[38], In July 2007 another request for documents held by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) related to the sinking was rejected by the British government. "I think that is probably the reason he never went to any of the company reunions. In 2005, Fenby wrote that estimates of the death toll vary from fewer than 3,000 to 5,800 people although it is also estimated that as many as 6,500 people perished, the largest loss of life in British maritime history. Some may have called it a humiliating defeat but to this day the Dunkirk Spirit is still an oft-used expression to describe endurance under extreme pressure. The MoD has said it does not plan to send a representative to France. [33], However, there were earlier reports of the sinking and the scale of the disaster from survivors in local British newspapers. Captain Sharp estimated he had loaded 5,500 people, but his officers put the count at nearer 7,200. Read about our approach to external linking. [59], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}471026N 21915W / 47.17389N 2.32083W / 47.17389; -2.32083 (Location of the sinking of the troopship RMS Lancastria), "Lancastria" redirects here. Or, you can request a quotation for a copy to be sent to you. Every nook and cranny, including her massive holds, was packed with people. Many of those in the water drowned because there were insufficient life jackets, or died from hypothermia, or were choked by fuel oil. In a letter to The Times last month, campaigners said the government should do more. The British government had requisitioned the Cunard ocean liner to continue bringing British Expeditionary Force troops back to Britain following the evacuation of Dunkirk. She was sunk on 17 June 1940 during Operation Aerial. (5). The testimony of an engineering officer, Frank Brogden, who was in the engine room at the time contradicts this. Many drowned, were choked by the oil, or were shot by the strafing German aircraft. Around lunchtime, on the 17th, there was an air raid. Launched on the Clyde, Scotland, in 1920 by William Beardmore and Co as the Tyrrhenia for the Anchor Line, a subsidiary of Cunard, the 16,243 ton, 578 foot long liner could carry 2,200 passengers in three classes. Required fields are marked *. I think he was embarrassed. Under the Official Secrets Act, the report on the Lancastria cannot be published until the year 2040. "[30] Rudolph Sharp survived the sinking and went on to command the RMSLaconia, losing his life on 12 September 1942 in the Laconia incident off West Africa. Wynn cites seven online sources (p. 181), namely the British Newspaper Archive, the Britain at War website, the British section of Ancestry.com, the Militarian Forum, the Forces War Records, the Wartime Memories Project, and the War Graves Records, which appear to have been mistakenly recorded as a .com website rather than .org. [2] What a story, and how lucky are we,born just after WW2, for the brave men and women, who fought for our freedom, Your email address will not be published. They included Pioneer and Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Engineers, and Royal Air Force personnel, some Polish and Czech troops, civilian refugees, embassy staff, employees of Fairey Aviation of Belgium and their families. 4 hold. If you provide contact details, we will be in touch about your request within 10 working days. She was the sister ship of RMS Cameronia which Beardmore had built for the Anchor Line the previous year. They had no chance because the ship went down in 15 minutes. In the following day's paper, again on page five, there was a more detailed article. The rest were rescued under continued air attack by the devotion of the small craft.. When Nazi planes dropped their bombs, Walter and Charlie were separated in the chaos. VideoOn board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, I didnt think make-up was made for black girls, Why there is serious money in kitchen fumes. A number of survivors reported that one bomb had gone down the ship's single funnel which is most likely, given the speed with which the ship sank about 1520 minutes. It is the worst single loss of life in British maritime history and the bloodiest single engagement for UK The sinking of the RMS Lancastria, as seen from a rescue ship. Around 700 missing from the British Expeditionary Force are commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial. Having received an emergency order to evacuate British nationals and troops in excess of its capacity of 1,300 passengers, mode. [13][14], At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Lancastria was in the Bahamas. Seventy five years after the sinking of the Lancastria - Britain's worst maritime disaster in history - why is the tragedy largely forgotten? Lancastria Association of Scotland made a further request in 2009. Lancastria was hit by three or possibly four bombs. There were 2,477 survivors, of whom about 100 were still alive in 2011. And what do those touched by the catastrophe want now? [40] On 17 June 2010 (70th anniversary of the sinking) Janet Dempsey gave a lecture at The National Archives entitled "Forgotten Tragedy: The Loss of HMT Lancastria". The medal ribbon has a grey background with a red and black central stripe, representative of the ship's wartime and merchant marine colours. About 124,000 troops were assembling and the Admiralty had dispatched some 30 merchant vessels of all sizes to the rescue. All service personnel killed during the Second