1944 - 1945 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT WARTIME DIARY OF JEWISH COAST GUARD CADET ABOARD THE USCGC SASSAFRAS ON ‘AID TO NAVIGATION’ AND U-BOAT DETECTION DUTY IN NEWFOUNDLAND AND THE NORTH ATLANTIC

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On offer is the wartime diary of David Meyerowitz, a Jewish cadet aboard the USCGC Sassafras. The diary is entitled by Meyerowitz, “Newfoundland Diary” and details his time spent o nboard the Sassafras, performing Aid to Navigation (ATON) duties throughout. It begins: “On october 24, 1944 the Coast Guard ship SASSAFRASS pulled into the harbor of Port-aux-basque in Newfoundland. Aboard her were the regular crew and construction unit 192, which she had brought there and which I was a member of. This was that part of the world where I was going to spend six months or even more. We had come from Sydney, Nova Scotia where we had been housed by the Royal Canadian Air Force, for a period of two days. Sydney to me was like any other small town in the States - a main street - local prostitutes - familiar characters etc. I was surprised to find that most Canadians were quite similar to Americans in mannerisms speech and general demeanors; They differed in one aspect - their attitude or outlook seemed to contain an air of indifference and unenthusiasm but not to a great extent....From here it begins my diary of daily accounts of incidents, observations and such.” He keeps to his word. The diary is a faithful account of his life in Newfoundland, first very interesting and curious then settling into a steady rhythm of short descriptions of work and longer entries devoted to off-time. He often comments on the locals near Port aux Basques and the rural and rugged life they live, living off the harsh land. In Newfoundland, the Sassafras’ mission was to install and maintain the powerful radio transmitters and receivers used to determine the position of a ship or aircraft. Called LORAN (short for Long Range Navigation), these radio-navigation devices were established at Mouse Island (near Port aux Basques). The primary mission of all LORAN stations was to monitor U-boat activity and provide navigational aid to Allied vessels. Their operation was classified and the equipment was under 24-hour guard. “November 7, 1944. Tonight I have the watch in a lonely shack, on a desolate hill overlooking the ocean. This has been one of my off-days which seems to occur at infrequent intervals...Being here is just the tonic to forget the whole “damn crap.” Other than the watch over the LORAN station, it does not seem like Meyerowitz does much work. Often entries read like such: November 26, 1944. A little work, a little play. IN the evening - lounge around in the canteen.”; December 13, 1944. The usual day of work. A movie at nite. Uneventful.”; “5 January, 1945. Just another day again. The bad weather has started in again - snow, rain, and sleet. Stuck again tonight with the Dock Watch.” There are also plenty of important days recorded. “7, December 1944. Today is Pearl Harbor Day - three years of war - although the unrestrained impatience about the war ending, which was with me during my first year when I came into the service has subsided still I want again to get back into civilian life.”; “12 April 1945. Tonight all of us were deeply shocked and overcome when we learned that President Franklin Roosevelt pass away. Just when we thought it was a winner - the radio reassured us that this terrible tragedy had taken place 10 minutes to 6 in Warm Springs, Ga - 20 minutes after 7 here. A deep loss and affected me a great deal - I’ll always relive the night when the universal calamity occurred - & at the same time news that Germany was on the verge of collapse - at intervals I am compelled to stop & concentrate on this tragedy.” On April 23 Meyerowitz writes the final entry, “Well this is it - we have today - tonight - bursting with anxiety to get home - It has been a bad stay - And this ends my Newfoundland experience & diary - The end.” The book is a small, octavo format. It has held up very well with age. The cover is leather cover reads “NCG 2105 / U.S. Coast Guard” and is slightly curling in at the edges. The book is roughly 200 pages long, with about 170 with writing. Almost all of the writing is in ink, but there is very little smudging, and Myerowitz writes usually in a clear and legible way. (Background - The Sassafras was a C-Class, 180 ft, seagoing buoy tender constructed for the USCG by Marine Iron & Shipbuilding Corp. of Duluth, Minnesota. The ‘Sass’ was one of 39 tenders commissioned for duties that would include aids-to-navigation, ice breaking, search-and-rescue, fire fighting, law enforcement, providing fuel and potable water, and assistance to the National Oceanographic and Seismographic Survey.); Manuscript; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; KEYWORDS:HISTORY OF, DAVID MEYEROWITZ, USCGC SASSAFRAS, PORT-AUX-BASQUE, SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA, NEWFOUNDLAND, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD, WORLD WAR 2 IN NORTH AMERICA, AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN CANADA, AID TO NAVIGATION, ATON DUTIES, ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE, LORAN, LONG RANGE NAVIGATION STATION, U-BOAT MONITOR, LAST YEAR OF WW2, USCG C-CLASS, BUOY TENDER, JEWISH SOLDIERS IN WW2, JEWISH CADET, DEATH OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND SEISMOGRAPHIC SURVEY, AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, AMERICANA, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D’ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL Show more