Canadian Virtual War Memorial
John Yuill Henderson Taylor
In memory of:
Second Engineer John Yuill Henderson Taylor
August 31, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
55
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Har Zion (Famagusta, Cyprus) (114941)
Additional Information
November 8, 1884
Brit Sub, Hong Kong
Son of Thomas Stephen Taylor and Jane Henderson of Glasgow, Scotland. Brother of RAF pilot George Thomas Taylor, service number 17950, who served in the First World War from 1916 to 1918.
During the First World War, John Yuill enlisted on 2 September 1918 at Camp Niagara, Ontario, regimental number 3040697, with the 1st Central Ontario Regiment, after serving 8 months with the Royal Flying Corps Mechanic, regimental number 170264. Sent to England, he remained there until 3 July 1919.
On 31 August 1940, the Har Zion, which was sailing with convoy OB-205, drifted away from the group. At 6:15 am, she was torpedoed by U-38 north-west of Bloody Foreland, Northern Ireland. She sank by the stern, position 56°20'N/10°00'W. The captain, 34 crew members and one gunner lost their lives. The sole survivor was recovered by the Polish destroyer ORP Blyskawica (H34) the same day.
Commemorated on Page 238 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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