Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Elswood Svein Johnson
In memory of:
Able Seaman Elswood Svein Johnson
April 29, 1944
Military Service
V/16839
19
Navy
Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve
H.M.C.S. Athabaskan
Additional Information
Son of Svein and Mathilda Johnson, of Edmonton, Alberta.
Commemorated on Page 346 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
HALIFAX MEMORIAL
Nova Scotia, Canada
Panel 11.
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.
Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Digital Collection
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Newspaper clipping – From the Edmonton Bulletin May 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Edmonton Bulletin December 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Photo of Elswood Svein Johnson – OCTOBER 1943....Elswood & Halldor home on Leave with Mom & Dad. It was the last time together.Elswood was killed in the sinking of HMCS Athabaskan by enemy action on April 29, 1944. -
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Watercolor portrait of Elswood – Watercolor portrait of Elswood, painted by brother Halldor, original photograph was destroyed in a flood. -
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Photo of Halldor Johnson – Halldor is brother of Elswood. Both were seventeen when they enlisted at HMCS Nonsuch at Edmonton. Elswood on April 29, 1942. Halldor on March 9, 1943. -
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Johnsons Brothers – The year was 1929. Mother had Elswood and Halldor outfitted in their first sailor suits, an inkling of what was to come. -
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Newspaper Clipping – 1944 Edmonton Journal news clipping of the sinking of HMCS Athabaskan and missing Edmonton sailors including Elswood. -
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Newspaper Clipping – From the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
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