Thorold in Niagara Region, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Canada’s Wartime Merchant Navy
Photographed by Tim Boyd, November 7, 2024
1. Canada’s Wartime Merchant Navy Marker
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of WWII.
12,000 Canadian men and women, many of them too young, too old or medically unfit for the Armed Forces, served on Canadian and Allied merchant ships in countless convoys maintaining the essential lifeline of food, personnel, fuel and military equipment needed to defeat the Axis powers. 72 Canadian merchant ships were lost and 9 of the Dominion of Newfoundland registry. One in eight of those serving, paid the supreme sacrifice. 1629 Merchant Navy personnel are listed in the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance installed in the Peace Tower, Ottawa, in 1994. Hannah Baird, a stewardess on the SS Athenia, was the first Canadian service casualty of WWII when this passenger liner was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on September 3, 1939. In 2003 the Canadian Government designated September 3 as "Merchant Navy Day" in perpetuity. The men and women of Canada's wartime Merchant Navy were finally acknowledged by the Government as Veterans in 1992 providing pension benefits that had been denied for years.
On all the Oceans white caps flow
They do not have crosses, row onrow
Click or scan to see
this page online
But they who sleep beneath the Sea
Rest in Peace, our country is free
We Will Remember Them
Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: War, World II • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is September 3, 1939.
Location. 43° 7.484′ N, 79° 11.772′ W. Memorial is in Thorold, Ontario, in Niagara Region. It is on Albert Street East 0.1 kilometers west of Chapel Street South, on the right when traveling east. The marker is in Memorial Park, by the Thorold War Memorial. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 54 Albert St E, Thorold ON L2V 1P1, Canada. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is on Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe and in Niagara Canada. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony, the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and Rupert’s Land.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: SS Thorold #146589 (here, next to
Photographed by Tim Boyd, November 7, 2024
2. Canada’s Wartime Merchant Navy Marker
Also see . . . The Merchant Navy (Veterans’ Affairs Canada).
The achievements and sacrifices of Canadians during the Second World War were great and covered a broad spectrum of efforts. Wartime was often a time of great danger, but the danger was not faced only by those in military uniform. Those who served in Canada's Merchant Navy, our country's fleet of transport ships that carried desperately needed equipment, fuel, goods, and personnel to Europe and around the world, had to do their vital job knowing that their ships were prime targets for enemy action.(Submitted on November 12, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)
Photographed by Tim Boyd, November 7, 2024
3. Memorial Park, Thorold
Credits. This page was last revised on September 29, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 12, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 168 times since then and 20 times this year. Last updated on September 15, 2025, by Kevin Westell of St. Catharines, Ontario. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 12, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
