Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Edward Joseph Gilder
In memory of:
Deck Hand Edward Joseph Gilder
October 29, 1942
North Atlantic
Military Service
21
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Bic Island (Montréal, Québec) (141871)
Additional Information
January 1, 1921
England
Son of Edward Gilder and Maud F. Bannister of Toronto, Ontario. Husband of Eunice Mildred Brown of Toronto.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the Toronto Scottish Regiment - Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Own - and was sent overseas with the first Canadian contingent. Declared disabled in December 1939, he was repatriated in 1940 and joined the Merchant Navy.
At 12:15 am on 29 October 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 142 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 21.
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 Toronto Star April 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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