Chief Engineer Officer McGregor McKinley—Perished at Sea May 8, 1942

 McGregor McKinley was born at Spanish Ship Bay, Guysborough County, on August 16, 1902, the fourth child and second son of Seth and Caroline May “Carrie” (Baker) McKinley. Seth’s family traces its Guysborough roots to Jacob McKinley, a Loyalist soldier who served with the South Carolina Royalist Regiment during the American Revolutionary War and settled at Country Harbour, Guysborough County, after the war.

McGregor McKinley

 Among Jacob’s children was a son Aaron, born on May 3, 1794. Aaron eventually relocated to Liscomb, where his son, John W., was born around 1823. John and his wife Susan resided at Marie Joseph, where they raised a family of five children. McGregor’s father, Seth—their youngest child—was born there around 1862.

On January 12, 1897, 34-year-old Seth married 18-year-old Caroline May “Carrie” Baker, daughter of William and Elizabeth Baker, in a ceremony held in the bride’s home community of Liscomb. By 1901, two children—a daughter Lillian and a son Oswald—had joined the McKinley family’s Spanish Ship Bay household. Also residing in the home were Seth’s older brothers, Levi, age 52, and Urias, age 50. All three McKinley brothers listed their occupation as “fisherman.” In subsequent years, Seth and Carrie raised a family of 11 children—five sons and six daughters, born over a span of 25 years.

The sea has traditionally provided many Guysborough County’s eastern shore families with a living. While his father and McKinley uncles were fishermen, McGregor chose another path. At the time of his May 30, 1925, marriage to Bessie Blanche Blackett, daughter of Levi and Marguerite Blackett, Charlottetown, PEI, McGregor was employed as a marine engineer. While the ceremony was held at 81 Morris St., Halifax, later documents indicate that the couple resided at Liscomb while McGregor worked at sea. Bessie and McGregor did not have any children.

By 1942, McGregor was a member of the wartime merchant marine, working as the Chief Engineer Officer aboard the SV Mildred Pauline. Built at Placentia, Newfoundland, in 1919, the 300-ton, three-masted schooner was initially named the Herbert Fearn. In 1930, J. T. McRae, St. John’s, NL, acquired the vessel and re-named it the SV Jean F. McRae.

Five years later, Thornhill A. G. -  Sainthill R. W. Company, Sydney, NS, purchased the schooner. Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, the new owners re-fitted the ship with an auxiliary oil-powered engine and twin screw propellors. Re-named the Mildred Pauline, the vessel operated between the British West Indies and St. Johns, NL. The new equipment expanded its crew to seven—a Master, Mate, Boatswain, one Able Seaman, a Chief Engineer Officer, a 2nd Engineer Officer, and a cook.

In the spring of 1942, under the command of Master Abram George Thornhill—he was also one of its owners—the Mildred Pauline made its way to Barbados, where it loaded a cargo of molasses and headed home. Also on board were Chief Engineer Officer McGregor McKinley and 2nd Engineer Officer George Grandy Thornhill, the Master’s son. The crew consisted of one Newfoundlander—Boatswain Samuel Pierce, Fortune—and six Nova Scotians, all residents of the Sydney area, with the exception of McGregor.

By midnight May 8, 1942, the unescorted and unarmed Mildred Pauline was approximately 425 miles southeast of Nova Scotia. At 00.20 hours, the German submarine U-136, under the command of Heinrich Zimmerman, surfaced nearby and fired a torpedo at the vessel. The weapon failed to strike its target, but U-136 pursued the ship. At 01.33 hours, the submarine re-surfaced and fired 102 rounds from its deck gun into the Mildred Pauline’s hull, sinking the vessel.

All seven crew men on board perished in the sinking, and none of their bodies were recovered. Chief Engineer Officer McGregor McKinley and his six crew mates are commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, NS. McGregor’s widow Bessie later married Bruce W. Baker and passed away at Spanish Ship Bay on October 30, 1963.

Two of McGregor’s younger brothers served with Canada’s military during the Second World War. Frederick McKinley, born November 27, 1910, enlisted with the Princess Louise Fusiliers at Halifax, NS, on September 8, 1939. Fred’s unit fought in Italy as part of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, fielding two machine gun companies in support of the 11th and 12th Infantry Brigades respectively. In February 1945, the Fusiliers relocated to Belgium, where its personnel participated in the liberation of the Netherlands.

While in England prior to the Italian campaign, Fred met Evelyn Blows. The couple married on March 21, 1942, and their first child, a son Ian John, was born overseas before year’s end. Following the end of fighting in Europe, Fred returned to Canada, where he was discharged on August 24, 1945. Evelyn and Ian joined him at Spanish Ship Bay the following year. A second child—a daughter Gillian Florence—joined the family on July 3, 1947. Frederick McKinley passed away at Spanish Ship Bay on February 24, 1977.

Aaron McKinley, McGregor’s youngest sibling, was born at Spanish Ship Bay on March 11, 1923. He enlisted during the Second World War, and served in Canada and the United Kingdom. According to family sources, foot problems prevented him from seeing active duty on the continent. Following the war, Aaron returned to Guysborough County, where he later married Etta Mae Zinck, a native of East Dover, Halifax County. Aaron passed away at Sherbrooke Hospital, Sherbrooke, NS, on September 25, 1994.

Thanks to John McKinley, Sherbrooke,NS, and Gillian During, Dartmouth, NS, who provided information on McKinley family genealogy, and Jeanie Bezanson, Dartmouth, NS, who provided a photograph of McGregor's pre-war portrait.