Roll of Honor
John Willard Bonner
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.
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- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 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
Service Record
Incident Details
Constable John Willard Bonner is one of 1 officers lost under undetermined circumstances across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In ON, 266 of 364 officers were lost under undetermined circumstances — 73.1% of this state's fallen. That is 73.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 236 of 333 officers on record were lost under undetermined circumstances — 70.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Undetermined compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Willard Bonner's cause is highlighted.
How John Willard Bonner Compares
When Undetermined Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Undetermined deaths across the full memorial record. John Willard Bonner is highlighted in Sep.
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.
