HILLMAN  WWII SCRAPBOOK
HMCS PRINCE ROBERT
TRIBUTE SITE

www.hillmanweb.com/rcn
Jerry Hillman 
The photos that inspired this tribute are from my dad's collection and many are Official Royal Canadian Naval Photographs offered to the crew of the Prince Robert. Picture orders were taken on board ship during the journey back from Hong Kong. They sold for approximately 10 cents apiece. I have included the negative numbers under each photo. Click on most of these pictures to see a full screen-size enlargement.

The descriptive text accompanying this HMCS Prince Robert Photo Gallery was transcribed from the Hillman Video Library Tape #59, which contains an interview with my father, Chief Petty Officer Robert Gerald (Jerry) Hillman conducted on August 28, 1982.  He died of cancer a few months later. He was reluctant to talk much about the war years... and there were so many more questions I should have asked.   I miss him...

I would like to hear from anyone who has memories, photos or information to share about the ROBERT. 


A WWII RCN PHOTO GALLERY
H.M.C.S. PRINCE ROBERT 1945

HMCS Prince Robert

"The PRINCE ROBERT was the most noteworthy of three of the most unusual ships to sail. She metamorphosed more times than a butterfly. Originally designed as a fast coastal ferry, she later became a cruise ship, an AMC, an A/A cruiser, a refugee transport, and finally, a luxurious ocean liner.

As evidence of her basic speed, strength and endurance, saw more of the world, sailed more operational miles and had longer sea times than any other ship in the RCN. For most of the war it was the largest and most heavily armed ship in the Canadian Navy.

In 1941 the ROBERT was attached to New Zealand as convoy protection for the airmen coming to Canada for the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. She then escorted the Canadian troops to Hong Kong in the ill-fated plan to defend the port against the Japanese. Before her 1943 conversion, ROBERT spent her time looking for enemy merchant shipping where she successfully captured the German ship, M.S. Weser. She was then converted to an AA ship, and escorted convoys in the Mediterranean and was even put under US command for a period of time for operations in the Aleutians. In July, 1945, she went to join the British Pacific Fleet, and in August arrived in Hong Kong to facilitate the release of the Canadian POWs and to have her Captain represent Canada at the surrender ceremonies.

Altogether, the ROBERT served five years as a warship and the best part of 26 additional years as a passenger vessel. She spent her last 15 years as an Italian luxury liner. Her record, full of diverse and original assignments, strange encounters, and duty faithfully done, will long endure."

...Bill Johnson

H.M.C.S. PRINCE ROBERT TRIBUTE
CONTENTS

HILLMAN WWII PHOTO GALLERY
Main ROBERT Directory
1.  The Early Years
2. Shakedown Cruise
3. Getting There
4.  The Japanese
5. Hong Kong
6. Homeward Bound
7. Specs Sheet
8. Caught In The Net I
9. Caught In The Net II
 10. Caught In The Net III
11. Alliford Bay ~ 1941
12. The England Connection
Robin Neale
13. Official Communiques
 14. Caught In The Net IV
Prince Robert on the Web 
AS YOU WERE . . . Special Edition
Special Prince Robert Edition
AS YOU WERE... October 2002
AS YOU WERE. . .
War Years Nostalgia e-Zine
Eclectica
Prince Class Photos
PR at Alliford Bay ~ 1941
.
HMCS PRINCE ROBERT / HONG KONG CONNECTION
Supplementary Scrapbook - Hundreds of Photos
www.hillmanweb.com/rcn/hk

Contents

War Prep

Invasion '41

PR Arrival '45

Jap Defeat

Surrender

Jap POWs

People

Streets

Town/Country

Harbours

Memorabilia
..

HK Eclectica

Daniel Gory Collection.

City Life

HK Photos

THE PRINCE ROBERT STORY

Main ROBERT Directory
1. Contents: Prince Robert Story
2. CNSS Prince Robert 1930s
3. Capture of the MS Weser 1940
4. Hong Kong 1941
5. West Coast Defence 1942
6. Atlantic & Mediterranean 1943
7. Hong Kong 1945
8. S.S. LUCANIA 1952
 9.  Looking Back
10.  Prince Robert Remembered
11. Prince Robert-Lucania Story


DIARIES ~ ANECDOTES ~ PHOTOS
FROM OTHER CREW MEMBERS OF THE HMCS PRINCE ROBERT

Capture of the Weser
Newspaper Clippings I
The Sandy Sellers Collection
Lieutenant E. A Sellers ~ PR Medical Officer
Reminisences from September 1940 - March 1941
Capture of the Weser
Newspaper Clippings II
The Sandy Sellers Collection
1940 Year-End Review
On the Condition of HMCS Prince Robert
as reported by Medical Officer
Surgeon Lieutenant E. A. Sellers
A.B. Charles Anderson Diary
Photo Album: Sept 1940 - March 1941

Musings on Medicine
Chapter Excerpt: "Over the Bounding Main"
By Gordon Hunter Grant
Ronald B. Suddick's Tales of the Prince Robert ~ 1945
Ron Suddick: Personal Photos and Letter
Photos of the Prince Robert by Arnold Niskasaari
As You Were . . . WWII Eclectica: Special Prince Robert Issue

THE MARTIN McGREGOR WAR DIARIES
Hong Kong 1945
Compiled by Gary McGregor
Martin McGregor
Prince Robert Photo Gallery I
Hong Kong 1945
Prince Robert Photo Gallery II
Hong Kong 1945
Prince Robert Photo Gallery III
Hong Kong 1945
Prince Robert Photo Gallery IV
Hong Kong 1945
Prince Robert Photo Gallery V
Hong Kong 1945
Prince Robert Photo Gallery VI 
Hong Kong 1945
 THE MARTIN McGREGOR WAR DIARIES
The Atlantic Theatre
Compiled by Gary McGregor
Martin McGregor
White Ensign, Black Pit 
By Gary McGregor
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
The Roland Poirier Collection
Introduction
Photo Gallery 1
Photo Gallery 2
Photo Gallery 3
Photo Gallery 4
Photo Gallery 5
Photo Gallery 6
Post Cards
Press Clippings
HMCS PRINCE ROBERT / HONG KONG 
Louis Schumers
Remembers the Prince Robert Mission
February 2012: RCN HK
Best and Worst of Times
Steam ahead to Pt. 1. The Early Years
BackPort - DirectoryAhead

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