Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Raymond Alfred Tennant
In memory of:
Fireman and Trimmer Raymond Alfred Tennant
September 17, 1942
North Atlantic
Military Service
24
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Peterton (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England) (142854)
Additional Information
January 1, 1918
York, England
Son of George A. and Lilian Tennant of Montréal, Québec.
On 17 September 1942, the Peterton, away from convoy OG-80, was torpedoed at 1:14 pm by U-109 south-west of the Cape Verde Islands, Africa, position 18°45'N/29°15'W. Eight crew members lost their lives. The captain was taken prisoner of war and taken to Germany. Twelve sailors were rescued after eight days by the SS Empire Whimbrel and landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 11 October. After 49 days adrift, 18 other sailors were rescued by the HMS Canna (T161) and landed in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where one of them died in hospital.
Commemorated on Page 238 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 22.
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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