Presented after his retirement from teaching at the Coast Guard College in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The address is below.

The address reads:

Notes on Mr. Douglas Maginley,

This year’s recipient has spent all of his working life connected to the maritime world. He spent nearly twenty years at sea, as a cadet, a British Merchant Marine officer and an Officer in the Canadian Navy where he first entered the instructional field. Following his retirement from the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he joined Transport Canada in the Coast Guard Ship Safety Branch as a Marine Surveyor. Two years later, on 27 January 1978, he accepted a position as a navigation instructor at this College. His devotion to teaching, learned background, and passion for all things marine have left an indelible mark, not only on the Navigation Department, but on the College as a whole.

I speak of a man who was always eager to foster in students the love of the sea. Like many of our instructors, he regarded officer cadets as more than just bodies, but rather as potential ships officers. And often he was the unrecognized champion and defender of those who seemed to be the least likely to succeed, although they rarely learned of it.

I speak of a man of honour and conviction who took his role as instructor so seriously that, having won the position of training superintendent, subsequently left what he considered the morass of administration to return to his principal love, teaching.

He involved the students, and staff, in sailing, and in sailing competitions, and organized many harbour sailing races, creating great interaction between the college, the cadets, and the local community.

This year’s recipient is a recognized authority on nautical history, indeed his vast personal collection of nautical books is the envy of our librarian. His thirst for Coast Guard history led to his setting up of the pictorial archives of vessels of the Coast Guard Fleet, which can be seen in the Cabot Building, and to the displaying of the anchor of the ship “Fury”, of Arctic exploration fame, beside the gymnasium.

He was for a time the Canadian contributing editor to Jane’s Fighting Ships and has made regular contributions to that publication. His reviews of nautical books and articles have enlightened the readers of the magazines Argonauta and New Options for years. He continues that work from his retirement home in Mahone Bay Nova Scotia.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I call upon Charles Douglas Maginley to come forward and accept our gratitude for his selflessness as a teacher, for his devotion to the college, and the execution of its programmes and his contributions to the marine field in general.

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