Jessie Coade was "Messdeck Annie" who wrote a column for the Halifax News during WW2.
72 pp, 9" H, soft cover. SIGNED AND DATED BY JESSIE COADE ON HALF-TITLE PAGE. ISBN 0920304435 Glossary tipped onto inside of rear cover. B&w drawings. A collection of "poems by sailors stationed in Halifax" originally published in the Halifax Mail during World War II. Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - minor rubbing, one tiny corner crease. Very Good
Price: 15.00 USD

According to the foreword, Mrs Jessie Coade, wife of a Canadian naval pharmaceutical clerk during WWII, began writing a newspaper column that was "for the benefit of the sailors." She gathered information by talking to sailors and men of all ranks who were stationed in Halifax - either waiting to be deployed, returning home, or in training. Many of these men wrote short stories and poems, which Mrs Coade published and preserved. She writes that her intention was to use the poems for a good cause, and when the corvette HMCS Sackville was in need of restoration - in time for the 75th Anniversary of the Naval Service of Canada - Mrs Coade decided to publish the poems in book form as a fundraiser. This book was published in 1985

Many of the poems were created by sailors who lost their lives during WWII, making them that much more poignant to read.