Annual Buxton and Ocracoke Ceremonies to honor WWII sailors will be held on May 8 and May 9

April 8, 2025 | Island Features | By: Joy Crist

Ocracoke British Cemetery ceremony and reception in 2022. Photo by OPS.

Two annual ceremonies are returning in 2025 to honor the World War II British and Canadian sailors who lost their lives off the Outer Banks 83 years ago.

In early May, representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, U.S. Navy, British Royal Navy, and National Park Service will come together at the British cemeteries on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands to honor the 63 foreign sailors who perished while protecting our coast.

The ceremonies are held every year near the anniversary of the sinking of the HMS Bedfordshire, with the first ceremony scheduled for May 8 at 11:00 a.m. in Buxton, and the second ceremony scheduled for May 9 at 11:00 a.m. in Ocracoke village.

Buxton British Cemetery, Photo from National Park Service

The Buxton ceremony honors the service of the men who lost their lives in April of 1942 when the British-armed tanker San Delfino was sunk by a German submarine, U-203, just off the shoreline of Pea Island. Two of the men are buried at the British Cemetery in Buxton: Fourth Engineer Officer Michael Cairns of the Royal Merchant Navy from the San Delfino, and an unknown sailor.

The second ceremony will be held the following day at the British Cemetery on Ocracoke Island to pay tribute to the sailors from HMS Bedfordshire, which was sunk in May of 1942 by the German U-558, near the island. Sub-Lieutenant Cunningham and Ordinary Telegraphist Second Class Craig are buried at the Ocracoke site. Two bodies were also found in the ocean north of Ocracoke, and although never identified, they were assumed to have come from Bedfordshire, and were interred alongside their shipmates.

Both the Ocracoke and Buxton British Cemeteries are open to the public daily for those who would like to pay their respects but are unable to attend the May ceremonies.

The Buxton British Cemetery is located on Lighthouse Road in Buxton, just past the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, while the Ocracoke British Cemetery is located on British Cemetery Road off of N.C. Highway 12 near Silver Lake Harbor.