Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Kenneth William Pietz
In memory of:
Chief Radio Officer Kenneth William Pietz
December 2, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
16
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Ville d 'Arlon (Antwerp, Belgium) (220778)
Additional Information
June 28, 1924
Port Colborne, Ontario
Son of Herman Albert Pietz and Frieda Margaret Kliensmith of Humberstone, Welland, Ontario. During the First World War, Herman enlisted on 28 February 1918 with the 2nd Central Ontario Regiment, regimental number 3107583. He fought in France with the 4th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was demobilized on 24 April 1919 in Toronto, Ontario.
On 21 November 1940, she left New York, USA, with convoy HX-90 bound for Liverpool, England. On 2 December, at 4:09 am, while pulling astern due to mechanical problems, she was torpedoed by U-47 south of Iceland and sank with her 54 crew members and one passenger, position 54°51'N/19°15'W.
Commemorated on Page 211 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 17.
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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