Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Kenneth Edgar Rickers
In memory of:
Watchman Kenneth Edgar Rickers
November 21, 1942
Offshore the Hebrides Islands
Military Service
24
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
MV Empire Sailor (London, England) (London, England) (168204)
Additional Information
January 1, 1918
Dumfermline, Scotland
Son of Cyril Stanley Rickers and Lilian Pardoe from Port Dalhousie, Ontario.
On 21 November 1942, the Empire Sailor sailed with convoy ON-145 carrying poison gas and cyanide in her holds, all in barrels. At 4:16 am, U-518 fired two torpedoes at the ships, another at 4:24 am and two more at 4:25 am, 200 miles (322km) south-east of Sydney, Nova Scotia. One of them hit the Empire Sailor and exploded part of the cargo. The gases spread and affected unprotected sailors. The HMCS Minas (J165) took on shipwrecked crew, including the captain. HMCS Timmins (K-223) also took some on board. The doctor from HMS Wanderer (D74) boarded HMCS Minas and found he was powerless. As a result of the gas breathed in, 17 crew members and 3 gunners died. The attack itself had cost the lives of three sailors. The ship sank while being towed, in position 43°53'N/55°02'W.
Commemorated on Page 218 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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Details
Newspaper clipping – From a World War 2 issue of the St Catharines Standard c.1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Details
Photo of KENNETH EDGAR RICKERS – Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
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