Canadian Virtual War Memorial
George E Cannon
In memory of:
5th Engineer George E Cannon
October 29, 1942
Military Service
54
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Bic Island (Montreal, Québec) (141871)
Additional Information
Son of William Cannon and Bertha Hamilton, of Ontario. Husband of Mary Ehtel Woodard, of Orangeville, Ontario.
Brother of Private Charles Harold Cannon, conscripted into the U.S. Army on September 12, 1918, regimental number 1067, but never saw combat in the First World War.
At 12:15 a.m. on October 29, 1942, the Bic Island was torpedoed and sunk by U-224 southwest of Rockall, an isolated rock between Ireland and Iceland, position 55°05'N/23°27'W.
Commemorated on Page 107 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.
Digital Collection
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Details
Photo of GEORGE E CANNON – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star April 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Details
Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star April 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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