Canadian Virtual War Memorial
George Henry Vincent Cairns
In memory of:
Carpenter George Henry Vincent Cairns
June 28, 1942
Military Service
42
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
MV Queen Victoria (Glasgow, Scotland) (164099)
British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Additional Information
September 6, 1899
London, England
Son of George Henry Vincent Cairns and Elizabeth Gillett Gasson. Husband of Violet Irene Berelanguet, of Vancouver, British Columbia. Father of a son.
In the First World War he served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry at Plymouth, England, regimental number 19559, then with the 12th East Sussex Regiment, regimental number 26790 and the Royal Sussex Regiment, regimental number L-13598.
On June 28, 1941, the Queen Victoria, sailing unescorted, was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-10 off Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Of the 48 crew members, only one survived and was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese.
Commemorated on Page 105 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 20.
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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