Canadian Virtual War Memorial
George Frederick Olsen
In memory of:
Pantryman George Frederick Olsen
December 3, 1944
Gulf of Maine
Military Service
17
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Cornwallis (Vancouver, British Columbia) (150448)
Additional Information
January 1, 1927
Nova Scotia
His real surname is Hansen, but served as Olsen. Son of Hans Hansen (aka Olsen) and Florence Mabel Williams of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On 3 December 1944, at 1000 hours, the Cornwallis had just left New York harbour, USA, and was sailing unescorted when she was torpedoed by U-1230 10 miles (16 km) off the US coast in the Gulf of Maine, position 43°59'N/68°20'W. The attack took the lives of the captain, 35 sailors and seven gunners.
Commemorated on Page 204 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.
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