Canadian Virtual War Memorial
James Douglas Walkinshaw
In memory of:
Fireman James Douglas Walkinshaw
July 6, 1943
Indian Ocean
Military Service
21
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Jasper Park (Montréal, Québec) (173265)
Additional Information
January 1, 1922
Toronto, Ontario
Son of Frank Maxwell Walkinshaw and Mary McCracken of Toronto, Ontario. During the First World War, Frank enlisted on 31 January 1916 with the 157th Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Toronto, regimental number 643356. Transferred to the 75th Battalion, he fought in France, where he was wounded in action by shrapnel on 15 August 1917. Repatriated to Canada, he was demobilized as a Lance Corporal on 22 June 1918. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
On 6 July 1943, at 10:05 am, the Jasper Park was torpedoed 1,150 miles (1,850 km) east of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and south of Madagascar by U-177. The submarine surfaced at 11:05 and sank her with a gun in Indian Ocean, position 32°52'S/42°15'E. Four of the engineers were killed. The captain and 46 crew members were rescued by the Australian Navy's HMAS Quickmatch (G92) and HMAS Quiberon (G81), which landed them in Durban, South Africa.
Commemorated on Page 244 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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