Hidden History: The Sinking Of The Lancastria, A True Story Told Through The Eyes Of My Grandad

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One Of Five Brothers

Something about the eternal nature of the blockchain has compelled me to tell and thus record this story. Indeed much like the melting snow of spring if these words remain unspoken they will slowly disappear, obscured by the sands of time. From my perspective that would be a travesty, for it’s a story that needs to be recorded and a life/lives that deserve to be marked.

Including himself my Grandfather (Arthur) was one of five brothers whom were all conscripted to fight in WW2. They were separated and sent to various hotspots throughout the world and amazingly they all survived. Although they each have important story to tell today I’m going to focus on Arthur for he was aboard the Lancastria. Never heard of it? Well there’s a reason for that.

The Lancastria

RMS (HMT) Lancastria was a Cunard liner that was requisitioned by the UK government at the beginning of WW2. She was also sunk on the 17th of June 1940. Until this day the sinking of the Lancastria represents the largest loss of life in British maritime history. Equally, throughout WW2 it’s also the British forces largest single loss of life. Estimates are that between 4,000 - 6,000 men, women and children died in this incident, their lives scattered to the summer breeze. Certainly, there were more souls lost on the Lancastria than the Titanic & Lusitania combined. Indeed the ship was filled with both military personal and refugee men, women and children, and yet this remains a largely forgotten tragedy. Why?

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Following her sinking Prime Minister Winston Churchill imposed a media blackout. This is because the government feared the effect that this news would have upon the moral of the British public. It also didn’t fit the narrative of the time, Dunkirk, Battle of Britain and then The Lancastria? Even now there are still both missing pieces in the story and differing perspectives of how the events of that fateful day unfolded.

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The Journey Home

An exhausted Arthur boarded the Lancastria on a warm June afternoon. Two weeks prior he had been at Dunkirk and the thought of an (albeit fleeting) journey back to England filled his heart with both joy and promise. The Lancastria was taking part in Operation Ariel which was the evacuation of both troops and refugees, as such she was unarmed. For all on board the thought of heading away from danger and indeed the warzone must have been a great relief. Alas they were unaware of the events that were about to follow.

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We’re Going Down!

It was now late afternoon and the ship was just a few miles off the coast of St Nazaire. The clouds began to chase the weakening summer sun from the sky and the ship gently rocked in the open sea. It was on the deck that Arthur found himself, laughing and joking with his friend and a young French refugee family. Suddenly he felt a tug at his hand, looking down he noticed the French couple’s young (about 4- 5 years old) daughter pulling his hand and pointing in the direction of a group of children a bit further down the ship.

I imagine the prospect of a military escort must have been exciting for the little girl (Marie) and so after much hand pulling and gesturing Arthur agreed to take her. After a quick nod of approval from her father off they set, leaving her family and his fellow serviceman behind.

Within a matter of minutes all hell broke loose! The unarmed ship had been spotted and the Nazi bombers began their brutal assault. As he turned heel to walk back toward her family the bomber scored a direct hit where they had all been standing. A hit that instantly killed both the girls parents and his friend! Alas my grandfather is no longer alive and so the exact details of how he entered the water are now lost in time, but I have relayed his personal story and utilised some historical references to elucidate the broader context. Sadly from the start of the bombing campaign until her sinking was a timescale of just 25 minutes, and so you can imagine the confusion and terror that ensued.

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Eyewitness Account Of The Sinking

I have added an eyewitness account below from Albert Nadin so you can at least gain an insight into how quickly this all played out.

My mind was made up for me when she started to sink, turning slowly over on to her side and within seconds the top deck rail was almost level with the water. I was not a good swimmer but I stepped over the rail into the sea and made every effort to get away from the ship as far as I possibly could. I got about thirty yards away, looked back and saw she was sinking fast but a lot of troops were still on board and were scrambling up the bottom of the ship as she turned over.

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I managed to get hold of an oar and another chap joined me and we managed to keep afloat by kicking out and holding the oar in front of us. By this time the oil was covering the whole area and we could feel it coming up from below. We were just drifting around while the German bombers were flying low and machine-gunning the survivors in the sea. By this time I was scared stiff and was covered in oil and could not seem to be able to keep my head out of the water.Source

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Into The Water

The fatal bomb exploded on the port side and ruptured the fuel tanks. A black cloud of oil began oozing into the sea and coating all that tried to escape it’s dark embrace. As the ship went down and pandemonium erupted all around him Arthur was suddenly in the water. Luckily throughout the confusion he had managed to keep hold of Marie, and now he held her tightly. Indeed to let go would have ensured her certain death for neither of them had lifejackets.

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As the ship belched smoke and fire, the acrid plumes stung their eyes and scorched their lungs. As the thick oily sludge weighed him down, he held her close and kept her above the water. Whilst some of the soldiers sang “there will always be an England” from the upturned deck, the screams of the drowning and injured filled their ears and echoed through the evening sky. And then, in a hail of gunfire they were back!! The bullets of the bombers punched the ocean around them as they began to indiscriminately shoot at the struggling survivors. I remember him telling me of the panic that gripped them as word began to spread that the Nazi's were trying to set fire to the oil filled water.

Indeed it’s a sad fact that as they desperately tried to cling onto life many people whom survived the sinking were actually killed by enemy gunfire. For nearly four hours Arthur and Marie held onto life and each other, Arthur using anything he could find to keep them above the water and alive. And then as hope began to fade and the last rays of daylight were scattered by the darkness, they were rescued.

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Safety

They were found hypothermic and exhausted, but most importantly alive! Once their rescue ship reached the shore and in the melee that followed, the authorities took Marie and processed her as both a refugee and orphan. And that was the last he saw of her, indeed at this time and in these circumstances to retain contact was akin to impossible. He was allowed a short time for rest and respite and was then sent back to the frontline and remained on duty until the wars end in 1945.

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The End?

Well I may have stretched the truth a little when I said he never saw her again. It was a hot summer day and Arthur was busy gardening when he heard a knock on the door. Twenty years or so had passed since the events of the Lancastria and yet when he opened the door there she stood! A beautiful young woman, it was Marie! She had tracked Arthur down and was there to ask that he give her away at her wedding, to take the role of her lost father for just one day. As tears filled his eyes and ran down his face he duly obliged. The wedding would become one of the proudest days in his life, for they were profoundly connected. Two people thrown together in a random sequence of events that would go onto save both their lives.

The UK government were eventually pressured into marking the event and giving the survivors and the families of those that perished a lasting memorial. But equally certain documentary evidence remains sealed and will not be made public until 2040. Sadly to this day the individual acts of bravery remain unrecognised, at least officially.
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Conclusion

For me this is not a post to discuss the futility of war. We can have this conversation every day of the week but equally for the majority it’s a conversation that can be held from the comfort of our homes. I write these words as a way of saying thank you to my grandfather and to a whole generation that had no choice. A generation whose minds remained eternally scarred by the horrors they witnessed and the sacrifices that they made. This is Arthurs forgotten voice, spoken from the waters of the Lancastria and written so that it's heroes and it's dead will continue to speak to us.

This is also a story of the human spirit, humanity in the face of inhumanity, the spark of light that keeps burning and illuminating even the darkest of nights. A light that may at times flicker, but will never be extinguished.

Thank you for reading.

References

1)http://ww2today.com/17th-june-1940-the-lancastria-bombed-and-sunk
2)http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/lancastria_01.shtml
3)http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hmt-lancastria-families-still-refused-memorial-for-britains-worst-sea-disaster-75-years-on-10324668.html
4)http://www.lancastria.org.uk/

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