World War are recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and where known that they lost their lives on the Lancastria. An estimated 400 Scots were amongst the 4,000 killed with the Lancastria was attacked and sunk. Captain Sharp would lose his life on September 12, 1942, when the HMT Laconia, was sunk northeast of Ascension Island off the coast of West Africa by Kriegsmarine U-156, a Type IXC boat then attached to the 4th U-boat Flotilla. Due to the imposition of the D-Notice, survivors and the crews of the ships that had gone to the aid of Lancastria did not discuss the disaster at the time due to the fear of court martial. May 1936. One can understand media censorshiptoensurethat morale wasnt impacted butwhile people in Britain were unaware of the tragedy, French citizens around the coast could not escape it as bodies washedashore all summer, all along ahundred kilometres of coastline.More and more appeared along the sand dependent upon tides and summer storms.But despite German rulings the French localscontinued to give decent Christian burialsalthough,onceagain, identificationrecords weresparse. The evacuees were in several western French ports including Lorient and St. Nazaire on the Loire River. Harrowingenough in itself the grey-paintedship was anchored out in the Loireestuarywith personnel ferried out in various small boats itcan be well-imagined thatthese hungry, traumatisedand wounded peoplewere so relieved to be transportedto asafe place.But asmore and more embarkedbelow decks the vessel became hopelesslyovercrowded, indeed a communique was sent stating that the ship should embark as many as possible irrespective of international rules (1). Catalogue description S.S. "LANCASTRIA" : Lists of R.A.F. Whatever the case, this event likely remains the largest single-ship loss of life in British maritime history, more than the RMS Titanic, which had an estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard and suffered over 1,500 fatalities. As the families reflect on their loss, it appears their frustrations will remain. [28], Survivors were taken aboard other British and Allied evacuation vessels, the trawler HMTCambridgeshire rescuing 900. [citation needed], The Lancastria Association of Scotland began a campaign in 2005 to secure greater recognition for the loss of life aboard Lancastria and the acknowledgement of the endurance of survivors that day. 1912-05-28 RMS Laconia Passenger List Steamship Line: Cunard Line Class of Passengers: Second Cabin Date of Departure: 28 May 1912 [7] On 10 October 1932 Lancastria rescued the crew of the Belgian cargo ship SS Scheldestad, which had been abandoned in a sinking condition in the Bay of Biscay. The British press did then cover the story, including front pages of the Daily Herald (also on 26 July) and Sunday Express on 4 August; the latter included a photograph of the capsized ship with its upturned hull lined with men under the headline "Last Moments of the Greatest Sea Tragedy of All Time". On Saturday, 13 June, relatives of those who were on the Lancastria will gather for a ceremony at the Scottish memorial at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, near to where the ship was built. Launched on the Clyde, Scotland, in 1920 by William Beardmore and Co as the Tyrrhenia for the Anchor Line, a subsidiary of Cunard, the 16,243 ton, 578 foot long liner could carry 2,200 passengers in three classes. Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 30. S.S. "LANCASTRIA" : Lists of R.A.F. Listing Includes Date Voyage Began, Steamship Line, Vessel, Passenger Class and Route. So there you are a sad narrative from our maritime history. useful bibliography and discussion. He was a very quiet man, and his recalling of the Lancastria tended to come only after a couple of pints.". Both the 20,000 ton liner Oronsay and the Franconia were damaged by bombs and strafing, the former had her bridge devastated while the damaged Franconia was able to limp back to England for repairs. As were news reports on the sinking. There are 1,472 names on his list of the deceased, extracted from the War Graves website, but theCommonwealth War Graves Commission records 1,816 burials with more than 400 in France (Fenby 2005, p. 234) and the Lancastria Association identifies 1,738 individuals that died aboard the ship . Lancastria Association names 1,738 people known to have been killed. [45][46], After the war, the Lancastria Survivors Association was founded by Major Peter Petit, but this lapsed on his death in 1969. A few eyewitnesses told of soldiers balancing on the upturned hull and singing Roll out the Barrel as the ship listed to port. Crew members were either discharged or sent on leave.