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In memory of:

Able Seaman Thomas Hartson

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Military service

Age: 32
Rank: Able Seaman
Force: Merchant Navy
Unit/Regiment: Canadian Merchant Navy
Division: S.S. Botavon (London, England) (131445)
Birth: January 1, 1910 Fortune, Burin, Newfoundland & Labrador
Death: May 14, 1942 Barents Sea

Burial/memorial information

Grave reference: Panel 22.
Additional information
Son of Joseph Edward Hartson and Philomena Keating of Burin, Newfoundland. Husband of Susan Brady of Fortune, Burin. Father of two children, including Geraldine Hartson of Newfoundland.

On 2 May 1942, at 12:30, the Botavon was bombed while anchored in the Barents Sea, position 73°02'N/19°46'E, on a voyage with convoy UR-18 to link up with PQ-14, which was heading from Middlesbrough to Murmansk via Reykjavik, Iceland, with government supplies. The attack killed 20 crew members and a gunner. On 3 May 1942, the wreck was sunk by the convoy's escort. Hartson died of his injuries on the 14th.

In the Books of Remembrance

Commemorated on:

Page 152 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance.
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