Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Edmond Andrew Campbell
In memory of:
Oiler Edmond Andrew Campbell
June 2, 1942
Caribbean Sea
Military Service
45
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Illinois (Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.) (219931)
Additional Information
December 17, 1896
Main-à-Dieu, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Son of James Benjamin Campbell and Hanora Burke, Nova Scotia.
Brother of Elizabeth Burke, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Private Robert Henry Campbell, regimental number 3188902, of the 17th Reserve Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, who never saw action in the First World War.
On 2 June 1942, at 2:53 am, the SS Illinois, sailing without escort, was torpedoed by U-159 400 miles (644 km) northwest of Puerto Rico, position 24°00'N/60°00'W. She sank in 40 seconds with her captain and 31 crew members. The six survivors were rescued six days later by the SS Esso Montpelier, which landed them in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Commemorated on Page 106 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 21.
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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