Canadian Armed Forces HMCS Cornwallis Beer Mug - Pair

Set of 2 Mugs.

The rapid expansion of the Royal Canadian Navy during the early years of the Second World War saw many port facilities on the east coast of Canada become quickly taxed by operational requirements, particularly during the Battle of the Atlantic.

In early 1942, the Department of National Defence (DND) began examining the possibility of transferring naval recruit training to a new facility in southwestern Nova Scotia with convenient access to Halifax.

DND preferred the South Shore port town of Shelburne with its large natural harbour and deepwater port under development since fall 1941 at HMCS Shelburne (and an adjacent seaplane patrol base opened in spring 1942 at RCAF Station Shelburne), however it is presumed that political pressure from J.L. Illsley, the federal Minister of Finance and MP for Digby—Annapolis—Kings forced DND to reconsider.

A location in Ilsley's riding on the shallower but more protected Annapolis Basin straddling the western border of Clementsport and eastern border of Deep Brook was quickly adopted.

While the location for the training base was being sorted out, the actual training establishment was founded at a cost of $9 million at Halifax's HMC Dockyard on May 1, 1942, and was named HMCS Cornwallis in honour of Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax.