Thomas Austin McNeill

Name: Thomas Austin McNeill Rank: Cabin Steward Service: SS Haxby (West Hartlepool, England) (160760), Merchant Navy Date of Birth: September 2, 1920 Place of Birth: Charlottetown, Queens Co., Prince Edward Island Address: 864 Barrington Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia Date of Death: April 24, 1940 Age: 19 Memorial: Halifax Memorial, Halifax, Nova Scotia Reference: Panel 17 Commemorated on Page 191 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on April 16, September 13, and November 19 Thomas was the son of Daniel James McNeill (1873-1942) and Frances Lilian (Noonan) McNeill (1887-1923) of Southwest, Prince Edward Island. His siblings were Daniel Abraham Preston McNeill (1911-1928), James Sinclair Austin McNeill (1913-1913), and Francis Anthony McNeill (1917-1972). He had a sister Christina May McNeill (1901-1988) from his father’s first marriage to Catherine McLeod (1872-1901), and 4 other siblings, Catherine Janette Elizabeth McNeill (1924- 2017), Walter Linwood O'Leary McNeill (1929-2015), and two others from his father’s marriage to Sadie Edwina Carr (1905-2001). Thomas served in the Merchant Navy on the SS Haxby during the Second World War. On April 24, 1940, off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the SS Haxby came across the German raider Orion (HSK-1) disguised as a Greek freighter. Once close by, the German opened fire and ordered the engines to stop. When the Haxby's captain refused, firing resumed and the Haxby received 70 shells. The attack killed 16 men. The captain and 23 sailors were rescued, but one of them died later. The wreck was torpedoed and sunk. Thomas was one of the 16 casualties and is remembered on the Halifax Memorial.

Sources: Canadian Virtual War Memorial