[15]. The people living in the area, found bodies washed up on the beaches for weeks after the disaster. The Lancastria was carrying up to 9,000 troops when it was bombed by German planes and sunk outside the port on 17 June 1940. Many men jumped into the sea wearing life jackets and broke their necks when they hit the water, others were killed as they hit the hull of the ship. In February 2008 the Scottish Government confirmed it would present the medal to all those who were aboard the Lancastria that day. There were multiple air raids and, in addition, the British feared possible U-boat attacks, so Captain Sharp decided to wait for a Royal Navy and/or RAF escort. [25] As Lancastria began to capsize, some of those who were still on board managed to scramble onto the ship's underside. The details that are known about the event have all come from witness statements. She was bombed at 15:48 by Junkers 88 aircraft from II. He passed away four years ago, the last Scottish survivor to die. Many others died from hypothermia, inhaling fuel oil on the surface or drowning. When the British troop ship 'Lancastria' was sunk in June 1940, some 5,000 people died - but news of the disaster was kept from the British public. Remembrance St Nazaire: the HMT Lancastria Memorial on the left and the Operation Chariot Memorial on the right. "I think my grandfather was haunted by that," added Mark. It is famously known that the battle ended with the enormous undertaking of evacuating the British troops from French soil. The Ministry of Defence said all known documents relating to the Lancastria have been available at the National Archives at Kew since the early 1970s. Thefirst due to the declaration of war against Germany and the 2020 season scrapped because of the pandemic; in 1939 Blackpool were in first place whilst Liverpool and Everton were fourth and fifth respectively. The D-Notice blacked-out details of the incident for 100 years, so it will not be released before 2040. I think Churchill was right when he said 'we don't broadcast this'. The Lancastria was the largest loss of life from a single engagement for British forces in World War Two and is also the largest loss of life in British maritime history - greater than the Titanic and Lusitania combined. It was only attended by 10 people. Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Having received an emergency order to evacuate British nationals and troops from France the ship was loaded well in excess of its capacity of 1,300 passengers. It also has a model of the ship in a glass case and the ship's bell is also in the church. Naval Institute is maintaining and preserving the former Naval Historical Foundation website so readers and former NHF members can still access past issues of Pull Together and other content. We place some essential cookies on your device to make this website work. Within four months of the outbreak of World War II, Lancastria was requisitioned by the Admiralty as His Majestys Troopship (HMT) Lancastria under the command of Captain Rudolph Sharp. "As the French Government has provided an appropriate level of protection to the Lancastria through French law and it is formally considered a military maritime grave by the MoD, we believe that the wreck has the formal status and protection it deserves.". By the mid-afternoon of 17 June, she had embarked an unknown number (estimates range from 4,000 up to 9,000) of civilian refugees (including embassy staff and staff of Fairey Aviation of Belgium), and line-of-communication troops (Pioneers, RASC etc), and RAF personnel. [24] The ship was equipped with sixteen lifeboats and 2,500 life jackets;[19] but many of the boats could not be launched because they had been damaged in the bombing or because of the angle of the hull. It was not an official government order, but the British media followed Churchills lead. [29] Capt WG Euston recommended several of his crew for awards, including Stanley Kingett for "making repeated journeys in a lifeboat to pick up exhausted men from the water while under machine-gun fire from enemy planes", and William Perrin for "keeping up continuous machine-gun fire in an attempt to prevent enemy planes machine-gunning men in the water. British and Allied evacuation vessels took Lancastrias survivors aboard, the trawler HMT Cambridgeshire alone rescuing nearly 900 souls. It was used until 1993, when the name was changed to DSMA-Notice (Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice). The D-notice, or Defence Notice, also called DA-notice (Defence Advisory Notice), was a unique British government instruction devised in 1912. RMS Lancastria (later HMT Lancastria) was a British Cunard liner commandeered by the UK Government for war, sunk on 17 June 1940 during World War II sending 4,000 people to their deaths, possibly many more. Nevertheless, within hours of disembarking troops at Liverpool on June 14th, Lancastria was reassigned, along with the 20,341 gross tons liner Franconia, to Operation Aerial, the evacuation of British civilians, embassy staff, and support troops from France. Wynn does not clarify what materials he utilized from these sources and there are no footnotes, in-text citations, or endnotes. German bombing raids shifted the focus away from the sea and onto the mainland, and the nations attention also shifted to fresh challenges and atrocities. This page was last edited on 18 June 2018, at 16:21. Other soldiers, meanwhile, performed acts of bravery and helped civilians while there was "no panic". As the 100th anniversary of the RMSTitanic sinking took place in 2012, fresh calls were made for "official recognition" of the loss of Lancastria by the British Government. Years later, he helped Mark to piece together the stories of the Lancastria. It reformed in 1981 as The HMT Lancastria Association and continues the tradition of a parade and remembrance service at the Church of St Katharine Cree in the City of London, where there is a memorial stained glass window. The loss of His Majesty's Troopship Lancastria on 17 June 1940 still resonates 80 years on from the disaster. On 17 June 1940, whilst being used as part of Operation Aerial to evacuate civilian refugees and British military personnel from France, it was anchored about 5 miles from the