Harry DeWolf conflict World War II
Second World War
HMCS St. Laurent
DeWolf returned to Canada in 1939 and was appointed commanding officer of the destroyer HMCS St. Laurent. St. Laurent was posted to convoy duty out of Halifax. St. Laurent under DeWolf reportedly fired the RCN's first shots of the war as they helped rescue British and French troops escaping from continental Europe during Operation Dynamo after the Fall of France in late May and early June 1940. St. Laurent returned to convoy duty in the North Atlantic, and the following month, in July 1940, DeWolf's ship rescued 859 German and Italian prisoners of war, survivors of Arandora, which had been torpedoed by a U-boat, U-47. DeWolf was promoted to commander in 1940. He and his ship were mentioned in despatches twice during his service on St. Laurent.
Years later, he recalled the following incident, which took place while in command of St. Laurent:HMCS Haida
DeWolf took command of HMCS Haida in August 1943. Under DeWolf, Haida earned a reputation as "the Fightingest Ship in the Canadian Navy", and was responsible for sinking 14 enemy ships in just over a year, earning numerous accolades. Haida and DeWolf saw service with convoys to Murmansk as well as operations to secure the English Channel in preparation for Operation Overlord. Most of his more famous battles took place at night in the English Channel, when DeWolf secured his reputation as a fearless and skilful tactician and became known to his crew as "Hard-Over-Harry" for bold manoeuvres off the coast of France. DeWolf earned the Distinguished Service Order for rescuing survivors of HMCS Athabaskan within range of enemy coastal guns on the French coast.DeWolf left Haida and was recalled to Ottawa, where he was promoted to captain in September 1944, becoming Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.
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