Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of the late Robert and Ellen Bonner. Brother of Wendall, Thomas, May and Eleanor. Husband of Mary Bonner and father of Moira Marilyn of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In peacetime LCdr Bonner served as a marine officer with the RCMP.
HMCS Charlottetown was sunk by the German submarine U-517 in the waters of the St. Lawrence near Cape Chat, Quebec, on 11 September 1942. Nine of her 64 crew members were lost when the Flower Class corvette was torpedoed, including the captain. After the ship was torpedoed, Bonner's men searched desperately for their commander's body as they picked up surviving crew members. They did eventually find him and were able to pull him into a rescue boat. In order to have room to manoeuvre the oars, the crew had to tie his remains to the boat's rudder and it was a struggle as they tried to row for shore. As fate would have it, rather than prevent the men from getting to shore, the rudder was pulled off the boat and Lieutenant Commander Bonner's body disappeared into the mist. 'The Charlottetown Guardian, June 3, 2002.
1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, War Medal 1939-45.
Digital gallery of Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
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Photo of JOHN WILLARD BONNER
Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper Clipping
Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper Clipping
From the Ottawa Citizen. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Star September 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Telegram September 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Telegram September 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Edmonton Bulletin September 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Saint John Telegraph Journal newspaper c.1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Commander John Willard Bonner
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 59 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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Page 73 of the RCMP Book of Remembrance.
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