel
and food); then to the Panama Canal from where they headed for the disembarkation port at
Halifax, in the Canadian eastern province of Nova Scotia. What we can be certain of is the ship’s
arrival in Canada on 2nd October 1942 i.e., 25 days ocean travel via troopship.

Disembark Halifax (Pier 21) & Rail to 5M Depot, Lachine Montreal, Quebec

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The disembarkation point on 2 October 1942 is shown only in the war record as “Canada” which
is ambiguous, but it makes sense that they disembarked at the large protected port at Halifax (at
the so-called “Pier 21” which was built for large troop and aircrew transfers). From there they
would have taken a railcar to the “3M” Depot at Lachine (at Montreal) which is located on the
Saint-Laurent River close to Dorval Airport (refer to the map below). The so-called “M” depots
were “Manning Depots” i.e., essentially short-term manning centres where aircrew could stay and
be kitted out if required. For the Australians who had already undergone initial service training in
Australia it was to be a brief stay, allowing a short respite after their arduous sea journey. It also
allowed time for them to adapt to Canada and its climate.

Lachine Depot Location (Montreal) and Pier 21 at Halifax (used in WW2)

Rail Travel to Edmonton 3M Depot via San Francisco and Vancouver
The Postings section of Bill’s war record provides an outline of the timeline for him during his time
in Canada (although the handwritten entries in some of the documents contain inconsistencies so
you need to carefully compare the documents in the war record to establish the correct timeline).

What the documents show is that Dad’ next phase of travel was from No 5 Manning (i.e., transit)
Depot at Lachine, Montreal to the west coast of Canada, via rail, ultimately arriving at the No3
Manning Depot at Edmonton. But as I reveal below this was not a direct route across Canada