Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Percy Donald Duncan Melvin
In memory of:
Seaman Percy Donald Duncan Melvin
March 14, 1942
Military Service
16
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. British Resource (London, England)
Additional Information
January 25, 1926
Sussex, New Brunswick
Son of William Ensley Melvin and Dolly Elizabeth Ann Dobson of Corn Hill, New Brunswick.
On 14 March 1942, the British Resource was en route to Halifax, Nova Scotia, without escort, when at 9:18 pm she was hit by two torpedoes launched from U-124 230 miles (370 km) north of Bermuda. At 9:33 pm, she received the coup de grâce and the tanker burst into flames and sank in position 36°04'N/65°38'W. Of the crew, 43 sailors and 3 gunners lost their lives. The captain, the third radio operator and three gunners were rescued by the British corvette HMS Clarkia (K88) and landed in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Commemorated on Page 192 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 21.
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.
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