Roll of Honor

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Constable

Master John Willard Bonner

Royal Canadian Mounted Police — ON

Undetermined

Citations & Honors

1939-45 Star

Atlantic Star

Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp

War Medal 1939-45.

End of Watch September 11, 1942

Age 44

The Vigil Panel 216 ›

Gender Female

Division H.M.C.S. Charlottetown

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 332

Incident

Son of the late Robert and Ellen Bonner. Brother of Wendall, Thomas, May and Eleanor. Husband of Mary Bonner and father of Moira Marilyn of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In peacetime LCdr Bonner served as a marine officer with the RCMP. HMCS Charlottetown was sunk by the German submarine U-517 in the waters of the St. Lawrence near Cape Chat, Quebec, on 11 September 1942. Nine of her 64 crew members were lost when the Flower Class corvette was torpedoed, including the captain. After the ship was torpedoed, Bonner's men searched desperately for their commander's body as they picked up surviving crew members. They did eventually find him and were able to pull him into a rescue boat. In order to have room to manoeuvre the oars, the crew had to tie his remains to the boat's rudder and it was a struggle as they tried to row for shore. As fate would have it, rather than prevent the men from getting to shore, the rudder was pulled off the boat and Lieutenant Commander Bonner's body disappeared into the mist. 'The Charlottetown Guardian, June 3, 2002. of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Honour Roll Book.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-CA-FED-FB6D302F
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 8, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Constable John Willard Bonner served with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Constable John Willard Bonner.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Location ON

Platform Identity rcmp.fed.ca.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 11, 1942

Age 44

Gender Female

Division H.M.C.S. Charlottetown

Born January 5, 1898

Incident Details

Cause Undetermined

Incident Location Halifax, NS

Constable Master John Willard Bonner is one of 260 officers lost under undetermined circumstances across the full record of this memorial — 0.8% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In ON, 236 of 334 officers were lost under undetermined circumstances — 70.7% of this state's fallen. That is 69.9 percentage points above the national rate of 0.8%.

At Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 236 of 333 officers on record were lost under undetermined circumstances — 70.9% of this agency's fallen.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

236

of 333 officers

70.9% Undetermined

ON — Statewide

236

of 334 officers

70.7% Undetermined

Nationwide

260

of 32,508 officers

0.8% Undetermined

National Cause Distribution

How Undetermined compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Master John Willard Bonner's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Master John Willard Bonner Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Undetermined: 31.7 years

When Undetermined Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Undetermined deaths across the full memorial record. Master John Willard Bonner is highlighted in Sep.

Jan

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Incident Location

Halifax, NS.

Others Who Wore This Badge

332 officers from Royal Canadian Mounted Police are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.