coast of St Nazaire. [19] By the mid-afternoon of 17 June she had embarked an unknown number (estimates range from 4,000 up to 9,000)[4] line-of-communication troops (including Pioneer and Royal Army Service Corps soldiers) and Royal Air Force personnel, together with about forty civilian refugees, including embassy staff and employees of Fairey Aviation of Belgium with their families. In fact the casualty figures, especiallyin perspective, are moreshocking and although 59 merchant seamen were lost on theLancastria(4), 126 merchant sailors perishedduring the whole of the previous fortnights Dunkirk evacuation. According to some accounts, these were heard to be singing 'Roll Out the Barrel' and 'There'll Always Be an England', though some survivors strongly deny this. There were no Royal Navy vessels available to protect her against submarine attack, so Captain Sharp decided to wait until the Oronsay could leave, along with the Royal Navy escort. Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. Lancastria memorial plaque at Liverpool Pier Head. [4] She sank around 5nmi (9.3km) south of Chmoulin Point in the Charpentier roads, around 9nmi (17km) from St. Nazaire. casualties and survivors with related correspondence, and other nominal lists of R.A.F. Video, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, and despite a special Scottish government medal for Lancastria survivors and their families, Serena Williams announces pregnancy at Met Gala, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, New record as 4.56m Indians take flights in a day, Japan to ban upskirting in stronger sex crime laws, Met Gala 2023: Stars celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, BP profits of 4bn in three months spark criticism. In April 1940, she was one of twenty troopships in Operation Alphabet, the evacuation of troops from Norway, and was bombed on the return journey although she escaped damage. It highlighted claims from the New York Sun newspaper on the sinking, with 500 feared dead. The evacuation of more than 300,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, between May 26th and June 4th 1940, After the Dunkirk evacuation, pockets of military personnel were left behind in France who had to make their way to the French ports for evacuation as best they could. Introduction:Aday which isprobably more in peoples minds due to resumption of the Premier League footballseasonrather than the commemoration of Britains worst maritime tragedy a disaster which took the lives of an estimated 3000 to 5800 sailors, soldiers, airmen and civilians. HMT Lancastria Association, 17 June 1988.. The captain said that he would be able to take 3,000 at a pinch. Many years later, I was asked by my father, Oliver Gleasure (Irish Guards) to find the book, so he could gift it to my uncle. It was a few weeks after the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk, and Walter and Charlie were still in occupied Europe with an estimated 150,000 other British servicemen. [3], The immense loss of life was such that the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, immediately suppressed news of the disaster through the D-Notice system,[33] telling his staff that "The newspapers have got quite enough disaster for today at least". Hold No. The RMS Lancastria was hit by three or four bombs dropped from a Junkers JU 88 bomber; 15 to 20 minutes later, she lay a the bottom of the sea. Even then, the British newspapers toed the patriotic line. Furthermore, estimates are that 36% of all BEF troops killed in action between September 39 and June 1940 were lost on theLancastria. [47] The Lancastria Association of Scotland was formed in 2005 and holds its annual service at St George's West Church in Edinburgh. [17] Troops were ferried out to Lancastria and the other larger ships by destroyers, tugs, fishing boats and other small craft,[18] a round trip of three or four hours, sometimes being machine-gunned by German aircraft, although apparently without casualties. [34], The sinking was announced that evening during the English-language Nazi propaganda radio programme, Germany Calling by its presenter William Joyce, better known as "Lord Haw-Haw"; however his claims were notoriously unreliable and had little public credence. [52] The inscription on the rear of the medal reads: "In recognition of the ultimate sacrifice of the 4000 victims of Britain's worst-ever maritime disaster and the endurance of survivors We will remember them". As many as 7,000 lost their lives, making it Britain's worst sea . Official commemorations of those lost during the disaster were long in coming. Information about the Lancastria sinking might be restricted by the Official Secrets Act. You will need a reader's ticket to do this. [citation needed], A memorial on the sea-front at St Nazaire was unveiled on 17 June 1988, "in proud memory of more than 4,000 who died and in commemoration of the people of Saint Nazaire and surrounding districts who saved many lives, tended wounded and gave a Christian burial to victims". In his memoirs, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote that he had intended to release the news a few days later, but that events in France crowded upon us so black and so quickly that I forgot to lift the ban (p.192). In 1924 she was refitted for two classes and renamed Lancastria after passengers complained that they could not properly pronounce Tyrrhenia; (viz: RP /tjurini/ as per the crew's nickname of the ship: the "Old Soup