Language selection


Search veterans.gc.ca

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Bruno Tomiczek

In memory of:

Ordinary Seaman Bruno Tomiczek

February 23, 1941
North Atlantic

Military Service


Age:

36

Force:

Merchant Navy

Unit:

Canadian Merchant Navy

Division:

S.S. Sirikishna (Leith, Scotland) (164367)

Additional Information


Born:

January 1, 1905
Poland

His full name is Julian Bruno Tomiczek.

Son of Stanislau (alias Stanley) Romiczek, a native of Borek, Dolnoslaskie, Poland, and Francyska (alias Florence and/or Francis) Wynter, a native of Germany, residing in Dominion, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Brother of Sergeant Victor Tomiczek,regimental number L-1100, Saskatoon Light Infantry (MG), who died of cancer on 7 March 1944 at Camp Hill Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

On 24 February 1941, at 2:20 a.m., the 46-ship convoy OB-288 was dispersed west of Rockall, a rocky massif between Ireland and Iceland, by the attack of U-96. The Sirikishna is torpedoed on the port side. At 8:36 a.m. she received a coup de grace and sank rapidly, broken in two, position 58°00'N/21°00'W. She was the flagship of the convoy. The captain, the commodore, 5 naval personnel, the 34 crew members and the two gunners lost their lives.

Commemorated on Page 241 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 19.

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

Send us your images

  • Photo of Bruno Tomiczek

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: