On this November 11th I remember my grandfather, Captain William Dillon, and other Newfoundland merchant mariners who participated in The Battle of the North Atlantic. <br /> During World War II, Newfoundland was a British Colony. After France capitulated, the British Admiralty took over a number of Newfoundland fishing vessels and ordered them into service. These smaller vessels, many of them mere fishing trawlers, helped escort convoys of Canadian and American supply ships across the Atlantic. Sometimes there were 40-50 ships in one convoy.<br /> My grandfather, whom I affectionately called Daddy-on-the-Boat, was serving as captain of one of these escort ships, the SS Elizabeth Marie, when the vessel was attacked by enemy aircraft. He spent ten months recuperating in a hospital in Scotland. <br /> Today I add a poppy to a picture of my Daddy-on-the-Boat, for Captain Dillon and for all those Newfoundlanders who did their part for the good of the free world. May their memory live on. <br />   Submitted By: Josette Kenny Abruzzini