Military service
Burial/memorial information
During the First World War, Charles Francis enlisted on 29 May 1917 in Truro, Nova Scotia, at the Nova Scotia Forestry Depot, service number 2329541. He fought in France with the 75th Company of the Canadian Forestry Corps. He was discharged on 13 March 1919 in Halifax.
He died on 21 January 1944 at Dalwich Hospital in London, England, possibly from injuries sustained when his ship, the SS Botwey, was torpedoed on 26 July 1941 by U-141, 365 miles (588 km) away from Bloody Foreland, in the North Atlantic, position 55°42'N/09°53'W. There were no casualties.
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 203 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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