Canadian Virtual War Memorial
John Thomas Pommerelle
In memory of:
Boatswain John Thomas Pommerelle
February 11, 1942
Caribean Sea
Military Service
41
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
M.V. Victolite (Victoria, British Columbia) (160197)
Additional Information
May 3, 1900
Mattawa, Ontario
Son of Theodore Pommerelle and Eva Frank from Mattawa, Nipisisng, Ontario. Brother of Private Theodore Philip Pommerelle, regimental number 3311359, 2nd Battalion, Central Ontario Regiment. He served in England without taking part in the fighting.
According to the logbook of the submarine U-564, she was torpedoed on 11 February 1942 and sank at about 06 :05 a.m. 260 nautical miles (299 miles/480 km) north-north-west of Bermuda after being hit by two torpedoes, resisting an explosive scuttling charge and 98 shots from a deck gun, position 36°12'N/67°14'W. There were no survivors out of a crew of 47 members.
Commemorated on Page 213 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 20.
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
Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star April 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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