Canadian Virtual War Memorial
John Walter Ebsary
In memory of:
Ordinary Seaman John Walter Ebsary
August 19, 1944
Military Service
22
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Wayfarer (Liverpool, England)(147324)
Additional Information
January 1, 1922
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
Son of William Alexander Hines Ebsary and Edith Walters, of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The Wayfarer was on her way from Colombo, Ceyland, Beira, Mozambique, Aden, Yemen, Port Said, Egypt and the United Kingdom when, on August 19, 1944, she was torpedoed by U-862 150 miles (241 km) east of Mozambique and sank in position 14°30'N/42°20'E. The captain, 44 crew members, five gunners and one passenger lost their lives. On August 30, nine sailors and two gunners managed to land on an uninhabited island in the Mozambique Strait. They were rescued and landed in Palfa, Portuguese East Africa.
Commemorated on Page 131 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 23.
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.
Digital Collection
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Picture of John Walter Ebsary – "John in civilian clothes" -
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Merchant Navy Monument in St. John's, NL -
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Dedication
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