Canadian Virtual War Memorial
James Whittle
In memory of:
Second Engineer James Whittle
June 19, 1940
North Atlantic
Military Service
40
Merchant Navy
Canadian Merchant Navy
S.S. Ville de Namur (Antwerp, Belgium) (220984)
Additional Information
January 1, 1900
Northern Ireland
Son of Elizabeth Whittle from Selshion, Portadown, Armagh, Northern Ireland. Husband of Violet Whittle from Toronto, Ontario. Father of three children, including James and Willial Whittle.
On 19 June 1940, the Ville de Namur was sailing unescorted from New York to Bordeaux, France, then on to Liverpool, England, when she was torpedoed at 8:05 pm by the U-52. She sank in less than five minutes west of La Rochelle, France, in position 46°25'N/04°35'W. The attack caused the death of 25 people and 54 others survived.
Commemorated on Page 247 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 Telegram June 1940. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Details
Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram June 1940. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
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