Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Gordon Newton
In memory of:
Wheelman Gordon Newton
March 16, 1942
Military Service
24
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Sarniadoc (Fort William, Ontario)
Additional Information
October 22, 1917
Little Bras d’Or, Nova Scotia
His real name is Angus Gorelin Newton, but he served as Gordon. Son of Angus Newton and Hanora Jane Jessome of Little Bras d’Or, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. His brother, Wheelman John William Newton, also perished with the Sarniadoc.
At 2:30 am on 14 March 1942, the Sarniadoc was sailing unescorted to St Thomas, in the Virgin Islands, when she was hit by a torpedo, behind the funnel, launched by U-161 200 miles (322 km) west of Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean Sea, and sank in less than 30 seconds with her crew of 21 men, in position 15°45'N/65°00'W. The master, 9 crew members and 2 passengers were the only survivors.
Commemorated on Page 200 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 22.
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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