copyright © Wartime Heritage Association 2012-2024
Website hosting courtesy of Register.com - a web.com company
Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War II
Angus Donald Smyth
Name:
Rank:
Service No:
Service:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Date of Enlistment:
Place of Enlistment:
Age at Enlistment:
Height:
Complexion:
Eye Colour:
Hair Colour:
Marital Status:
Trade:
Religion:
Next of Kin:
Date of Death:
Age at Death:
Memorial:
Reference:
Angus Donald Smyth
Stoker
A/2689
Royal Canadian Navy Reserve
HMCS Lévis
March 12, 1920
Judique, Inverness Co., NS
September 7, 1940
Halifax, NS
21
5 feet, 5 inches
Fair
Blue
Brown
Single
Farmer
Roman Catholic
Joan Smyth (Mother) Judique, NS
September 19, 1941
21
Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia
Panel 6
Commemorated on Page 45 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance
Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on February 3
Angus Donald Smyth was the son of Patrick William and Joan Smyth, of Judique, Nova Scotia. A
brother, Laughlin Jerome Smyth (1917-1994), also served with the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve on
HMCS Prince Henry.
He served on HMCS Orillia from February 1, 1941 until March 18, 1941 and then joined the crew on
HMCS Lévis on May 16, 1941.
HMCS Lévis was assigned to convoy escort duty in the Northwest Atlantic. In June 1941 the Corvette
joined the Newfoundland Escort Force and was part of the 19th Escort Group escorting convoy SC-44
when torpedoed at 2:05 am September 19, 1941, by U-74.
The explosion of the torpedo on the port side killed all but two of the ratings on the stokers' mess
deck. Compartments up to the No. 2 bulkhead were flooded. The surviving crew abandoned ship to
HMCS Mayflower except for a damage control party of 10 officers and ratings. The HMCS Mayflower
took the Lévis under tow for approximately twelve hours; however, No. 2 bulkhead was buckled and
not watertight and the ship sank at 5:10 pm later that day. 91 crew were rescued and 18 were killed
as a result of the torpedo attack. The Lévis was the first Canadian Flower-class corvette to be sunk.