John Alexander MacKenzie

Sources: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave

Name: John Alexander MacKenzie Rank: Boatswain Service: SS William P. Coleman Canadian Merchant Navy Date of Birth: June 15, 1912 Place of Birth: Truro, Colchester Co., Nova Scotia Date of Death: April 1, 1946 Age: 33 Cemetery: Padua War Cemetery, Padova Province, Veneto, Italy Grave: Plot II, Row C, Grave 6 Commemorated on Page 180 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on April 11, September 8, and November 14 John MacKenzie was the son of Edwin Clay MacKenzie (1872-1955) and Minnie Frances (Meehan) MacKenzie (1871- 1954), and the brother of Gladys Irene MacKenzie (1908-1963) John served in the Merchant Navy, aboard the SS William P. Coleman, a standard type EC2-S-C1 Liberty Ship. The Coleman was launched in 1942. After serving through the end of the war, the vessel was repurposed in 1946 for the European Relief Program. During this period, the Coleman acted as a collier, delivering American coal to war-torn European ports to help restore industry and heat homes. John died April 1, 1946, but his cause of death is not known. Although John’s CWGC headstone records his age as 35, he was 33 at the time of his death. He is interred at the Padua War Cemetery, Italy