Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Simon Guthro
In memory of:
Apprentice Engineer Simon Guthro
October 16, 1941
North Atlantic
Military Service
21
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
DS Erviken (Bergen, Norway)
Additional Information
September 19, 1920
Dominion, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
His real name is Simon Gouthro but served as Guthro.
Son of Victor Gouthro and Catherine Ann McNeil of Dominion, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
The Erviken left the port of Liverpool, England, on 5 October 1941 with convoy SC-48 when she was torpedoed at 1:49 am on the 17th by U-558 about 600 miles (966 km) west of Rockall, between Iceland and Ireland. She sank rapidly, in position 56°10'N/24°30'W. Two sailors were rescued by HMS Abelia (K184), 11 by HMS Veronia (K37) and 2 by HMS Broadwater (H81). The latter died when the destroyer was torpedoed the following night by the U-101. The survivors of the Veronia were landed in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on the 19th, and those of the Abelia on the 22nd. The captain of the Erviken and 23 members of his crew perished.
Commemorated on Page 147 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.
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