Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Percy Forbes
In memory of:
Pantryman Percy Forbes
October 15, 1941
North Atlantic
Military Service
45
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Vancouver Island (Montréal, Québec) (170160)
First World War - Military Medal (MM), British War Medal, Victory Medal. Second World War - Merchant Navy War Service Medal.
Additional Information
September 6, 1896
Central Argyle, Nova Scotia
His full name is Percy Douglas Forbes.
Son of Captain Charles Hiram Forbes and Laura Etta Spinney, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Husband of Jennie Takerman, of Nova Scotia.
Brother of Corporal Howard Waldo Forbes, regimental number 3255785, 1st Battalion, New Brunswick Regiment, Canadian Corps of Engineers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, who arrived in France after the Armistice, Private Charles B. Forbes, conscript in the American Army, regimental number 1088, without having taken part in the combat, Private Arthur Hiram Forces, regimental number 85711, of the 23rd Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery, fighting in France and Belgium, Private Kenneth Lamont Forbes, conscript in 1942 in the American Army, regimental number 1229, without having taken part in the combat.
During the First World War, Percy enlisted on 17 April 1916 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, with the 175th Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, regimental number 696686. Transferred to the 31st Battalion, he fought in France where he was wounded on 27 May 1917. He was demobilized on June 1, 1919 in Regina, Saskatchewan.
A member of convoy SC-48, the Vancouver Island was torpedoed at 22:49 on 15 October 1941 and sank quickly at 23:17 West of Ireland, position 53°37'N/25°37'W.
Commemorated on Page 136 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 18.
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.
Digital Collection
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