This is a photograph of the crew of the Royal Canadian Navy HMCS Avalon toward the end of World War II. HMCS Avalon was a naval shore base in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the top-secret center for Canadian Naval Intelligence, including cypher. My father, CPO Glen Johnston, E.A. 3/C, was part of the detail which helped to capture the newest 4-rotor model of the Nazi Enigma cypher machine. He was responsible for the maintenance and operation of the Enigma. He is seated in the second row, second man from the right. Years ago, I noticed that Dad seemed to appear a wee bit tired in his service photographs. His response was, "I was. Remember, the military owns your ass. They can do whatever they want with you."

I found out about my father's participation in the Intrepid Mission back in the late 1970s. We had been watching a 2 or 3 part made for TV movie about the capture of the Nazi Enigma cypher machine by the Royal Canadian Navy. The mission was described as the most top-secret of WW II and the most valuable as it had saved countless tens of thousands of lives. The mission consisted of only 8 men, and Dad was one of them, although I did not learn about this until the end of the movie. At the very end, the film makers showed a photograph of the alleged Enigma cypher machine that the RCN had captured without the Nazi's knowledge. My Dad who had been stoically quiet throughout the program suddenly blurted out, "That's not the machine that we captured. That's the older 3-rotor machine. We got the newer 4-rotor model." He then went on to rattle off the serial numbers of the machines which he had worked on and many of their details, none of which I remembered. I was too stunned by his revelation! He ended by saying that they had all been sworn to secrecy, but seeing as it was on TV, it wasn't much of a secret anymore. Still, this was the only time that he talked about it with me. There was another occasion at the VFW in Brownsville, TX. Dad decided that he wanted to go out for a beer at the VFW as he had not been there before. Off we went. We had not been there more than 5 minutes when a tall man about my age approached us and introduced himself. I gathered that he had come over to check on Dad's service connections. Dad told him, RCNR WW II. He man's ears perked up. He asked Dad where he had been stationed. Dad rattled off several posts and lastly HMCS Avalon. At the mention of Avalon, the man's eyes lit up. He grabbed Dad's hand and gave him an especially vigorous handshake, saying that he had been in the U.S. Naval Intelligence and had studied the workings of HMCS Avalon. He went on to say how proud he was to meet someone from that unit. I was amazed. Dad took it in stride and said that he had only done his duty. He was modest to a fault. It was only after his death when I got a copy of his military service record that I saw the telltale post - HMCS Avalon! Confirmation!!!

At the end of WW II all of the RCN cypher documents and equipment were transferred to the U.S. government. My father who had hoped to make a career in the RCN suddenly found himself honorably discharged. HMCS Avalon had been gutted.

These men were Canada's top-secret cypher unit. They were among the best that Canada had. They helped to save tens of thousands of lives, and for their efforts they received no award, or even a footnote in the history of WW II. I feel that there is something wrong about this. This oversight needs to be made right.