Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Roy Gordon Lowe
In memory of:
Able Seaman Roy Gordon Lowe
January 26, 1944
Barents Sea
Military Service
66
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Fort Bellingham (London, England) (169627)
Additional Information
January 1, 1878
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
Son of Emaline Sarah Wentzell. Husband of Beatrice Lowe of Ottawa, Ontario.
On 26 January 1944, at 0.16 am, U-360 fired three torpedoes into convoy JW-56A heading for Murmansk, USSR, now Russia. Only Fort Bellingham was hit, in position 73°45'N/24°48'E. The ship then fell astern and was sunk by U-957 at 6:53 am, in position 73°25'N/25°10'E. The survivors were rescued by the British destroyer HMS Offa (G29) and landed at Murmansk. Two gunners were taken prisoner by U-957. Of the crew, 21 sailors, 14 gunners and two naval personnel attached to the convoy's commodore lost their lives.
Commemorated on Page 177 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 23.
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
Merchant Navy Monument in St. John's, NL -
Details
Dedication
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