Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Edward Oliver May
In memory of:
Third Engineer Edward Oliver May
February 14, 1940
North Sea
Military Service
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Tiberton (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England) (142861)
Additional Information
Son of Walter May and Maude Adelaide Wynn of Swindon, Wilthire, England. Husband of Elsie Brown of Edmonton, England. Father of a child.
During the First World War, he enlisted voluntarily on 13 February 1918 in Montreal, Quebec, with the 1st Quebec Regiment, regimental number 3082042, of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Due to illness, he did not serve overseas. He fled hospital on 28 November 1918 and was declared a deserter on 18 January 1919.
On 19 February 1940, at 4:05 am, the Tiberton, sailing without escort, was hit by a torpedo launched from U-23. The ship broke in two and sank in 30 seconds approximately 33 miles (53 km) east of Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, in the North Sea, position 58°55'N/01°53'W. The captain and 33 crew members lost their lives.
Commemorated on Page 184 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 17.
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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