Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Ralph Morris
In memory of:
Third Mate Ralph Morris
August 19, 1941
North Atlantic
Military Service
20
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Aguila II (Liverpool, England) (140543)
Additional Information
January 1, 1921
Toronto, Ontario
Son of John Henry Morris and Helena Frances Skates of Toronto, Ontario. Husband of Gladys Elaine Pendlebury of Wallasey, Cheshire, England. Father of one child. During the First World War, John Henry enlisted on 29 January 1917 with the 257th Railway Construction Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, service number 1102206. In England, his unit became the 7th Battalion Canadian Railway Troops. Promoted to corporal in France on 28 April 1918, he was gassed and brought back to England. On 3 January 1919, he returned to Canada, landing at St. John's, New Brunswick, where he was demobilized. He was awarded the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and, posthumously, a cross, number 2005, on 24 October 1951.
On 19 August 1941, the flagship Aguila II was en route to Lisbon, Portugal, with convoy OG-71. At 04:06 am, the U-201 launched four torpedoes and sank the SS Ciscar and the Aguila II in position 49°23'N/17°56'W. The commodore, 5 members of the naval staff, 5 gunners, 54 crew members and 88 passengers lost their lives. The captain, 5 crew members, one naval staff member and 2 passengers were rescued by HMS Wallflower (K44) and landed in Gibraltar. Five crew members and one passenger were rescued by the tug SS Empire Oak, but 5 of them died when this ship was torpedoed by U-564 on 22 August. Another sailor was rescued by HMS Campanuyla (K18). These survivors were taken to Gibraltar on 25 August. Among the victims of the Aguila II were 21 women from the WRNS.
Commemorated on Page 196 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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