Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of Patrick Martin Neville McPherson and Mary Catherine Casey of New Waterford, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. During the First World War, Patrick enlisted on 26 February 1916 in Truro, Nova Scotia, with the 106th Battalion Nova Scotia Rifles, Company D, regimental number 715902, Canadian Expeditionary Force. On 5 October 1916, he was transferred to the 40th Battalion. From 28 February 1917 to the 13th, he was considered a deserter and sentenced to nine months in prison. His sentence was reduced and he was sent to France on 10 July 1917. On 5 July 1918, he was posted to the 2nd Canadian Tunnel Company of the 11th Battalion. On 11 July 1919, he was repatriated to Canada and demobilised on the 18th. He was awarded the Class A War Service Badge, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. On 25 June 1942, he re-enlisted in Sydney, Nova Scotia, with the Veterans Guard of Canada (Reserve) and was demobilized on 29 March 1945.
Rose Castle was torpedoed at anchor, awaiting convoy WB-9, by U-518 off Bell Island, Conception Bay, Newfoundland, position 47°36'N/52°58'W.
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 191 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance.
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HALIFAX MEMORIAL Nova Scotia, Canada
The HALIFAX MEMORIAL in Nova Scotia's capital, erected in Point Pleasant Park, is one of the few tangible reminders of the men who died at sea. Twenty-four ships were lost by the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War and nearly 2,000 members of the RCN lost their lives.
This Memorial was erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was unveiled in November 1967 with naval ceremony by H.P. MacKeen, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, in the presence of R. Teillet, then Minister of Veterans Affairs.
The monument is a great granite Cross of Sacrifice over 12 metres high, clearly visible to all ships approaching Halifax. The cross is mounted on a large podium bearing 23 bronze panels upon which are inscribed the names of over 3,000 Canadian men and women who were buried at sea.
The dedicatory inscription, in French and English, reads as follows:
1918-1945
IN THE HONOUR OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE NAVY
ARMY AND MERCHANT NAVY
OF CANADA
WHOSE NAMES
ARE INSCRIBED HERE
THEIR GRAVES ARE UNKNOWN
BUT THEIR MEMORY
SHALL ENDURE.
On June 19, 2003, the Government of Canada designated September 3rd of each year as a day to acknowledge the contribution of Merchant Navy Veterans.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The Poppy Design is a trademark of The Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command) and is used with permission. Click here to learn more about the poppy.
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