Lieutenant John Russell Westell: Spy

Let's meet another member of the Kincardine Lighthouse family: Lieutenant John Russell Westell.

Note: All photos are courtesy of Ian Westell unless otherwise credited.

John, also known as "Jack" was born 27 May 1920 in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada. When he was six years old, his father, Oran Westell became the Kincardine Lighthouse keeper. The family moved into the lighthouse on the banks of the Penetangore River.

The Kincardine Lighthouse in the 1940s.

Of his childhood in the lighthouse, John said, "We realized we were the luckiest kids in town." He recalled finding a trap door in the basement of the lighthouse, and much to his surprise it was full of whiskey bottles!

When he was about 12 years old, John was an assistant typesetter in the office of the Kincardine News newspaper.

Young John worked as a projectionist at the local cinema but his dream was to go to sea.

In 1940 at the age of 20, he signed up for duty, serving aboard the HMCS Dauphin as a Radio Operator during the Second World War.

The HMCS Dauphin was a corvette employed to escort convoys across the Atlantic Ocean. The Dauphin was used to provide protection from German U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic: the longest continuous military campaign in World War II.

The HMCS Dauphin. Credit National Defence. - Canadian Navy Heritage website.

When asked what conditions were like aboard a corvette in winter, John replied, “bloody awful.”

Jamie Westell gives us an idea of what life was like at sea for his father.

“The wireless cabin was behind the bridge, so the Spark [radio operator] was intimate with the captain. Dad could put his feet on the transmitter; doing Morse code while vomiting in a bucket. He was sick every day at sea.

Bread was sliced with a saw. Going to the galley from the mess was an ordeal since the ship was really a bobbing cork; one sailor was chosen to get the food from galley to the mess. He was responsible for food loss while tramping OUTSIDE to and fro the mess.

The captain of Dad's corvette was a RCMP marine captain in civil life. Dad remembered him one day, on the bridge, in his RCMP horse boots, looking at his crew, but no uniform of any kind. He commented that he knew most of the crew for their smuggling reputations. Dad stood close to these Newfies but shortly realized not one could swim. They were on his depth charge team when one barrel detonated prematurely, all suffered hearing loss.”

John was later sent to Naval Service Headquarters in Ottawa to work in the radio station. Radio communications were essential during the war to pick up signals from German U-boats, and to send and receive coded messages.

There, he met his first wife, Jeanne Anne Hayden. Anne worked in the signal distribution office, sending orders and intelligence via modified coded teletype machines.

Teletype operators during WWII. Photo via Wikipedia.

The men in John’s office could “chat” with the female operators via the teletype machines. John said, “We used to talk to the girls on the midnight watch when things weren’t too active.”

John and Anne's first date was skiing in the Gatineau Hills, across the river from Ottawa. 

Anne Hayden, skiing at Camp Fortune.

John Westell and Anne Hayden married in Port Hope, Ontario on 18 April 1946.

After the war, John trained as a barber.

 

John is standing directly behind the hair model.

John’s career as a barber was cut short when he heard the Cold War Navy wanted men with his skills. 

He reenlisted and worked as a spy for the Canadian government. He served with Communications Research, the branch of the military spying on other military forces.

At HMCS Coverdale across the river from Moncton, New Brunswick, John trained personnel to become “listeners.” Their duty was to listen for radio transmissions from the enemy.

John spied on all the Soviets, especially submarines going under the North Pole; some entering Hudson’s Bay under grain vessels coming to port. 

John, Anne, and their two sons, Ian and Jamie moved around a lot because of John's job. Postings included New Brunswick, Ottawa, and Churchill, Manitoba; known as The Polar Bear Capital of the World and The Beluga Whale Capital of the World.

Churchill, Manitoba. Image via MapQuest.

Another posting was the Canadian Arctic community of Aklavik, Northwest Territories. 

During his childhood in Aklavik, John's son, Jamie recalls having a wolf's head as a teddy bear. John's son, Ian remembers watching a unique event in Aklavik, in 1957. Ian said his father knew exactly what time to gather the family to get a view of the world's first orbital spacecraft: Sputnik.

John's sons, Jamie & Ian Westell in Aklavik, 1956.

While in Aklavik, Anne worked for CP Air.

Anne Westell at CP Air office in Aklavik, NWT, c1956.

In Ottawa, Anne worked for the Honourable Flora MacDonald, a Member of Parliament best known for her humanitarian work and her role in the Canadian Caper.

The Westell family on Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

Anne died in 1973, age 46, and is buried in Kincardine Cemetery. Her son, Ian recalls his mother as a kind, warm person. She was devoted to her family and had a good sense of humour; something that helped when the family was posted in far off locations with Arctic winds and freezing temperatures.

Anne (Hayden) Westell, 1945.

In 1976, John remarried to Ada Virginia "Jenny" Bryant and they retired to Kincardine within hearing distance of the sounds of Lake Huron.

John died 17 July 2013, age 93 at the Perley and Rideau Veteran’s Health Centre in Ottawa. He is buried in Kincardine Cemetery.

John never talked about his Top Secret work. He managed to remain an international man of mystery until his retirement. It took his son, Jamie years to figure out what his father had been doing all that time, to which John replied, “What took you so long?”

To see more photos and a video interview with John Westell, visit johnrwestell.com, a site created by his son, Jamie Westell.

John Russell Westell's family tree:  

Ancestors:   
John Culbert & Mary Ward (2xgreat-grandparents)

Elizabeth "Eliza" Culbert & Richard Dagg (great-grandparents)
Susan Dagg & Omar Westell (grandparents)
Oran Westell & Jane Russell (parents)