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They made the Ultimate Sacrifice
EADIE, Jack John, OS, V23431, RCNVR, MPK - 19 Sep 1941, HMCS LEVIS - Son of William and Florence Eadie. of Ville St. Laurent, Quebec City.
Ordinary Seaman Jack Eadie, a gunner in the RCNVR, one of the 17 Canadians who lost their lives when the Canadian corvette Levis was sunk by enemy action, was the 18-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. William Eadie, of 63 Decelles street, St. Laurent. He was a member of a family that has contributed its utmost to the Canadian war effort and whose lives have been closely affected by the war. His mother, Mrs. Florence Eadie, and a younger brother and sister, Billy, 15 and Florence, 11, were all on the liner Athenia when she was torpedoed at the beginning of the war. They were saved by a British destroyer. Later in the fall of 1940 Mrs. Eadie opened the first big Red Cross Drive for funds with a radio broadcast, and last June Mr. Eadie was the first buyer of a Victory Loan Bond on the Island of Montréal when the sale was opened. At that time he said: "It was thanks to a British destroyer, which picked them up, that I didn't lose my wife and two of my children in the sinking of the Athenia. I'm glad to do my bit to help Canada do her share in this war." Young Jack Eadie had served as a gunner on the Levis since passing his gunnery tests last May. Educated at St. Laurent High School, he worked at the Gurney Foundry Company, Limited, until three days after his 18th birthday, October 25, 1940, when he enlisted in the RCNVR. He left for Halifax in April of this year, and the following month was drafted to the Levis. Besides his parents, both natives of Glasgow, and the brother and sister rescued from the Athenia, he leaves another brother and sister, Tom and Mary. Mr. Eadie is a veteran of the Great War. He fought with the Seaforth Highlanders.
Ships served in: MONTREAL DIVISION RCNVR - Enlisted 23 Dec 1940 as a Prob. V.A., RCNVR. Commenced Active Service 01 Jan 1941 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 17 Apr 1941 as a Prob. V.A., RCNVR * Transferred to Seaman Branch 21 Apr 1941 HMCS LEVIS - Drafted to LEVIS 12 Jun 1941 as an OS, RCNVR
(JE01-JE02) Certificate of Service - pages 1 and 2 (JE03) Report of Death (JE04) Letter to OS Eadie's mother
Second World War Casualty Index
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