Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Bruce Castle Jay
In memory of:
Able Seaman Bruce Castle Jay
March 20, 1943
North Pacific
Military Service
22
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Fort Mumford (London, England)
Additional Information
January 1, 1921
England
Son of Cecil Reginal Jay and Gertrude Daisy Fowler of Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.
On 20 March 1943, Fort Mumford was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-27 500 miles (805 km) north-west of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), in the Arabian Sea, position 10°00'N/71°00'W. In accordance with Imperial Japanese policy, the prisoners of war were murdered with machine guns. The only survivor was able to tell the story. As a result of the slaughter, 46 crew members, including the captain, and four of the five gunners, lost their lives.
Commemorated on Page 161 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 23
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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