Red Devils and Heroes: The Sinking of the Nerissa

Lieutenant Russell Paul sailed for Great Britain aboard the S.S. Nerissa during the early days of World War II, leaving his pregnant wife behind in Canada. One hundred miles from the Irish coast, the Nerissa was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, the Red Devil. Over two hundred passengers and crew were killed, and the survivors spent a frigid night in the North Atlantic before being rescued. Lieutenant Paul remained in London for the duration of the War, surviving Nazi bombs and providing support for the Normandy invasion, before returning to Canada where he met his four year old son for the first time. Red Devils and Heroes is the story of the Nerissa. It is the story of the heroes who fought in the war, the heroes who remained at home, and the heroes who never made it home. It is the story of my grandfather, Russell Paul.