Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
SS Western Head (Nassau), Canadian Merchant Navy
May 28, 1942
On May 28, 1942 the unescorted SS Western Head was approximately fifty miles east of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba sailing from
Kingston, Jamaica to Montreal, in Canada with a cargo of raw sugar. At 7:17 pm the ship was hit by two torpedoes from U-107 and
sank immediately.
The SS Western Head had a crew of thirty, including the Captain. Twenty-four crew members were lost. The master and five
crew members were picked up by a US Navy patrol ship and landed at Guantanamo Bay. The Captain, Joseph Everett Faulkner was
from Falmouth, Nova Scotia. With the outbreak of war, he came out of retirement to join the Canadian Merchant Navy.
Nova Scotia Casualties of the SS Western Head
Buchanan, Willard John
Able Seaman, SS Western Head
Canadian Merchant Navy
Age at Death: 18
Son of Mr. and Mrs. John Buchanan, of Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
Listed on the Halifax Memorial
Commemorated on Page 103 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance
Cochrane, Leo
Fireman, SS Western Head
Canadian Merchant Navy
Cumberland Co., NS
Age at Death: 18
Listed on the Halifax Memorial
Commemorated on Page 114 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance
Hoben, James Robert
Third Mate, SS Western Head
Canadian Merchant Navy
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson W. Hoben, of Fox River, Nova Scotia.
Age at Death: 36
Listed on the Halifax Memorial
Commemorated on Page 155 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance
MacDonald, John Albert
Chief Steward, SS Western Head
Canadian Merchant Navy
Brother of Elizabeth MacDonald, of Arichat, Nova Scotia
Richmond Co., NS
Listed on the Halifax Memorial
Commemorated on Page 179 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance
Mahar, Daniel
Able Seaman, SS Western Head
Canadian Merchant Navy
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Mahar, of Diligent River, Nova Scotia
Cumberland Co., NS
Age at Death: 32
Listed on the Halifax Memorial
Commemorated on Page 179 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance
Mahar, Douglas
Third Engineer, SS Western Head
Canadian Merchant Navy
Husband of Mrs. Douglas Mahar, of Fox River, Nova Scotia.
Cumberland Co., NS
Listed on the Halifax Memorial
Commemorated on Page 182 of the Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance
Sources:
Commonwealth War Grave Commission
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
shipwreck.eu
uboat.net
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SS Western Head (Nassau), Canadian Merchant Navy
May 20, 1942