Name: William Alton Glavin Rank: Cook (S) Service Number: A/2551 Service: Royal Canadian Navy Reserve Date of Birth: July 10, 1885 Place of Birth: Westport, Brier Island, Digby Neck, Digby County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: June 14, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Westport, Brier Island, Digby Neck, Digby County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 54 Occupation: Cook, Department of Fisheries Marital Status: Married Religion: Baptist Next of Kin: Irene Glavin (Wife) Height: 5 feet, 10 inches Complexion: Medium Hair Colour: Dark brown Eye Colour: Grey Date of Death: August 26, 1940 Age: 55 Cemetery: Westport Baptist Cemetery, Brier Island, Digby County, Nova Scotia Grave: Family Plot Commemorated on Page 13 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on January 16 William Glavin was the son of Henry Dimock (Deacon) Glavin (1837-1906) and Frances Florence ‘Fanny’ (Denton) Glavin (1860-1912), and the husband of Emily Irene Glavin (1885-1974) of Westport on Brier Island, Digby Neck, Digby County, Nova Scotia. William and Irene were married in 1906. His children were Herman Roland Glavin (1907-1927), Alida May Glavin Dakin (1909-1977), William Hantford Glavin (1911-1973), Alva Florence Glavin (1914-1999), Lawrence Bishop Glavin (1916-2001), Merrill Alton Glavin (1918-1994), Weldon Bradford Glavin (1922-2001) and Donald Frederick Glavin (1926-2004). His son Herman was lost at sea in 1927 with the sinking of the schooner Nellie, his son William Hantford served as a Corporal in the RCAF, and his son Donald also served in the Canadian Armed Forces. William served in the Canadian Merchant Navy during the First World War. In 1919, he was serving as an Ordinary Seaman on the mercantile navy vessel Enid Hazel (built in 1908 in Barrington, Shelburne Co., NS), travelling from Gloucester, Mass. to Freeport on Long Island, Digby Neck. After enlisting in June of 1940, William served on HMCS Venture; a three-masted schooner built for the Royal Canadian Navy as a training ship in 1937. It was built by the Meteghan Shipbuilding Ltd. Company in Meteghan, Digby Co., NS, and served during the Second World War at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Venture was paid off on September 1, 1939, with war imminent. It was one of only thirteen Royal Canadian Navy ships in service at the outbreak of WWII. It became an accommodation vessel at Halifax for Royal Navy ratings assigned to the 3rd Battleship Squadron. He also served on HMCS Zoarces (FY 62), an examination vessel, out of the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick. William was admitted to the Lancaster Hospital in Saint John, NB, on August 24, 1940, and died two days later, on August 26th of coronary disease. He is interred at the Westport Baptist Cemetery on Brier Island, Nova Scotia.

Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave