Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Edwin Hughes
In memory of:
Ordinary Seaman Edwin Hughes
September 19, 1942
North Atlantic
Military Service
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Norfolk (Montréal, Québec) (145516)
Additional Information
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Hughes, of Port of Spain, Trinidad.
On 18 September 1942, at 13:52, Norfolk was sailing unescorted towards Trinidad when she was hit amidships on the starboard side by a torpedo launched from U-175 130 miles (209 km) off the coast. She sank so quickly that the crew did not have time to launch the lifeboats, position 08°36'N/59°20'W. The captain and five crew members lost their lives. The thirteen survivors were rescued by the Spanish cargo ship Indaucha, which landed them in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the following day.
Commemorated on Page 157 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 21.
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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