Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Philip Gordon Harris
In memory of:
Third Mate Philip Gordon Harris
January 10, 1943
North Atlantic
Military Service
23
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. British Dominion (London, England) (160400)
Additional Information
January 1, 1920
Vancouver, British Columbia
Son of Alexander Douglas Harris MID and Mabel Snook of Vancouver, British Columbia. During the First World War, Alexander enlisted at Camp Valcartier, Quebec, regimental number 29553. In England, he was transferred to the 16th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was wounded in action in France on 23 April 1915. Promoted to sergeant, he returned to France with the 103rd Battalion. He was Mentioned in Dispatches (MID) on 25 February 1917, The London Gazette. He was repatriated to Canada on 8 August 1919.
On 11 January 1943, the British Dominion sailed with convoy TM-1, which was to link Curaçao, Venezuela, Trinidad and Gibraltar. At 0.40 am, the ships were dispersed northwest of the Canaris Islands due to a submarine attack. The cargo ship was torpedoed by the U-522, but did not sink. At 3 a.m., the wreck was sunk by U-620, which gave her the coup de grace with shells fired from its deck gun and sank her in position 30°30'N/19°55'W. The attack caused the death of 38 sailors, including one who died at sea on the 14th. The survivors were picked up by the British corvette HMS Godetia (K226), which landed them in Gibraltar.
Commemorated on Page 152 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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