Walter Mattias Petersen

Name: Walther Mattias Petersen Rank: Fireman Service: SS Storaa, Danish Merchant Navy Date of Birth: May 22, 1920 Place of Birth: Hillerod, Denmark Date of Death: September 6, 1943 Age: 23 Place of Death: Sheet Harbour, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia Cemetery: Unknown Walther Mattias Petersen was the son of Andreas Christian Petersen (1888-1930) and Carolina Marie (Terp) Petersen (1888-1940). His parents were married October 7, 1911, in Hellevad, Denmark. His siblings were Niels Petersen (b. 1913), Peter Terp Petersen (b. 1914), and Wilhelmine Petersen (1916-1986). Walther was serving as a fireman on the SS Storaa of the Danish Merchant Navy when he died in September 1943. On January 6, 1943, the RCMP in Sheet Harbour reported the death of Walter and the Nova Scotian Death Certificate states he died by accidental drowning. It is presumed his body was found in the Sheet Harbour area. Walther’s Nova Scotian death certificate records that he was in Sheet Harbour for two days, died September 6, 1943, and the date, place of burial or removal was September 9, 1943, in Sheet Harbour, but the name of the cemetery is not recorded. A Danish seaman who passed away in Sheet Harbour in 1943 would be buried in the St. James United Church Point Cemetery (historically the Presbyterian/Methodist Cemetery). The Storaa was a cargo ship built in 1918 by the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company as the Wellpark for British owners. In 1927, the Wellpark was sold to Belgium and renamed the Navex. A further sale in 1937 saw the Navex renamed the Prina. In 1938, the Prina was sold to the Netherlands and was renamed the Willy. In 1939, the Willy was sold to Denmark and was renamed Storaa. The Storaa was detained at Casablanca, Morocco, in 1940 and subsequently taken over by the Vichy Government and renamed the Saint Edmond. In November 1942, the Saint Edmund was scuttled at Port Lyautey, Morocco. The Saint Edmond was raised in January 1943 and passed to the British Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), refitted by her crew, and returned to the United Kingdom in June 1943 regaining her previous name Storaa. The SS Storaa was torpedoed and sunk by a German fast attack craft (S-boats) on November 3, 1943, off Hastings, England, while part of convoy CW 221.

Sources: Nova Scotia Archives (Death Certificate) Merchant Seamen Death Record (1943) The Story of the Storaa Flag Image Depiction of the national flag of Denmark from a postage series issued by the US in 1943/44 as a tribute to thirteen nations overrun, occupied, and/or annexed by the Axis powers during or shortly before WWII.