Hector Le Gare was born in Chatham, Ontario on January 14, 1919, the only son of Hector O. Le Gare and Hazel D. Le Gare, of Toronto, Ontario. Hector had five sisters: Jeanne and Kay (both would move to Toronto); and Core, Violet and Grace (in Sarnia). Hector’s father had operated a restaurant and pool room near the Bell Telephone building and pre-deceased his son. At the time of Hector’s death, his address was listed as with his mother at 330 North Mitton Street, Sarnia. Hector was educated at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic school and then Sarnia Collegiate, where he played football and was reputed to be a good swimmer. Hector was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish, Sarnia. Prior to enlisting, Hector had navigating experience in the navy, having served six years on the Noronic, Huronic and Hamonic of the Northern Navigation division of the Canada Steamship Lines. He was a watchman on the latter vessel at the close of the previous navigation season after which he was employed at the Sarnia General Hospital until he enlisted in the summer. Hector was single when he joined the Navy in July of 1939, trained at an Eastern Canadian naval base before becoming a member of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. Going overseas in October of 1939, he would become a member of the crew of the HMCS Saguenay, with the rank of Able Seaman.
The HMCS Saguenay (D 79) was an A-Class Destroyer commissioned for service in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1931. The Saguenay was the first warship ever to be custom built for the Royal Canadian Navy. In the early morning hours of December 1, 1940, the HMCS Saguenay was part of a group escorting a convoy about 300 nautical miles west of Ireland. Travelling at twelve knots and in a zigzagging pattern, she noticed a flare shot up from the dark sea that had been fired by a U-boat moving in to attack the rear of the convoy. The Saguenay increased her speed and made for the position of the flare. At approximately 3:50 am, the submarine was sighted half a mile distant. Almost simultaneously, a torpedo struck the Saguenay. The torpedo had been fired by the Italian submarine Argo. The Saguenay bow was blown off, and flames broke out and raced through the ship. The Argo surfaced again, circling to get in a second shot. Able Seaman Clifford McNaught demonstrated the kind of courage indicative of the remaining crew. Clifford was suffering from painful burns to his face, and his hands were horribly mangled. He nevertheless dashed forward to assist the short-handed gun crew by passing shells to them. The Saguenay crew was able to fend off the Argo. The British destroyer Highlander arrived within an hour or so to find the Saguenay limping slowly forward. Ninety men were transferred to the Highlander to reduce casualties in case of another torpedo attack. Throughout the night and most of the next day, a skeleton crew remained on board the Saguenay continuing to fight the fires.
By noon of the next day, the Saguenay, “the ship that would not sink” had managed to limp to a British port on one engine. The ship would be out of service for six months. A total of 21 of the HMCS Saguenay crew lost their lives in the U-boat attack, and another 18 were wounded. Two of the lost crew members were from Sarnia. Hector Le Gare was one of those killed in action in the damaging of the destroyer Saguenay. Also on board the ship was Paul Brown, who would also be killed in the attack on the ship, and his name appears on the Sarnia cenotaph. Hector Le Gare and Paul Brown were the second and third casualties from Sarnia to lose their lives in the Second World War. Hector Le Gare’s death would later be officially listed as the result of, Enemy action, at sea.
Hector’s widowed mother, Hazel Le Gare, had not seen her only son since he had enlisted, as he did not receive any leave. She had received a letter from him just before he sailed and a cablegram informing her of his safe arrival in England. A week after the attack on the Saguenay, Mrs. Hazel Le Gare would receive a telegram from the Minister of National Defence for Naval Affairs, informing her that Hector was missing. After receiving the telegram, Mrs. Le Gare retained hope that he would later be reported rescued. At an assembly at Sarnia Collegiate, Principal F.C. Asbury announced the loss of the two former students, which was followed by a period of silence in respect to the memory of the two Canadian sailors. Twenty-one year old Hector Le Gare is buried in Barrow-in-Furness Cemetery, Lancashire, United Kingdom, Sec. 7. R.C. Grave 2439. On the Sarnia cenotaph, his name is inscribed as H. Legarrie.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, N, P, T, U, X, Z, 2A, 2C, 2D