Canadian Virtual War Memorial
James Osborne Evans
In memory of:
Seaman James Osborne Evans
December 11, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
23
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
MV Stureholm (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Additional Information
May 26, 1917
Brantford, Ontario
Son of William Osborne Evans and Jessie Matilda Andrews, of Brantford, Brant, Ontario.
Brother of Sergeant Edward George Evans, regimental number B-37262. He took part in the raid on Dieppe on 19 August 1942 with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry and was killed in action on 20 August 1944 at Longval Château, Normandy, France, while serving with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion after parachuting behind enemy lines on 5 June 1944 in preparation for the landing on the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1944.
On 29 November 1940, Stureholm left Halifax harbour, Nova Scotia, with convoy HX-92, and headed for Hull, England. On 12 December, at 1.56 am, she was torpedoed by U-96 north of Ireland, position 57°50'N/08°40'W. The ship sank in 11 minutes and none of the 32 crew members survived.
Commemorated on Page 133 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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