Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Robert Hayes
In memory of:
Chief Steward Robert Hayes
September 21, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
33
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Frederick S. Fales (Hong Kong).
Additional Information
June 26, 1907
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Son of Richard Henry Sidney Hayes and Grace Hiscock of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Brother of Private Harold John Hayes, regimental number 282227, 219th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He fought in France in the First World War and survived.
Convoy HX-72 left Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 9 September 1940 and headed for the Clyde, England. The 47 ships dispersed on the 21st due to bad weather. On the 22nd, at 1:52 AM, the Frederick S. Fales was hit on the port side by two torpedoes launched from U-100 and sank by the stern in five minutes at about 340 miles (547 km) west of Bloody Foreland, Ireland, position 55°30'N/13°40'W. The captain, 19 sailors and one gunner lost their lives.
Commemorated on Page 153 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 17.
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 – Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Details
Newspaper Clipping – Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
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