Canadian Virtual War Memorial
William Lorne Thibideau
In memory of:
Fireman William Lorne Thibideau
November 5, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
37
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Beaverford (London, England) (149983)
Additional Information
June 15, 1903
Wellington, Ontario
His real surname is Thibodeau.
Son of Lewis Henry Thibideau and Amelia Kay of Ontario. Husband of Rose Lilian Thibideau from Toronto, Ontario.
Brother of Private Henry Clinton Kaye Thibideau, regimental number 3145, US Army, and Private Albert Earle Thibideau, regimental number 704132, 102nd (Comox-Atlin) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, who fought in France and was wounded three times in action. They survived the fighting in the First World War.
On 5 November 1940, the Beaverford, a member of convoy HX-84, was targeted by the German battleship Admiral Scheer and sunk by gunfire 755 nautical miles (869 miles/1,398 km) south-southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland, position 52°26'N/32°34'W. The captain and 76 crew members lost their lives.
Commemorated on Page 239 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 17.
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 December 1940. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Details
Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star December 1940. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Details
Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star April 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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