Personal Profile Collections

Gerald (Reg) Garfield Ferguson - Section 9

This section contains a photocopied three page handwritten letter, with envelope, from Reg Ferguson, addressed to his mother and father, and dated December 16, 1943. At the time, Reg was serving with the Cape Breton Highlanders in Italy.

In the letter, Reg makes mention of being on a ship under attack and meeting Parker Rodd. The event he is referencing is the attack on a convoy in the Mediterranean Sea on November 6, 1943. Reg was with the Cape Breton Highlanders on board the troop ship Monterey when they came under fire from German torpedo bombers. Another ship in the convoy, the Santa Elena, was severely damaged in the attack and later sank. Survivors were taken on board the Monterey. That is where Reg met with Parker Rodd, a fellow officer from the Prince Edward Island Highlanders. Parker Rodd later joined the Cape Breton Highlanders and was killed in Italy on February 1, 1944. He was the first officer in the Cape Breton Highlanders to be killed in action.

Reg's sister Olive is mentioned in the letter.

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