Also known officially by the Canadians, if perhaps not universally, as the Shipping A.A. Protective Detachment (Canadian). In February 1940 a scheme was initiated to put volunteer light machine gunners, drawn, along with their equipment, from the infantry A.A. platoons aboard local shipping working off the East Coast. Typically, each party consisted of a junior NCO and private with a single Bren or Lewis gun. As proposed, the scheme was not expressed to be mandatory and with the shortage of equipment available for training, the Canadian’s naturally pushed back initially, with issues of sovereignty arising when they were informed that participation was compulsory. These men reported to the Anti-Aircraft Military Liaison Officer at the Port of London, originally Captain Geoffrey Herbert Bruno Beyts, MC, of the 3rd Rajputana Rifles, shortly to be replaced by Captain Colin McDougall, Scots Guards. As the scheme evolved these infantrymen were coordinated via the DEMS command and found themselves going much further afield. Stancor, for instance, was returning from Iceland when she was lost, and Steve correctly surmised that her party survived. The commander of the Canadian contingent was Lieutenant H.H.A. Parker, 48th Highlanders of Canada, who received a mild rebuke for being too active and consequently being absent from his desk in London, filed regular reports which provide some insight into how these operations unfolded. e.g. Canadian Military Headquarters, London : T-17899 - Héritage I’m not sure how long this scheme continued but General Crerar was to press for their men’s release ahead of the 1st Canadian Brigade’s ill-fated Brest operation in June, and presumably other formations would have been keen for their return too. Canadian Military Headquarters, London : T-17899 - Héritage.
