Monument in London, Ont., honours Canadians who served in WW II's Battle of the Atlantic

A Royal Canadian Navy base in London, Ont., has built a national memorial paying homage to the sailors and air force personnel who served and lost their lives in the Battle of the Atlantic — the longest continuous battle of the Second World War. 

The monument, outside the HMCS Prevost at the Forks of the Thames, will list each ship and the names of the navy merchants and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) members who were lost at sea. It will be unveiled this weekend for the naval campaign's 80th anniversary. 

The September 1939 to May 1945 battle lasted almost the entirety of the war. It was a crucial Canadian contribution that protected convoys carrying important supplies such as food, fuel and ammunition along the Atlantic Ocean from Halifax to Europe.

"What we're building is a circle of honour that lists by ship every sailor lost at the Atlantic and up on the hill, as if high and still protecting us from the skies — the airmen listed that gave their lives protecting those convoys," said Jeff Topping, the Prevost honorary captain who spearheaded the project.

"Telling the stories of the ships is one thing, but it's really about those who gave their all during the Battle of the Atlantic. We wanted to tell their stories and that's where the concept came of listing all the names, so you could see them and remember them."

More than 2,000 sailors from the Royal Canadian Navy and the Merchant Navy of Canada never came home, while the RCAF lost 873 personnel and 350 aircraft that provided air cover to the convoys, according to HMCS Prevost. 

The Atlantic 'a critical transportation route' 

The Battle of the Atlantic played a pivotal role in allowing Britain to become an "arsenal" for European allies as critical resources crossed the Atlantic in significant quantities, said Jonathan Vance, a history professor at London's Western University. 

"Everything the allies would eventually need to defeat Nazi Germany had to come into Britain from overseas, mostly from North America, including supplies that Britain needed to sustain itself," he said, calling the battle an "Atlantic lifeline."

"This was a critical transportation route right from Day 1 — if we hadn't won it, none of the other battles would've happened because the supplies couldn't have gotten close to the front."

Despite the Battle of the Atlantic's importance, little is known about the individuals who served in it, said Vance, adding it took years for the Canadian government to recognize merchant seamen as veterans. 

"It was such critical work and a lot of the work went unnoticed in large measure," he said. "Crews were not military; they were merchant seamen who got lost in the shuffle when it came to remembering veterans and their contributions."

The monument's first phase started in 2010 with a simple memorial on a hill outside the Prevost, but members wanted to do more and scoured through archives in Ottawa to ensure every name was accounted for. It took months, but they're confident the list is complete, said Topping, adding the navy has raised more than $500,000 in donations from organizations across the country.

In London, approximately 70 sailors joined at HMCS Prevost, either before or during the war, who never returned home, he added. 

"Nowhere in Canada is there a single place where all the names are listed because if you think of ships going down at the sea, many sailors have no grave." 

Topping hopes this memorial will help other Canadians learn and appreciate those who were involved in the battle. 

"All of these sailors, airmen and merchant navy gave their lives for our freedom," he said. "The freedoms we enjoy today were as a result of what they did 80 years ago, so we hope that people will come honour, pay tribute and take away a bit of history for that next generation."

The Prevost will host a ceremony on Sunday, when it will showcase the wall to the public at its location on 19 Becher St., starting at 1 p.m. ET.