by Tara Jeffrey for The London Free Press
(2010) War hero Joe Egan may be gone, but his legacy is alive and well.
Family members of the late Second World War veteran hope a new DVD documenting his experiences with the Royal Canadian Navy — and an unlikely reunion in Germany a half century later — will be an educational tool for local students.
“Dad was working on that video for years,” recalled daughter Mary-Jane Egan, who will show the video and speak to students at St. Patrick’s high school on Remembrance Day.
“He wanted this to serve as a vehicle where his stories could still be told . . . he always said the day will come when there won’t be any World War Two vets left to speak.”
Joe Egan, a noted Sarnia activist and businessperson, was 87 when he died last year. Though he’d spent his final months in hospital, he had been working tirelessly to finish the video, “The Sinking of U575 — and the Incredible Reunion 48 years later.”
“This became a really important project for my dad. Towards the end, he knew he was getting older, and the average age of a World War Two vet today is 87,” his daughter said.
He volunteered for duty with the Royal Canadian Navy shortly after the war’s outbreak. He was serving aboard the frigate HMCS Prince Rupert on March 13, 1944, when, after a fierce six-hour battle, it destroyed the U-575, one of Germany’s most successful submarines. Eighteen German soldiers were killed, but 36 others were taken prisoner. Egan, who helped some of his adversaries onto the deck of the Prince Rupert, spent the next 10 days guarding them with a sten gun.
“The Germans were fully expecting to be interrogated and then shot,” said Mary-Jane Egan, a London Free Press reporter. “So the treatment they got, which included the odd chocolate bar and smoke, had to have been a real pleasant surprise.”
During that time, Joe Egan exchanged addresses with a few of the soldiers.
“For years, my dad carried around a little worn black notebook in his wallet that the prisoners had written messages on,” Egan said. Nothing came of it until 1990, when a letter arrived from Wolfgang Boehmer, captain of the German sub, expressing thanks that he and his men had not been left to die in the grim North Atlantic. Boehmer also invited Egan to attend a U-575 crew reunion.
What followed was a remarkable story of forgiveness and reconciliation. Joe Egan and his wife, June, flew to Germany for the event, even staying at Boehmer’s home.
“Dad’s story is quite unique,” his daughter said. “For him to have actually been contacted by the U-boat captain – connecting with these former enemies, and actually going to Germany – that’s not a very common thing.”
While in Germany, Egan attended the crew’s annual reunion. He studied German and gave a speech to his former enemies, telling them, “Germany and Canada must never go to war again.” He also had the notes from his wallet translated, to show the men what they’d written so many years before.