Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Thomas Siggins
In memory of:
Mess Room Boy Thomas Siggins
September 26, 1943
Mediterranean Sea
Military Service
18
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Christian Michelsen (Oslo, Norway)
Additional Information
January 1, 1925
Toronto, Ontario
Son of John Siggins and Caroline Leah Fleming from Toronto, Ontario. In the First World War, John enlisted in Toronto on 5 February 1915 with the 7th Canadian Mounted Rifles of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, regimental number 7835. He fought in France with the Royal Canadian Dragoons as a Lance Corporal. He was demobilized in Toronto on 23 April 1919. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
On 26 September 1943, at 7 pm, U-410 attacked convoy UGS-17 30 miles (48 km) east of Bonna, Tunisia, and sank the Christian Michelsen, which had exploded because of her cargo of bombs and ammunition. She disappeared in less than a minute, in position 37°12'N/08°26'E. Of the 50 crew members, 47 perished. The three survivors were rescued by an escort vessel and landed in Bizerte, Tunisia, where they were hospitalized.
Commemorated on Page 227 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 23.
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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