Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Robert Walter Heather
In memory of:
Chief Radio Officer Robert Walter Heather
December 5, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
27
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Silverpine (London, England) (147671)
Additional Information
September 6, 1913
Toronto, Ontario
Son of Harry George Heather and Ada Lillian Adams of Toronto, Ontario. During the First World War, Harry enlisted on 3 December 1915 with the 123rd Battalion (Royal Grenadiers) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Transferred to the 3rd Battalion, he fought in France where he was wounded in action on 30 August 1918 at Arras, Pas-de-Calais, France. He survived the war. He was awarded the British War Badge number 287234, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
On 5 December 1940, the Silverpine was sailing with convoy OB-252 and straggled astern when she was torpedoed 300 miles (483 km) west of Black Rock, Ireland, and sunk by the Italian submarine Argo, position 54°14'N/18°08'W. Her captain, 7 British officers and 25 crew members, including several Chinese, lost their lives. The 19 survivors were brought back to Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
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.
Digital Collection
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Newspaper Clipping – Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper Clipping – Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star August 1941. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star April 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram December 1940. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram August 1941. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Photo of Robert Walter Heather – Robert Walter Heather in uniform.
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