Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Douglas Bruce Belmont
In memory of:
Trimmer Douglas Bruce Belmont
February 28, 1941
Military Service
29
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Texelstroom (Amsterdan, Netherlands)
Additional Information
December 10, 1911
Beachville, Oxtofd, Ontario
Son of Gaetano Bellomonto (aka Thomas Belmont) and Carolina Nangano Cappello (aka Carlotta and Caroline Cappello), of New York.
He served with the 245th A Battery, US Coast Artillery in St. Albans, New York from September 19, 1930, to January 15, 1937. He then served with the US Army Air Corps Post in New York until 1940 before joining the Canadian Merchant Navy.
On February 22, 1941, at 10:24p.m., Texelstroom was sailing unescorted 25 miles (40 km) off Iceland when she was hit by a torpedo from U-108 under her aft mast without suffering any apparent damage. At 10:46 p.m., she received a first death blow. The torpedo exploded before hitting the target. At 10:54 p.m., she receives a second coup de grâce. The torpedo did not work but caused heavy damage to the hull. The Texelstroom sank in three minutes, position 63°15'N/20°30'W. There were no survivors among the 25 crew members.
Commemorated on Page 93 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
HALIFAX MEMORIAL
Nova Scotia, Canada
Panel 18.
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.
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