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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Alan Mccarthy Vaughan

In memory of:

Surgeon Lieutenant Alan Mccarthy Vaughan

April 1, 1945

Military Service


Age:

28

Force:

Navy

Unit:

Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

Division:

H.M.S. Indefatigable

Additional Information


Born:

August 5, 1916
Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment:

March 11, 1942
Toronto, Ontario

Son of Joseph M. and Margaret S. Vaughan, of Toronto, Ontario.

Commemorated on Page 572 of the Second World War 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 13.

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.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Toronto Telegram. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of ALAN MCCARTHY VAUGHAN– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram May 1945. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories 
Article ID: A3834966 

On January 4th, 1945, [Sam was] aboard the Inde when it took part in Operation "Lentil", a naval air strike on the oil refinery at Pangkalan Brandan, East Sumatra. January 24th saw them taking part in Operation "Meridian", a similar attack in the Palambang area of Southern Sumatra. A third attack then took place on January 29th at the oil refinery of Sungei Gerong, which was the second most important refinery in Sumatra. March 1st, and the Inde sailed for the island of Manus, off the Bismarck Archipelago of the Admiralty Islands, (North of Papua New Guinea) to join up with HMS VICTORIOUS and INDOMITABLE for special sea duties and joint exercises. 
After working up at Manus the fleet left for Ulithi, in the Caroline Islands, (situated east of the Philippines and South West of Guam). The whole fleet then headed out to sea as 'Task Force 58' to attack and neutralize enemy airfields in Sakishima, at the southern end of the Ryukyu Islands. This was part of the Royal Navy's contribution to the Allied assault on Japan, and the battle for Okinawa, known as 'Operation Iceberg'.

Iceberg began on April 1st 1945, but L - Day, or Love-day as it was known amongst the crew started badly because at 7:28 that morning, a Japanese suicide aircraft of `The Kamikaze' hit the Inde. The first British ship ever to be hit by this form of attack. Fires and explosions soon followed. Ten men were killed outright, four subsequently died of wounds, and many more were seriously injured. The flight deck was temporarily put out of action. But despite all the damage, Inde was "reasonably operational" by the afternoon of the same day, and was soon back in the area of operations when the Task Force resumed its strike in the Okinawa campaign.
  • Newspaper clipping

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