Not Lost at Sea: The Ajax Club of Halifax

Authors

  • Wes Cross

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1312

Keywords:

Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Navy, ship badges, Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945, World War, 1939-1945, Halifax, Nova Scotia, community-navy relations, Janet Evelyn McEuen, 1891-1987, McGill University Archives

Abstract

Halifax was known as the least favourite wartime Atlantic port for sailors and roundly received criticism for the treatment of sailors  ashore. The fate of the Ajax Club became a much-cited example of that belief. In May 1945 that displeasure would infamously come to a head in the V-E Day riots. The Ajax Club story and the naval badges received from ships’ crews and naval authorities are a reminder of the uncertainty of public memory. The efforts and legacy of a civilian woman was a local story that played an unexpectedly larger role in wartime Canada and in subsequent years.

Author Biography

Wes Cross

Wes Cross is a co-founder of the McGill Remembers project and President of the James McGill Society and a recipient of the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Gordon Burr of McGill University, Jeff Noakes of the Canadian War Museum and especially James F.E. White of Halifax for their assistance and advice.

References

Caldwell, Robert C. The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord 10, no. 1 (January 2000): 3-20. https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.607

Dimblebey, Jonathan. Battle of the Atlantic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Kimber, Stephen. Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2002.

White, James F.E. “The Ajax affair: citizens and sailors in wartime Halifax, 1939-45.” MA thesis, Dalhousie University, 1984, revised 2020.

Sailors at the bar of the Ajax club. Ajax Club annual report, 1940-1941.

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Published

2025-04-22 — Updated on 2025-06-16

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How to Cite

Cross, W. (2025). Not Lost at Sea: The Ajax Club of Halifax. The Northern Mariner Le Marin Du Nord, 34(3), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.25071/2561-5467.1312 (Original work published April 22, 2025)