HMCS Cayuga's most infamous Korean War veteran was the ship's doctor, who was neither Canadian nor a qualified physician.
Ferdinand Waldo Demara was born in the U.S. and later immortalized as the Great Impostor in a 1961 movie where he was played by actor Tony Curtis.
After going AWOL from the U.S. Army, Demara made his way to Canada, where he befriended Dr. Joseph Cyr, then stole his medical credentials.
He joined the Royal Canadian Navy and was commissioned as a surgeon lieutenant. He was posted to HMCS Cayuga in 1951 for what was then the ship's second tour of the Korean War.
Using medical textbooks, the assistance of the ship's sick-berth attendant and a plentiful supply of antibiotics, he performed a number of surgeries, including extracting an infected tooth from the ship's captain just after embarking.
The phony Cyr also patched up some Korean commandos injured in combat, including removing a bullet from one man's chest and amputating an injured foot. All the patients survived.
He was eventually arrested, while the ship was still posted off Korea. The real Cyr, practising in New Brunswick, had heard through press reports about the Cayuga's cool-under-pressure doctor who was by then being proposed for a medal.
The resulting message from Canada advising the Cayuga of the discovery of the impostor was received by John Radley, now 90 and living in Esquimalt, but then the ship's signalman. He said the captain was stunned by disbelief.
Radley said the extraction of the tooth had won instant admiration from the ship's captain who often said how lucky the Cayuga was to have a doctor who could also perform dentistry.
Demara was arrested and eventually sent back to the United States.
Decades later, Radley said, the Cayuga held a reunion and wanted to invite Demara, but Canadian border officials were reluctant to allow him entry.
It was indicated, however, that a particular border post was not especially busy and the impostor managed to arrive at the reunion, wearing a priest's collar.
By the time a second reunion was being planned, Demara had died, so a request went to actor Tony Curtis instead.
"He said he was too busy," said Radley, chuckling.
