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Free French and Canadian Merchant Navy Sailors Lost on SS P.L.M. 27

The following 12 Free French and Canadian Merchant Navy sailors died when the SS P.L.M. 27 was torpedoed and sunk in the second U-boat attack at the Bell Island anchorage on November 2, 1942:

NAME, POSITION, AGE, BIRTHPLACE

Mohamed Bedoni (Redoni), Greaser, 43, Tunisia (buried in the Anglican Cemetery, Bell Island)

Jean Paul (Paul Jean) Bourgetel, Greaser, 33, Paris, France  (Canadian Merchant Navy) (buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Bell Island)

the ensign of the Free French Navy, featuring the cross of Lorraine

Ensign of the Free French Naval Forces in World War II

Étienne Louis Marie Couesnon, Able Seaman, 37,  La Vicomté-sur-Rance, France (buried in the Cimetière Communal, La Vicomté-sur-Rance, France)

Yves Michael Octave Desbleds (Besbleds), Third Officer, 30, Mauritius (buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Bell Island)

Mathurin Le Neve, Boatswain, 48, Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys, France (buried in the Cimetière Communal, Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys, France)

Joseph Henri Pierre Lemesle, Able Seaman, 48, Yport, France

Octavien Laurent Leonetti, Chief Steward, 36, Corsica, France (buried in the Cimetiere Saint-Pierre, Marseille, France)

Georges Hubert Joseph Nicolle, Assistant Cook, 39, Canouville, France

Ouattara (Quattara) Nouayou, Trimmer, 32, Ivory Coast (buried in the Anglican Cemetery, Bell Island)

badge of the Canadian Merchant Navy, featuring a crown above

Badge of the Canadian Merchant Navy

Parah (Farah) Pharaon, Fireman, 60, Djibouti (buried in the Anglican Cemetery, Bell Island)

Phuan Van Phoung (Phoung Pbuan Van), Baker, 56, French Indochina (buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Bell Island)

Raymond Augustin Rogues de Fursac, Second Engineer, 49, Paris France  (Canadian Merchant Navy)

large stone memorial with a colonnade and bronze plaques listing the names of dead Merchant Navy sailors

Tower Hill Memorial in London, England

Their 38 crewmates survived the sinking, including Pierre Delepine and Georges Josseaume from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, France, and Pierre Simard from Quebec City, Canada.

Sources:

Les Français Libres (in French only; Free French veterans from World War II)

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Newfoundland Constabulary report of Head Constable William Russell (Bell Island), dated November 3, 1942 (The Rooms Provincial Archives Division, GN 13, box 249, file 23)