The imaginary

A Spy in the kitchen!

In the absence of precise information, the accounts of Gaspé fisherman, the return to their home villages of torpedo attack survivors, the blackout measures to which coastal populations must adhere, as well as many other events that disrupt daily life become fertile ground for rumours, discussions and suppositions. Between reality and the imaginary, between what one knows and what one supposes, the divide narrows and bridges of speculation, built over the years, produce spy stories, encounters and surprising adventures.

Here are, in no particular order, some of the rumours that have made it to us today. These extracts are not identified, as they are the result of many accounts.
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In Cap-des-Rosiers A house sheltered one or more individuals who were passing along information to the enemy. The house has been known, since the war, as the Spy's house.

On the St. Lawrence, near Cap-Chat A German submarine boards a fisherman on the river. Under threat, the fisherman is forced by the commander to go get fresh bread on land and bring it back to sea.

Near Les Méchins One night, all the children in a family were told to remain in their rooms. It appears that the father and an uncle were watching over a spy in the kitchen.

Between Gaspesia and the North Shore Ships supplying villages must give supplies or newspapers to submarines and even sell them cod.

Near Halifax On the last day of the war, a German submarine surrenders to the Royal Canadian Navy. On board, a coffee cup from the Château Frontenac in Quebec City is found. Did the Germans go dancing at the Chateau'

In front of Quebec City A person swears that he saw a submarine at the mouth of the St-Charles River.

In Sept-Îles A mysterious individual would have supplied fuel to German submarines.

In Métis and in a village at the mouth of the Saguenay Germans went dancing at the hotel and even conveyed the titles of the musical pieces to their home base in Germany to prove that they were on land.

Near Mont-Joli A stranger rents a garage and seems to use it for spying!

At Pointe-au-Père Signal lights from the surrounding mountains appear at night and seem to transmit messages to the submarines.

In a lighthouse along the Gaspé shores The lighthouse keeper was transmitting weather information to submarines.

At Pointe-au-Père and Rimouski The presence of sailors, supposedly survivors of torpedoed ships, is nothing but a stratagem to sell Victory Bonds.

On the St. Lawrence Mr. Sasseville Roy affirmed that a Canadian corvette had escorted a small steamer carrying prominent citizens to a north shore holiday place for a fishing trip. Taken from the work of Leslie Roberts, Canada's War at Sea, Volume 2, Part 1, The Fighting Navy, p. 43.

Along the Gaspé shores The Americans, through the Irving Oil Company, would have sold fuel to German submarines that were near the Gaspé shores.

Anything else?

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