Frank Ross Wood

Sources: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave

Name: Frank Ross Wood Rank: Pantryman Canadian Merchant Navy Service: SS Ville de Namur Date of Birth: January 29, 1899 (WWI Discharge Medical) Place of Birth: Port Wade, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia Date of Death: March 26, 1941 Age: 42 Cemetery: Mazargues War Cemetery, Marseilles, France Grave: Plot 3, Row C, Grave 34 Commemorated on Page 251 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on May 17, October 14 & December 19 Frank was the son of Thomas E. Wood (1865–1940) and May Louise (Westhaver) Wood (1875–1934). He was the brother of Ruby Alma Wood (1895–1983) and the husband of Eleanor Mason (Dakin) Wood (b. 1906) of Bridgetown, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia. His wife was originally from Joggin Bridge; the couple married in Digby in 1927. Frank enlisted in the First World War on October 29, 1915, with the Nova Scotia Highlanders (Service No. 222844). He served in England and fought in France with the 85th Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was repatriated on January 24, 1919, and demobilized on February 19. During the Second World War, Frank served in the Merchant Navy aboard the SS Ville de Namur. While sailing unescorted from New York to Liverpool via Bordeaux, the ship was intercepted by the German submarine U-52. At 20:05 hours on June 19, 1940, the vessel was hit by two torpedoes and sank within five minutes west of La Rochelle, France. Although the German commander suspected the ship carried weapons behind large deck structures, they were actually stables for horses. The attack resulted in 25 fatalities, while 54 others survived. Frank was among the survivors but was then taken as a prisoner of war. He died of unspecified causes on March 26, 1941, while held in a German camp near Marseille, France.