Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Alfred James Briggs
In memory of:
Able Seaman Alfred James Briggs
October 15, 1941
Military Service
63
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Vancouver Island (Montréal, Québec) (170160)
Additional Information
May 24, 1878
Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England
Son of Matthew Briggs and Elizabeth Selkirk. Husband of Hilda Diatha Hurrell of Drumheller, Alberta. Father of Alfred James and Hilda Briggs and adoptive father of William Joseph Leonard, George William, Barbara Irene Chandler.
He served with HMS Excellent, a shore establishment of the Royal Navy, regimental number 185175, from August 24, 1895, to August 28, 1905. In the First World War, he enlisted on July 12, 1915, in Calgary, Alberta, with the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, Regimental Number 117165, and fought in France where he was severely wounded in action on May 17, 1916. He was discharged with the rank of Sergeant on March 24, 1919, in Calgary.
A member of convoy SC-48, the Vancouver Island was torpedoed at 10:49 p.m. on October 15, 1941, and sank quickly at 11:17 p.m. West of Ireland, position 53°37'N/25°37'W.
Commemorated on Page 101 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 18.
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.
Digital Collection
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Details
Newspaper Clipping – From the Calgary Herald. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Details
Memorial Cross – The memorial cross awarded to Mrs. Hilda Briggs
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