Tureen". This record has not been digitised and cannot be downloaded. She was sunk on 17 June 1940 during Operation Aerial. The ship's official capacity was 2,200 including the 375 man crew. It is thought this dog may have belonged to two refugee children, who had boarded the Lancastria after walking through Belgium and France for weeks with the animal. She made her maiden voyage, Glasgow-Qubec-Montreal on 19 June 1922. A large number of men who jumped over the side were killed by hitting the side of the hull or had their necks broken by their life jackets on impact with the water. Shortly afterwards, Lancastria carried troops to consolidate the invasion of Iceland. Grace's Guide web site design is Copyright 2021 by Grace's Guide Ltd. There is no reliable count of how many people were crammed onto the liner. ; had they seen them perish or had they seen them escape?. information and 239,789 images on early companies, their products and the At 1:50 pm the nearby [SS Oronsay |Oronsay]] a 20,000-ton Orient liner, was struck on the bridge, the Lancastria was free to depart and advised by the captain of the British destroyer Havelock to leave, but without a destroyer escort against possible submarine attack, Sharp decided to wait. I can't think, after all of these years, it can still be a secret. The late edition of The Scotsman on July 25 1940 featured a six-paragraph story buried on the middle of page five. Chapter 4 Secret Session Speeches by Churchill provides extracts of five speeches made between June 20th 1941 and December 10, 1942, including one made in response to the sinking of HMT Lancastria on June 17, 1941. But Charlie had also survived. Anchored 11 miles south-west of St Nazaire. [23] The ship sank at 16:12, within twenty minutes of being hit,[26] which gave little time for other vessels to respond. This of course would mean ignoring virtually all safety rules and regulations. My late uncle Richard Gleasure, an aircraft technician, was due to be on the SS Lancastria, rescue ship , but as his air force colleges were leaving with a full aircraft, several yelled to him to RUN, Quick,, as they then pulled him onto an already taxing plane through the floor door, he was saved. The site of the sinking is not an official War Grave safeguarded by The Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986 because the British have no jurisdiction over the French territorial waters where Lancastrias wreck lies, but the French government has provided an appropriate level of protection to the site, prohibiting diving on the wreck, for example. Alchetron However, Chapter 10, Those Who Died, comprises nearly one-third of the book and lists the names of 1,431 individuals from 39 different military units along with, where possible, their ranks, service numbers and designations of regiments or corps. (accessed 30.05.2020), 5)www.lancastria.org.uk(2019)We will remember them(accessed 02.06.2020), 6) The Independent (p.4 16.06.2015)Families still refused memorial. The Lancastria was a Cunard Anchor Line ocean liner built by William Beardmore and Company and launched on the 31st of May 1920. This list of sources is concerning as there are at least a dozen sources that would have provided additional information to flesh-out his brief narrative, namely Winston Churchills 1949 The Second World War, Vol. Walter ended up in the water and saw a dog swimming away from the wreckage. [21], At 13:50, during an air-raid, the nearby Oronsay, a 20,000-ton Orient Liner, was hit on the bridge by a German bomb. "Nearly 2,500 are known to have been saved - and more may be in enemy hands - from a total 5300 aboard the transport Lancastria, which, it was admitted in London yesterday, was sunk on June 17 by the enemy during the evacuation of the BEF from France,' it read. It also organises the largest memorial service for the victims in the UK. personnel, Have you found an error with this catalogue description? [39][a] In the face of continued campaigning by relatives, the MoD stated in 2015 that all known documents had long since been released through the National Archives. She was bombed at 15:48 by Junkers 88 aircraft from II. One Royal Engineers officer reported that he had been told by one of Lancastria's loading officers that over 7,200 people had come aboard. The RMS Lancastria was a British Cunard liner sunk by enemy action on 17 June 1940 with the loss of an estimated 4,000 plus lives. On the 16th June, she anchored at the Loire Rivers mouth about 5 miles south-west of St. Nazaire, in the company of around 30 other merchant vessels of every size and shape. The name Tyrrhenia proved problematic for her passengers to pronounce and was subsequently changed to Lancastria in 1924. Raye Dancocks explains . RMS Lancastria (later HMT Lancastria) was a British Cunard liner commandeered by the UK Government during World War II. The letter added: "These relatives do not have a clear understanding of what happened as documentary evidence, they are told, remains unavailable; and possibly will not be revealed until 2040, which is of no comfort; indeed it adds to their distress as the relatives, themselves, will not be alive.". Charles C. Kolb, PhD, is a USNI Golden Life Member. Because the port has to be accessed along a tidal channel, Lancastria anchored in the Charpentier Roads, some 5 miles (8.0km) south-west of St. Nazaire, at 04:00 on 17 June,[17] along with some thirty other merchant vessels of all sizes.
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