Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Max Billiard
In memory of:
Fireman Max Billiard
February 8, 1942
Military Service
30
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Ocean Venture (London, England)
Additional Information
Son of Thomas and Agnes Billiard, of North Sydney, Nova Scotia.
On February 8, 1942, at 10:35 a.m., the Ocean Venture was sailing unescorted when she was hit by a torpedo launched from U-108 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. After the crew abandoned the ship, at 11:16 a.m. she received her death blow and sank by the bow, position 37°05'N/74°46'W. Of a crew of 43 sailors, 29 men lost their lives as well as two gunners. Captain Craston, on his second torpedoing, and thirteen of his crew were picked up by the American destroyer USS Roe (DD-148) and landed at Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Commemorated on Page 95 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 22.
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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