Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Eileen Pomeroy
In memory of:
Second Cook Eileen Pomeroy
February 22, 1942
North Atlantic
Military Service
33
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. George L. Torian (St. Catharines, Ontario) (149070)
Additional Information
January 1, 1909
Halifax, Nova Scotia
She was born Eillen Dudley and took the name of her common-law husband Frederick Nelson Pomeroy who also perished in the sinking of the George L. Torian. A natural child, daughter of Nora Dudley from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Wife of Kaarle August Halonen from Kupolo, Finland.
This ship was en route from Paramaribo, Suriname, to Trinidad, when on 22 February 1942, at 22:20, she sailed unescorted and was torpedoed by U-129 120 miles (193 km) south-southeast of Trinidad, off the coast of Guyana, position 09°13'N/59°04'W.
Second Cook Pomeroy is also commemorated on a memorial plaque affixed to a new eight sided old-fashioned bandstand in Veteran's Park in Langford, British Columbia. The plaque was unveiled by ex-merchant mariner Tom Osborne and Barbara Duncan on May 19, 2002 as a bugler sounded Reveille. It is believed to be the first war memorial anywhere in the world dedicated to women merchant mariners who died at their posts in the two world wars.
Commemorated on Page 213 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 20.
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.
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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