Remembering World War II

Name: Gordon Gabriel Rank: Able Seaman Service Number: P/JX-247959 Service: HMS Diadem, Royal Navy Date of Birth: October 6, 1917 Place of Birth: Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Date of Death: January 28, 1945 Age: 27 Memorial: Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hampshire, England Reference: Panel 89, Column 1 Commemorated on Page 160 of the Newfoundland Book of Remembrance displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on March 22, July 9, and October 20 Gordon Gabriel was the son of Frederick Samuel Gabriel (1887-1928) and Elizabeth ‘Eliza’ Jane (Youden) Gabriel (1888-1962), of Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He was the brother of William Alfred Gabriel (1910-2003), who served with the Royal Artillery, Frederick Thomas Gabriel (1912-1997) who served in the Merchant Navy, Herbert Valence Gabriel (b.1919) who served with the Royal Navy, Albert Edward Gabriel (1922-1942) who also served with the Merchant Navy, and Prescott Hugh Gabriel (1913-1984), Gordon’s brother merchant seaman Trimmer Albert Edward Gabriel died November 2, 1942, when the SS Rose Castle was torpedoed at anchor, awaiting convoy WB-9, by U-518 off Bell Island, Conception Bay, Newfoundland. Gordon’s date of enlistment is unknown, but he joined the British Royal Navy. A picture of him confirms he trained at HMS Ganges, and later went on to serve during the Second World War on HMS Diadem (84), a Dido - class light cruiser. She was a modified Dido design with only four turrets but improved anti-aircraft armament – also known as Dido Group 2 (or type II). HMS Diadem entered service in January 1944. It was immediately used in the protection of Allied convoys crossing the Atlantic against the possible attacks of submarines and German aircraft. Diadem also served on the Arctic convoys and covered carrier raids against the German battleship Tirpitz in the early months of 1944, then became part of Force G off Juno Beach during the invasion of Normandy in June. After the landings the ship carried out offensive patrols against German shipping around the Brittany coast. With destroyers, Diadem sunk Sperrbrecher 7, a German auxiliary ship similar to a mine sweeper (a mine barrage breaker), off La Rochelle on August 12, 1944. Diadem returned to northern waters in September, where she covered Russian convoys and carrier raids against German shipping routes along the Norwegian coast, as well as making offensive sweeps herself. Gordon’s date of death is recorded as January 28, 1945. On January 28th, accompanied by HMS Mauritius, HMS Diadem engaged three German destroyers near the Norwegian coast in Sognefjord, north of Bergen, and damaged the enemy destroyer Z31. Able Seaman Gordon Gabriel was killed during the action. Able Seaman Gordon Gabriel is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial in Hampshire, England.

Gordon Gabriel

Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission Canadian Virtual War Memorial

HMS Diadem © IWM (FL 9948)