🇨🇦 THEY STOOD ON GUARD Able Seaman Abraham Unger Royal Canadian Navy October 25, 1944 — Age 21 On this day in 1944, 21-year-old Able Seaman Abraham Unger lost his life when the Canadian destroyer HMCS Skeena was wrecked during a violent storm off the coast of Iceland. Unger, from McMahon, Saskatchewan, was serving with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve aboard Skeena, a veteran destroyer that had spent years escorting Allied convoys and hunting enemy submarines in the dangerous waters of the North Atlantic. On the night of October 24–25, 1944, Skeena was anchored near Reykjavík when a ferocious gale struck, with winds reportedly reaching 60 knots. The destroyer began dragging her anchor. Despite desperate efforts by her crew to regain control, the powerful winds and mountainous seas drove the vessel onto the rocky shores of Viðey Island. Both propellers were damaged, leaving the ship helpless against the pounding surf. The order was eventually given to abandon ship. In darkness, freezing temperatures and violent seas, sailors struggled to reach shore aboard Carley life floats and rafts. Some survived by clinging to the floats, while others found shelter in abandoned buildings on the island. Tragically, 15 Canadian sailors, including Abraham Unger, lost their lives. The disaster remained largely unknown to the Canadian public until May 1945, when newspapers finally reported the loss of the destroyer and her men. Unger was laid to rest in Fossvogur Cemetery in Reykjavík, Iceland, thousands of kilometres from his Saskatchewan home. He was just 21 years old. Today, 82 years later, we remember Abraham Unger and the 14 shipmates who perished alongside him — young Canadians who served their country far from home and never returned. We will remember them. 🇨🇦 #LestWeForget #RoyalCanadianNavy #TheyStoodOnGuard