Canadian Virtual War Memorial
George Cecil Marshall
In memory of:
Able Seaman George Cecil Marshall
February 8, 1941
North Atlantic
Military Service
32
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Canford Chine (Swansea, Wales)(136147)
Additional Information
October 11, 1908
Harbour Buffet, Newfoundland and Labrador
Son of John Marshall and Eliza Masters of Harbour Buffet, Newfoundland. Brother of Private John Lewis Marshall, regimental number T-97921, driver with the 55th Brigade Group Company of the Royal Army Service Corps, British Army, taken prisoner of war in Singapore by the Japanese on 15 August 1942 and released in September 1945.
On 6 February 1941, the Canford Chine left Clyde, Scotland, and joined convoy OG-52, which was heading for Uriburu, Argentina. After moving away from the other ships, on 10 February the Canford Chine was torpedoed at 2:35 pm by U-52. At 15:35 pm, she received the coup de grâce, broke in two and sank 165 miles (266 km) south-west of Rockall, between Iceland and Ireland, in position 55°51'N/17°35'W. A sailing boat was sighted by the Germans, but was never seen again. The captain, 33 crew members and 2 gunners lost their lives.
Commemorated on Page 183 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 19.
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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