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They made the Ultimate Sacrifice
MCGAW, Dorn Macquarrie, AB, A4318, RCNR, DOW - 22 Feb 1943, HMCS WEYBURN - Son of George A. and Agnes Florence McGaw, of Kincardine, Ontario; husband of Grace Florence McGaw, of Kincardine.
AB McGaw died at the Military Hospital in Gibraltar of injuries sustained in the sinking of HMCS WEYBURN. He was buried at sea off Europa Point, Gibraltar on 24 Mar 1943.
Ships served in: TORONTO DIVISION RCNVR - Enlisted 28 Jan 1941 * Commenced Active Service 31 Jan 1941 as an Able Seaman, RCNR HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 22 Apr 1941 HMCS ST LAURENT - Drafted to ST LAURENT 02 Jun 1941 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 08 Jan 1942 HMCS BEAVER - Drafted to BEAVER BEAVER 24 Mar 1942 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 15 Oct 1942 HMCS NIOBE - Drafted to NIOBE 27 Oct 1942 HMCS WEYBURN - Drafted to WEYBURN 08 Nov 1942
Service file for Dorn McGaw Source: The Library and Archives of Canada
Able Seaman John Parker comments: “When Algoma went back to Gib [Gibraltar] on one of our trips, we were the only Canadian ship in harbour and we were asked to bury one of Weyburn’s crew who had died there. I vividly remember going to the morgue in the dockyard at Gib. There were six of us. The body was wrapped in canvas and weighted. I put my hand under the victim’s shoulders, between the body and the cold slab, an eerie feeling. We put the body on a stretcher and walked through the rain to a Polish trawler used to bury casualties at sea. We proceeded out to the Straits and with a brief ceremony deposited the body to the deep. I believe the boy [Able Seaman Dorn McGaw] was from Kincardine, Ont., and was severely wounded in the water when depth charges exploded.”
[Weyburn had struck a mine, and when sinking, there were two violent explosions, likely two depth charges that couldn’t be disarmed.]
Source / Credit: Corvettes Canada, Marc Johnston, pg 144
Kincardine Roll of Honour - Second World War AB McGaw, top row, 3rd from left Courtesy of Operation Picture Me
Second World War Casualty Index
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