Important Mandate for National Defence

François-Xavier Lachance built a large number of boats during the Second World War, which earned him official recognition.

Karine Vachon-Soulard, former director of the Parc maritime de Saint-Laurent, is in the rowboat shop. She speaks to an interviewer on the left side of the camera.

[Karine Vachon-Soulard] François-Xavier Lachance, during the Second World War, made what were called whalers.

Color photograph where two men, one young and one elderly, slide a white boat on a pile of snow to install it on the rear platform of a truck.

[K. V.-S.] It was lifeboats, that he did for National Defence. He probably built around 2,000 of them.

Color photograph where the white rowboat is placed on the rear platform of a truck. A man is inside. A building bearing a sign “F.X. LACHANCE – Construction – yachts et chaloupes” is in the background.

[K. V.-S.] So 2,000 boats is a huge amount for a shipyard of the size of François-Xavier Lachance’s.

Return on Karine Vachon-Soulard in the rowboat shop.

[K. V.-S.] He had about twenty employees at the time, but he was still cutting all the pieces to make the whalers. So it was a lot of work. He was the one who took the biggest responsibility. In fact, the workers assembled the boats, but François-Xavier Lachance did all the work upstream, so the plans, the cut of the wood and he worked up to 15 hours a day,

Video sequence showing a wooden band saw, from bottom to top, followed by a close-up of the upper wheel of the saw.

[K. V.-S.] in evenings too. So in the evening he often prepared the wood for the next day so that everything would be ready for the workers.

Return on Karine Vachon-Soulard in the rowboat shop.

[K. V.-S.] So for his involvement in the construction of whalers during the Second World War, François-Xavier Lachance received the certificate from the Governor General “Best Boatbuilder in Canada”. So it was an honor for him and it’s certainly due to his great attention to details, because he was someone who was a perfectionist.

Black and white photograph in which two men (Vincent Massey and F-X Lachance) stand face-to-face in front of a sign bearing the inscription “Lucky boat. FX. Lachance. Construction de yachts et chaloupes”.

Jeanine Lachance, daughter of François-Xavier Lachance, in her kitchen. She speaks to an interviewer to the right side of the camera.

[Jeanine Lachance] Mr. Vincent Massey, it was him who came, but my father did not speak English. That meant he needed an interpreter. But I was not there when he received it … he received it just at the shipyard, he just stopped to pay a visit to the shipyard. He gave him a certificate,

Black and white photograph in which three men stand near two boats installed one on the other, in a rowboat shop. A sign bearing the inscription “Lucky boat. FX. Lachance. Construction de yachts et chaloupes” is partially visible behind them, as well as some tools. The men on the left (the Governor General) and on the right (a military) look at the boats. F-X Lachance is in the center, holding a hat.

[J. L.] and then my father was happy about that, he was very proud of it, huh. It is sure he was rapturous. It made him happy.