Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Charles Gilbert Heath
In memory of:
Chief Radio Officer Charles Gilbert Heath
October 18, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
47
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Thalia (Sylas, Greece) (142300)
Additional Information
January 1, 1893
Southport, Lancashire, England
Son of Charles Douglas Heath and Ellen Herron of Ormskirk, Lancashire, England. Husband of Ariel Galena Lee Seaboyer of Jordan Falls, Nova Scotia. Father of Clyde Stanley Heath.
On 19 October 1940, the Thalia was sailing with the 34-ship SC-7 convoy from Montreal, Quebec, to Garston, England, when she was torpedoed at 1:55 a.m. by U-99 west of the British Isles in the North Atlantic. She sank in 40 seconds, position 57°00'N/11°30'W. The attack killed 22 crew members. The four survivors were rescued by the Norwegian cargo ship Snefjeld.
Commemorated on Page 154 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.
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