During the First World War, William enlisted on 9 March 1915 with the 25th Canadian Battery of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Ottawa, Ontario, service number 89352. He arrived in France on 18 January 1916 and was gassed on 2 November 1917 while serving with the Canadian Army Service Corps. Repatriated to Canada on 9 June 1919, he was demobilized on the 11th.
On 22 January 1942, at 8:45 pm, the Vassilios A. Polemis, which had strayed from convoy ON-53, was torpedoed by U-433 about 300 miles (483 km) south of St. John's, Newfoundland. The ship sank in position 42°32'N/52°38'W. The captain and 20 sailors lost their lives. A dinghy with 17 survivors, five of whom froze to death, drifted for two days before being picked up by the SS Leonida N. Condylis, position 44°04'N/54°28'W. They were landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and hospitalized.
HALIFAX MEMORIAL Nova Scotia, Canada
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.
Pour plus d’informations, visitez la Commission des sépultures de guerre du Commonwealth (site disponible en anglais seulement).
L’image du coquelicot est une marque déposée de la Légion royale canadienne (Direction nationale) et est utilisée avec sa permission. Cliquez ici pour en savoir plus sur le coquelicot.