Language selection


Search veterans.gc.ca

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

George Renwick Robinson

In memory of:

Second Engineer George Renwick Robinson

December 10, 1941

Military Service


Age:

47

Force:

Merchant Navy

Unit:

Canadian Merchant Navy

Division:

S.S. Nereus (Montréal, Québec) (163243)

Additional Information


Born:

October 23, 1894
Sunderland, England

Son of William Renwick and Elizabeth Jane Little of Sunderland, Durham, England. William was a sailor in the British Merchant Navy. Husband of Hilda Brandon of Harton, England. Father of Elizabeth Jean and George Kenneth Robinson. Hilda married for the first time on 2 February 1916, in South Shields, Durham, the British merchant seaman William Andrew Grey who was killed on 20 February 1917 when his ship, the SS Rosalie, was torpedoed by the U-39.

On 10 December 1941 the Nereus, which left St Thomas, in the Virgin Islands, with ore, was sailing alone when it disappeared at sea. No German submarine claimed to have sunk her. Her wreckage has never been found. Sometimes coal boats accidentally caught fire from coal residue accumulated in the hold.

Commemorated on Page 219 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 18.

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

Do you have photographs or personal memorabilia relating to George Renwick Robinson that you want included in our digital collection?

Send us your images

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.

Date modified: