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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Allan Munroe

In memory of:

Fireman and Trimmer Allan Munroe

August 5, 1941
North Atlantic

Military Service


Age:

31

Force:

Merchant Navy

Unit:

Canadian Merchant Navy

Division:

S.S. Swiftpool (West Hartlepool, England) (160761)

Additional Information


Born:

November 18, 1909
Jersey Cove, Nova Scotia

Son of Norman McLeod Munroe and Margaret McDonald of North Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

On 5 August 1941, Swiftpool was sailing with convoy SL-81 from Sierra Leone to the UK when U-372 fired four torpedoes between 1.50 am and 1.59 am. The cargo ship was hit and sunk west of Ireland, in position 53°03'N/16°00'W. Of a crew of 44 sailors, the captain, 36 crew members and 5 gunners lost their lives. The two survivors were rescued by the British corvette HMS Bluebell (K80) and landed at Greenock, Scotland.

Commemorated on Page 199 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

HALIFAX MEMORIAL
Nova Scotia, Canada

Grave Reference:

Panel 19.

Location:

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:

1914-1939
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

Send us your images

  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star January 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Allan Munroe– Allan Munroe was born in 1909, the son of Norman and Margaret (MacDonald) Munro, Jersey Cove,
Cape Breton. 
		


WWII

Allan served as a fireman/trimmer in the Merchant Marine. 

He was lost at sea after his ship, the British steam merchant SS Swiftpool (West Hartlepool),
which had been carrying munitions, was torpedoed by U-372 west of Ireland (53.02N 15.58W)
on August 5, 1941.

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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