He was told that he should take as many as he possibly could "without regard to the limits of International Law". A resident of Ile de Noirmoutier, Michel Adrien, who was six at the time, remembers the bodies spilling out from the sea, some still warm. casualties and survivors with related. They had no chance because the ship went down in 15 minutes. 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. 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. However, therewas no such light-heartedness for 800 RAF personnel of the ranks. He passed away four years ago, the last Scottish survivor to die. 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. Many thanks. She was bombed at 15:48 by Junkers 88 aircraft from II. [4] She sank around 5nmi (9.3km) south of Chmoulin Point in the Charpentier roads, around 9nmi (17km) from St. Nazaire. The medal is in recognition of the endurance of survivors and ultimate sacrifice of the victims. 1912-05-28 RMS Laconia Passenger List Steamship Line: Cunard Line Class of Passengers: Second Cabin Date of Departure: 28 May 1912 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. Let us know. The medal ribbon has a grey background with a red and black central stripe, representative of the ship's wartime and merchant marine colours. The British Government has refused to make the site a war grave under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 although documents obtained under the Freedom of Information show that it could be done. manufacturing in Britain. Now aged 77 and living in Malvern, Worcestershire, she will be joined by her husband, her children and her grandchildren at a ceremony in Saint-Nazaire on 17 June to mark the tragedy. [3] It is the greatest ever loss of life in the sinking of a single British ship, claiming more lives than the combined losses of the RMS Titanic (1,523 passengers and crew) and RMS . 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. Some survivors claimed that a bomb had gone straight down a funnel, others thought bombs hit No, 4, 2, and 3 holds. The Germans ordered their submarines to dive, abandoning many survivors. The government feared what the news would do the British nation in the midst of its darkest hour. Much of this proved heart-breaking as one family were told weeks laterthat their son, previously reported as a survivor, had instead been listed as one of the missing. Raye Dancocks explains . It also has a model of the ship in a glass case and the ship's bell is also in the church. Mark - a former broadcast journalist and co-founder of the Lancastria Association of Scotland - has studied the life of his grandfather Walter Hirst, who survived the sinking. [52] In September 2013, a plaque was unveiled at Liverpool's Pier Head by Lord Mayor Gary Millar commemorating the loss of the ship. But Charlie had also survived. She sailed scheduled routes between Liverpool and New York until 1932, and was then used as a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Europe. He never saw his friend Charlie again. All Digitized Passenger Lists For the RMS Laconia Available at the GG Archives. Even then, the British newspapers toed the patriotic line. Remembrance St Nazaire: the HMT Lancastria Memorial on the left and the Operation Chariot Memorial on the right. Their names may be lost to history, but they are not forgotten. Two chapters briefly detail the extraction of Allied forces from Europe in Operations Cycle (Le Havre, France), Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk); and Operation Aerial (St. Nazaire, Nantes, Cherbourg, and seven other French ports). RMS Lancastria Cunard 1940617 4000 Titanic Lusitania [ ] Under the Official Secrets Act, the report on the Lancastria cannot be published until the year 2040. 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.". Also he was going to join the Navy in UK, would like to get the facts from the Navy about him signing into the Navy, also his father, my Great Grandfather, signed the India Shipping documents in Belfast, Ireland in 1921, claims, can I make claim for Great Great Grandfathers son, William George Ellason Myers he was born 1899, he lost his things and what else damages stress, we were also Banker, looking for documents to support the opening of the Bank of England, Ireland and Scotland and all Y.M.C.A., in America we were Bank Starter for all Great West Permanent Loans and Savings company of Canada, and I believe London Life and all Permanent Buildings, we were amazing, last known residence in his WILL, residing in the Union Theology College of British Columbia/United Church of Canada, Esquire, Banker and Methodist Minister, named after 4 priests. Franconia was assigned to Lorient while Lancastria continued toward St. Nazaire but because of the tidal channel on the Loire estuary Lancastria had to anchor in the Charpentier Roads about 5 nm (nautical miles) southwest of the actual port. Copyright Historic UK Ltd. Company Registered in England No. If you provide contact details, we will be in touch about your request within 10 working days. [32] In 2005, Fenby wrote that estimates of the death toll vary from fewer than 4,000 to 6,500 people although it is also estimated that as many as 7,000 people perished, the largest loss of life in British maritime history, sometimes it is considered the second worst loss of life at sea (though with the estimates of the worst shipwrecks like the Goya also being 7,000, it is unknown which is worse. Within hours of berthing at Liverpool, Lancastria was urgently recalled to sea; loud-speaker announcements at the main railway station successfully recalled nearly all the crew members;[16] she arrived in Plymouth on 15 June to await orders. This of course would mean ignoring virtually all safety rules and regulations. Mr Napier is also wearing the Lancastria commemorative medal which was awarded by the Scottish Government in June 2008 in recognition of those who were aboard the vessel that day. Estimates of total survivors were hard to quantify though. However, some information about the Lancastrias sinking was made public within a matter of days, particularly six individual death notices in local newspapers. [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". HMT Lancastria in the Second World War 1939-1945 - Wartime Memories Project You. "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.