Biography
Wes Cross is a co-founder of the McGill Remembers Project which aims to raise awareness of military history contained in institutional archives. In this role he has lectured on a range of military history topics. He also created British Regiments in Canada, a NAC listed resource tracking pre-1871 deployments in North America. Wes has been featured on the CBC, CTV, BBC and ITV over the years. He currently serves on the Executive Council of the James McGill Society.
A graduate of Concordia University, Wes was a recipient of the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation in 2014 for his work on developing historical material and public awareness.
Presentation Abstract
Not Lost At Sea: The Ajax Club Collection
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Maritime ports were ill-equipped to deal with the volume of shipping required to deliver food, troops and military aid across the Atlantic. Almost overnight Halifax became the key port on the western edge of the Battle of the Atlantic. Among the many resulting issues was a surge in the numbers of sailors in port awaiting their next convoy sailing. Several local initiatives were undertaken and among the more dramatic examples of this response was the creation of the Ajax Club begun in 1940 by Dolly McEuen.
Over the next five years she would struggle with running two distinct organizations while battling with local, provincial and federal levels of government, churches, temperance leaders and even bootleggers. Once a national story, it has been brought back to life by the re-discovery of the Ajax Club collection of naval badges in McGill University. It remains a fascinating wartime home front tale of an urgent need, an indomitable woman and the changes to a community that conflict can bring. Using images from the collection and archival material the rapid evolution of local and federal influence and control, the use of contemporary media and the final outcome for sailors, volunteers and the naval collection itself is explored.