Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Geoffrey Dean Williams
In memory of:
Chief Radio Officer Geoffrey Dean Williams
April 13, 1942
North Atlantic
Military Service
26
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Empire Progress (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England) (142420)
Additional Information
January 24, 1916
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Son of Edward Adams Williams and Margaret Annie Dean from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
On 13 April 1942, the Empire Progress, on lest, made the route from Glasgow, Scotland, to Tampay Bay, Florida, with convoy ON-80. At 11:26 p.m., she was hit by a torpedo from U-402, which did not explode, south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. On the 14th, at 0 h 17, another torpedo was fired from the same submarine, which sank the ship in less than 8 minutes, in position 40°29'N/52°35'W. The captain, 7 crew members and 4 gunners lost their lives. The 32 other sailors were recovered by the SS Olaf Fostenes, which landed them in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Commemorated on Page 248 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 20.
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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