Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Jesse Earland
In memory of:
Carpenter Jesse Earland
July 2, 1941
Military Service
59
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Toronto City (Bristol, England)(147337)
Additional Information
January 1, 1882
Broadwoodkelly, Devonshire, England
Son of John Earland and Maria Marshall Williams, of Broadwoodkelly, Devonshire, England. Husband of Lillian Sampson, of West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Enlisted on November 11, 1914, with the 88th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, regimental number 430818, he was transferred to the 48th Battalion and sent to England. He fought in France from March 9, 1916, and was twice wounded in action with the 29th Battalion, by shellfire on August 3, 1917, which left him deaf in the left ear, and in November at the Battle of Passchendale, in Belgium, in the left foot. Repatriated on December 14, 1918, he was demobilized on May 29, 1919.
On July 1, 1941, at 6:25 p.m., the Toronto City was torpedoed by U-108 500 miles (805 km) north of the Azores, in the North Atlantic, in position 47°03'N/30°00'W. She sank by the bow in 3 minutes. The 37 crew members, two gunners and three members of the meteorological service were never seen again.
Commemorated on Page 131 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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