Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Roy William Gillespie
In memory of:
Engineer Roy William Gillespie
February 4, 1942
Caribbean Sea
Military Service
21
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
M.V. Montrolite (Montréal, Québec) (142843)
Additional Information
May 14, 1920
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Son of William James Gillespie and Nellie Butler of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On 5 February 1942, at 1:42 am, U-109 launched two torpedoes that hit the Montrolite in the stern. At 2:32 am, the tanker received her coup de grace and sank southeast of Bermuda in the Caribbean Sea, position 35°14'N/60°05'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 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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