INVITATION: REMEMBERING THE SINKING OF THE HMHS LLANDOVERY CASTLE, JUNE 28, 2026
INVITATION: REMEMBERING THE SINKING OF THE HMHS LLANDOVERY CASTLE
JUNE 28, 2026
OTTAWA, ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY (RCN) MONUMENT, RICHMOND ISLAND, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2026: A gathering will be taking place at the RCN Monument to commemorate the 108th Anniversary of the Sinking of HMHS Llandovery Castle with a solemn wreath placement ceremony.
The RCN Monument is located on Richmond Island, adjacent to Victoria Island, 555 Wellington Street, in viscinity of the Canadian War Museum. The ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m.
On June 27, 1918, HMHS Llandovery Castle was sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool, England, when it was torpedoed off southern Ireland by German submarine SM U-86. The hospital ship was under the command of Lt.-Col. Thomas Howard MacDonald, a native of Nova Scotia.
Of the 258 souls on board, 234 were lost. The ship carried crew members and Canadian Army Medical Corps personnel, including Medical Officers, Nursing Sisters, a Pharmacy Dispenser, a Ward Master, Medical Orderly NCOs, medical orderlies, and a hospital Chaplain. Only 24 people survived, including six members of the Canadian Army Medical Corps.
The sinking of HMHS Llandovery Castle remains the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War and one of its most infamous atrocities.
The commemoraiton will include opening remarks from the MC, a Blessing, the Last Post, a Moment of Silence, Rouse, Lament, and the laying of wreaths.
Following the ceremony, guests are invited to gather at the Mill St. Brew Pub for a cash-bar reception to honour the service and sacrifice of our Veterans, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and all who served at sea in the cause of freedom and humanity.
Guests are asked to arrive no later than 10:45 a.m. to allow for final co-ordination. Parking is available at the Mill St. Brew Pub.
Kindly RSVP by close of business on Thursday, June 25, 2026.
Contact Info
Merchant Navy Commemorative Theme Project (MNCTP)
Stéphane Ouellette
President and CEO
Email: ouellettes@rogers.com
Website:
www.alliedmerchantnavy.com
Media Gallery
HMHS LLANDOVERY CASTLE COMMEMORATION, JUNE 29, 2025
(From left): Mr. Stéphane Ouellette, President & CE0, MNCTP; Mr. Claude Aubin, Senator, Métis Nation Québec; Col Carolyn Blanchard, CD; MGen Scott Malcolm, CMM, MSC, CD; Gen Colleen Forestier, OMM, MSC, CD; CWO Yann Gauthier, MMM, CD; Lieutenant Colonel (Ret’d) David G Borthwick CD, BScPharm, President, Royal Canadian Medical Service Association (RCMSA); WO Karine Rousselle, CD, and Rev. Dr. Brian Graham, MTh, DDiv, Principal Chaplain, Allied Merchant Navy.
HMHS LLANDOVERY CASTLE COMMEMORATION, JUNE 28, 2024
HMHS LLANDOVERY CASTLE COMMEMORATION, JUNE 27, 2023
(From left): Stéphane Ouellette, President & CEO, MNCTP; LCol (Ret'd) David Borthwick, CD, Secretary, RCMSA; CWO Carly Hasselman, CD, Royal Canadian Medical Services Chief Warrant Officer, Canadian Armed Forces; Major-Général Marc Bilodeau, CD, KHP, MD, Surgeon General, Canadian Armed Forces; CWO (Ret'd) Maurice Beauchamp, MMM, CD, President, RCMSA; and, Honorary Colonel Alain-Michel Sékula MBA. CMC, Canadian Forces Health Services Centre Ottawa.
HMHS LLANDOVERY CASTLE COMMEMORATION, JUNE 27, 2022
(From left): LCol (Ret'd) David Borthwick, CD, Secretary, RCMSA; Stéphane Ouellette, President & CEO, MNCTP; Major-Général Marc Bilodeau, CD, QHP, MD, Surgeon General, and CWO/Adjuc Martin Bédard, MMM, MSC/CSM, CD, CF Health Services Group, Canadian Armed Forces; CWO (Ret'd) Maurice Beauchamp, MMM, CD, President, RCMSA; and, Robert Loken, National Manager, Honours, Awards & Commemoration, Veterans Affairs Canada.
MERCYSHIPS: THE WORLD'S LARGEST CIVILIAN HOSPITAL SHIPS: PRESERVING A PROUD LEGACY | MERCYSHIPS.CA
Associated Links
- The Llandovery Castle, Fully Staged Production at Wilfrid Laurier University | YouTube | February 28, 2020 |
- The Llandovery Castle: The Story Behind The Opera | YouTube | 2019 |
- Llandovery Castle Highlights | YouTube | 2019 |
- The Llandovery Castle: A New Opera Workshop | YouTube | 2018 |
- His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Margaret Brooke commissioned into service | News Release | National Defence |
- New book on war nurses relevant now more than ever | The Reporter | April 22, 2020 |
- Opera telling story of HMHS Llandovery Castle premieres in Waterloo | CBC: Kitchener-Waterloo | February 28, 2020 |
- The Sinking of HMHS Llandovery Castle 27 June 1918 – 100th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremonies held in Ottawa and Halifax, June 2018 | Royal Canadian Medical Service Association (RCMSA) |
- New opera tells little-known story of Canadian nurses killed in WWI boat sinking | CBC-Radio Sunday | June 15, 2018 |
- Opera to focus on Great War nurses 100 years after hospital ship sinking | National Post | November 8, 2017 |
- The Llandovery Castle - A New Canadian Opera
- Matron Margaret Marjory Fraser | Valour Canada |
Contact Info
Royal Canadian Medical Service Association (RCMSA)
David G. Borthwick
President
E-mail: dyborthwick@rogers.com
Website: www.royalcdnmedicalsvc.ca
