Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Christopher Blyth Johnstone
In memory of:
Third Mate Christopher Blyth Johnstone
February 15, 1941
North Atlantic
Military Service
24
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Alnmoor (London, England) (146567)
Additional Information
January 1, 1917
North Shields, England
Son of Alfred Pilens Johnstone and Janet Ford Blyth of North Shields, Northumberland, England. In the First World War, Alfred served with the Tyne Electrical Engineers of the British Army Territorial Force, regimental number 1627.
On 15 February 1941, the Alnmoor was part of convoy SC-21, which sailed from New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia, finishing in Glasgow, Scotland. Pulling astern, she was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Michelle Bianchi 400 nautical miles (460 miles/741 km) south-west of Rockall, Inverness-shire, England, and sunk, position 55°40'N/25°15'W. The entire crew of 42 or 55 sailors, depending on the source, lost their lives.
Commemorated on Page 162 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.
Digital Collection
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Details
Inscription – Panel 18 of the Halifax Memorial showing Third Mate Christopher Blyth Johnstone. Photo provided by Padre Phil Miller, RCL Branch 25, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. We Will Remember Them. -
Details
Memorial – Panel 18 of the Halifax Memorial. Photo provided by Padre Phil Miller, RCL Branch 25, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. We Will Remember Them.
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