Wilbert Maynard Crossley

Name: Wilbert Maynard Crossley Rank: Able Seaman Service: SS Indier (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Merchant Navy Date of Birth: March 28, 1913 Place of Birth: Cheverie, Hants Co., Nova Scotia Date of Death: April 3, 1941 Age: 28 Memorial: Halifax Memorial, Halifax, Nova Scotia Reference: Panel 18 Commemorated on Page 119 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on March 11 and August 8 Wilbert was the son of Maurice (Morris) Wilbert Crossley (1884–1966) and Mary Philema (Rolfe) Crossley (1887–1918) of Bramber, Hants County, Nova Scotia. He grew up in a large family alongside his siblings Etta Mayora "Mary" (1907–1994), Helen Rosamund (1909–1986), Mildred Annie (1914–1916), Thomas Isaac (1915–1915), and Noel Leon (1916–2001). Following his mother’s death in 1918, Wilbert's father later married Gladys Viola Lake (b. 1903). On April 3, 1941, Wilbert was serving aboard the Indier as it sailed with Convoy SC-26 toward Glasgow, Scotland. At 5:12 am, the ship was torpedoed by U-73 east-southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland. The vessel sank in less than a minute at position 58°13'N / 27°36'W. Of those on board, 42 crew members including Wilbert, and two DEMS gunners were lost. The captain and three sailors were eventually rescued by the H-class destroyer HMS Havelock (H88) and landed in Liverpool, England, on April 8.