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They made the Ultimate Sacrifice
MARA, John Joseph, PO LR II, 2489, RCN, MPK - 22 OCT 1940, HMCS MARGAREE - Son of Thomas and Sarah Mara, of Hamilton, Ontario; husband of Annie Marguerite Mara, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
Petty Officer Mara 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.
A wounded survivor of the sinking of HMCS Fraser, Acting Petty Officer John Joseph Mara, 30, of Hamilton, has been reported lost in the sinking of the Canadian destroyer Margaree, his parents were advised here today. Mara was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mara, 581 Catharine Street North. He spent a period in hospital in England after he suffered back injuries and other hurts in the sinking of the Fraser. (Transcribed from an article in the Globe and Mail 29 Oct 1940)
John Mara Escaped When Fraser Sank, but was lost with Margaree. Towards the end of last week Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mara, 581 Catharine Street, North got a letter from their 30-year-old son John, a petty officer in the Royal Canadian Navy and a survivor from HMCS Fraser, saying that he expected to sail with HMCS Margaree "any day now". On Monday, they got a telegram from John's wife, who lives in Dartmouth, N.S., to say that death had finally claimed their son as the Margaree sank following collision in a convoy. This morning, Mrs. Thomas Mara, John's mother, told the Spectator how her son's love of the sea had been born when, as a nine-year-old boy, he joined the Sea Cadets in Hamilton and how, 11 years ago, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Navy. She told, too, how many times during the last five years he had made plans to come home and pay his parents a visit, and how every time something had arisen to prevent it. "I haven't seen him for more than five years," she declared. Twice in recent months, John Mara looked into the face of death - once when the Fraser sank off Bordeaux and he was among the survivors, and again when Nazi bombers attacked the Margaree as she was being refitted in dock. A bomb dropped 70 feet from him. In his last letter he admitted that the Fraser experience had been tough, that it had left his nerves jumpy. But he urged his mother to "keep her chin up." Petty Officer Mara leaves a widow and two children in Dartmouth. Two brothers and a sister live in Hamilton besides his parents. (Transcription for article in the Hamilton Spectator, 29 Oct 1940)
Ships served in: HMCS STADACONA - Enlisted 18 Mar 1930 as a Ordinary Seaman, RCN HMCS CHAMPLAIN - Drafted to CHAMPLAIN 01 Jul 1930 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 01 Jan 1931 HMS VICTORY I - Drafted to VICTORY I 17 Mar 1931 HMCS SAGUENAY - Drafted to SAGUENAY 22 May 1931 * Rated Able Seaman, RCN 18 Sep 1931 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 09 Jan 1933 HMS EXCELLENT - Drafted to EXCELLENT 16 Jan 1933 * Rated Seaman Gunner, RCN 21 Apr 1933 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 20 May 1933 HMCS CHAMPLAIN - Drafted to CHAMPLAIN 24 Jun 1933 HMCS FESTUBERT - Drafted to FESTUBERT 01 Jan 1934 HMCS CHAMPLAIN - Drafted to CHAMPLAIN 20 Jun 1934 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 29 Oct 1935 HMCS CHAMPLAIN - Drafted to CHAMPLAIN 01 Jan 1936 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 11 Jan 1936 HMS VICTORY - Drafted to VICTORY 26 Jan 1936 HMS EXCELLENT - Drafted to EXCELLENT 04 Feb 1936 * Rated Gun Layer 2nd Class, RCN 27 Mar 1936 HMS VERNON - Drafted to VERNON 23 Apr 1936 HMCS STADACONA - Drafted to STADACONA 11 Aug 1936 HMCS SAGUENAY - Drafted to SAGUENAY 05 Oct 1938 * Rated Acting Leading Seaman, RCN 01 Jan 1938 * Rated Leading Seaman, RCN 01 Jan 1939 * Rated Layer Rating 2nd Class, RCN 01 Jan 1939 HMCS FUNDY - Drafted to FUNDY 04 Jan 1939 * Rated Acting Petty Officer, RCN 01 Jan 1940 HMCS FRASER - Drafted to FRASER 16 Jan 1940 * Survived the sinking of HMCS FRASER on 25 Jun 1940 HMCS MARGAREE - Drafted to MARGAREE 06 Sep 1940 * Commissioning crew
(JJM001) PO John Mara MPK 22 Oct 1940 when HMCS MARGAREE was sunk. // Hamilton Spectator, October 29, 1940 // Courtesy of Operation Picture Me (JJM002) Service file for John Mara // Source: The Library and Archives of Canada
Second World War Casualty Index
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