Gillis, Roderick James Fireman and Trimmer SS Roxby (West Hartlepool) Canadian Merchant Navy November 7, 1942 29 Halifax Memorial Commemorated on Page 142 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on March 23 and August 20 Roderick James Gillis was the son of Mary E. Gillis, of Mulgrave, Nova Scotia. On November 7, 1942 the unescorted SS Roxby, a straggler from convoy ON-142, was torpedoed and sunk by U-613 about 670 miles north of the Azores. 28 crew members and five gunners were lost. The first radio officer died of exposure in the lifeboat and was buried at sea on 11 November. The master, ten crew members, and two gunners were picked up after five days by the Irish merchant Irish Beech and on November 21 landed at St. John’s, Newfoundland