Name: William Morrison Sutherland Rank: Chief Radio Officer Service: SS Stanwood, Merchant Navy Date of Birth: August 11, 1902 Place of Birth: Wallace, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Date of Death: December 10, 1939 Age: 37 Cemetery: Falmouth Cemetery, Cornwall, England Grave: Sec. G, Row D, Grave 42 Commemorated on Page 263 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on May 24, October 21, and December 24 William Morrison Sutherland was the son of Alexander McKay Sutherland (1867-1915) and Margaret Clark (Morrison) Sutherland (1870-1927), and the brother of Jeanette Gordon (Sutherland) Russell (1906-1991), and Doldena Morrison (Sutherland) Oliver Turner (1909-2005). His mother was born in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and his father was born in Rocklin, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. William’s father worked in New York, William appears in census records living with his mother and maternal grandmother Doldena (Clark) Morrison (1839-1908) in 1905. While William was born in Wallace, Cumberland Co., NS, and his two sisters were born in New York, they all spent their early years raised in Pictou County, NS. William went to England with the British Marconi Company in 1937 and had previously served aboard the Royal Canadian Mounted Police cutter Bayhound. Only 3 months after the beginning of the Second World War in September 1939, William was serving as the Chief Radio Officer aboard the SS Stanwood, a British collier. On December 10, 1939, the SS Stanwood's coal cargo caught fire. The ship was scuttled in 12 m (39 ft) of water in the Carrick Roads estuary, near Falmouth, Cornwall, England, to extinguish the fire, with intention of then raising the ship. Unfortunately, the ship slipped into deeper waters, and the crew abandoned it with the loss of one man. During the manoeuvre in the Carrick Roads estuary William Sutherland lost his life. William’s mates last saw him sleeping in his bunk. The refloating of the ship failed, but the cargo was recovered. William’s body was recovered from the ship, and he is interred at the Falmouth Cemetery in Cornwall, England. At the time of his death, William Sutherland was thought to be the first Nova Scotian casualty of the Second World War. He is among the first 8 casualties with ties to NS that died in WWII. William is also remembered on his parents’ grave marker at the New Lairg Pioneer Cemetery in New Lairg near Lansdowne, Pictou Co., NS. The inscription reads, In Memory of Radio Officer William Morrison Sutherland Born Wallace Nova Scotia 1901 Drowned Falmouth December 10, 1939 ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND 1867-1915 HIS WIFE MARGARET MORRISON 1870-1927 THEIR SON RADIO OFFICER 1901 WILLIAM M. 1939 BURIED IN ENGLAND Until 2024, William Morrison Sutherland was incorrectly listed as William “Montrose” in Canada’s Books of Remembrance and the associated Canadian Virtual War Memorial. The Wartime Heritage Association provided documentation to have it corrected.

Source: findagrave