Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Alex Dougall Strang
In memory of:
Chief Radio Officer Alex Dougall Strang
March 1, 1942
North Atlantic
Military Service
24
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Carperby (West Hartlepool, England) (134257)
Additional Information
January 7, 1918
Usborne, Ontario
His full name is Alexander Dougall Strang.
Son of Henry Stand and Mary Anne Caldwell from Exeter, Ontario.
At 2 h am on 1 March 1942 the unescorted Carperby, dispersed from convoy ON-66 since 26 February, was hit underneath the bridge by a torpido from U-588 about 520 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The U-boat had chased the ship for three hours and the Germans observed how she stopped with a slight list after being hit, but did not sink. After distress signals were heard from the ship with her name and position, a coup de grâce was fired at 02:18 hours. The torpedo struck Caperby in the foreship and caused the ship to sink quickly by the bow after capsizing. The master, 40 crew members and six gunners were lost.
Commemorated on Page 234 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
Cenotaph – Chief Radio Officer Alex Dougall Strang is also commemorated on the cenotaph in Exeter, ON … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Details
Cenotaph – Chief Radio Officer Alex Dougall Strang is also commemorated on the cenotaph in Exeter, ON … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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