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They made the Ultimate Sacrifice
HOPPER, Jack Herbert, Sto 1c, 21763, RCN, MPK - 22 Oct 1940, HMCS MARGAREE - Son of James Ernest and Jessie K. Hopper, of Brackley, Northamptonshire, England.
Stoker Hopper died when his ship, HMCS MARGAREE, was struck by the freighter SS Port Fairy while in convoy and was sunk. 143 of her crew were lost, 86 of them were survivors of HMCS FRASER.
Stoker Jack Herbert Hopper a former Winnipeg boy is believed to have lost his life when the Canadian destroyer HMCS Margaree sank in the North Atlantic, following a collision with a merchant vessel. He was born in 1919 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and attended Cecil Rhodes School until 1934, when he accompanied his father to England. He joined the British Navy in 1936, the same year he asked and received a transfer to the Canadian navy. During the evacuation of Dunkirk he was a survivor of H.M.S. Frances, which sank off the Zeebrugge canal.
Ships served in: HMS PEMBROKE - Enlisted in the Royal Navy 18 Jan 1937 as a Stoker 2nd Class HMS SUSSEX - Drafted to SUSSEX 29 Jun 1937 * Rated Stoker 1st Class, RN 18 Jan 11938 HMS PEMBROKE - Drafted to PEMBROKE 21 Aug 1939 HMS TRANSEAS (sp?) - Drafted to TRANSEAS 23 Feb 1940 * note: A news paper article, transcribed above, says Jack served in HMS FRANCES at Dunkirk and survived its sinking. His service file shows a ship with the spelling of possibly Transeas. There was neither a ships named Frances, Transeas or Franseas in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Regardless of the spelling, Jack was drafted off this ship 25 May 1940 ... the day before the Dunkirk evacuation began. HMCS PEMBROKE - Drafted to PEMBROKE 26 May 1940 HMS BEAVER II - Drafted to BEAVER II 06 Jun 1940 HMS PEMBROKE - Drafted to PEMBROKE 29 Jun1940 * Transferred to the RCN 30 Jun 1940 as a Stoker 1st Class, RCN HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 01 Jul 1940 HMCS MARGAREE - Drafted to MARGAREE 13 Aug 1940
(JHH001) Stoker 1st Class Jack Hopper // Courtesy of Operation Picture Me (JHH002) Service file for Jack Hopper // Source: The Library and Archives of Canada
Second World War Casualty Index
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