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Introduction

In June 1922 the Tyrrenhia took her maiden voyage from Glasgow to Canada. She was an elegant vessel with two masts and a single funnel, and throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s was a ship of peaceful pleasure. No one liked her name - she quickly became known as the 'Soup Tureen' - and in early February 1924 she changed it to the Lancastria. What the fates made of the change, only time would tell - it is supposed to be very unlucky to change a God-given name, and sailors feel that the naming of a ship is as good as a christening.

This is an account of what befell the ship that changed its name, seen partly through the eyes of two survivors of the bombing raid which would sink the Lancastria, taking an estimated 5,000 people to their deaths.

The eyewitness accounts are taken from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ South documentary 'Lancastria - a Secret Sacrifice'. The programme includes War Office archive film of the wounded returning home, which was top secret at the time of the disaster.

RMS Lancastria became HMT Lancastria when she was commandeered for war, and her sleek Cunard lines were lost under a coat of battleship grey. During the first few months of war she was busily engaged in cargo and transport duties in the North Atlantic, her massive cargo capacity proving ideal for the task. When the Norwegian campaign began, the Lancastria was set aside for troop-carrying but was kept back until needed to evacuate troops from Harstaad. She returned to Britain with her public rooms crammed with dejected weary soldiers. En route, she was spotted by a high-flying German aircraft and, although they attacked, the bombs missed and she sailed safely home. Was she a lucky ship after all? The troops disembarked at Glasgow and, after transporting men to Iceland, the Lancastria returned to her home port of Liverpool for a much needed refit.

Red Alert

German bombers scored a direct hit on the Lancastria  © The crew had already been paid off when the telegram came ordering the Lancastria to be ready to sail with Operation Aerial and, together with other vessels, she made for Plymouth where the vessel was given orders to sail for western France. She was guided into the sea lanes of the Loire estuary, and anchored some 10 miles off St Nazaire at about 06.00 hrs on Monday 17 June. It was a beautiful misty summer morning.

Almost immediately, exhausted troops and some civilians began to arrive and were given little tickets, like bus tickets, with their cabin and deck number. Some were given spaces in the vast holds of the ship, where they laid down to rest and were asleep in just a few minutes. Throughout the morning troops arrived and seemed to fill every available space. Some had their first hot meal in weeks; some remained on deck watching still more people come aboard. There were units from the Army and RAF as well as civilians - men, women and young children.

At about 13.00 hrs the red alert sounded and a dive bomber was seen to attack the Oronsay which was some distance off. The bomber scored a direct hit on the bridge area, but it did not render the ship unseaworthy. Those on the deck of the Lancastria feared the worst: the enemy was sure to return. By this time the ship had taken some 6,000 people on board and more kept coming. At around 15.00 hrs Captain Sharp decided that enough was enough, but that to sail straight away would court disaster - he would rather wait for an escort.

The final moments

Hundreds were sucked under the water in the downdraught from the sinking vessel  © At about 15.50 hrs the enemy returned. Bombs were seen to straddle the ship, one bomb exploding close to the port side, rupturing her almost full fuel tanks. The black oil oozed into the sea, creating a dark, deathly cloud.

Immediately, the ship began a perilous roll from port to starboard and back again, further bombs struck home, one penetrating the holds that were crammed with troops. Of the RAF personnel aboard - from 73 Squadron and 98 Squadron - very few survived. The ship rolled onto her port side, down by the bow. Those who could, took to the water to try and swim though the black cloud of oil that here and there showed licks of flame.

Non-swimmers took to the water with whatever seemed to be able to keep them afloat. Some lifeboats were lowered but, on many, the davits could not be released because of the angle of the ship. Those still on board what was now an upturned hull watched as the enemy returned to strafe both those struggling for life on the hull and those in the sea. They sang in defiance at the tops of their voices 'Roll out the Barrel' and 'There'll always be an England'. The ship's siren wailed and by 16.10 hrs, in just 20 minutes, the Lancastria slipped beneath the waves.

News blackout

As many as 9,000 people were aboard the ship. Less than 2,500 survived  © Then there was the silence, a silence louder than the clamour of exploding bombs and guns. So ended the life of a beautiful ship and the lives of thousands of men, women and children. No one will ever know the exact number who died that day - some say there were as many as 9,000 on board by the time the Lancastria was bombed, others estimate 7,000. All we do know is that around 6,000 were on board by 13.00 hrs, and that many more arrived after that. Only 2,447 arrived home.

The rescue began with all kinds of vessels - from small fishing boats to destroyers of the Royal Navy - picking up survivors, more like oily flotsam than people. The bodies of those who died that day were washed up along the French coast during the coming months and were given Christian burials by the French people, who bravely ignored the German presence and cared for the victims as their own.

Churchill immediately hid the news from the public. In 1940, after Dunkirk, to reveal the truth would have been too damaging for civilian morale. He said, 'The newspapers have got quite enough disaster for today, at least.' Since that time the disaster has never been recognised for what it was - the greatest maritime disaster in Britain's history. More people were killed on the Lancastria than on the Titanic and Lusitania put together.

Survivors

Men being rescued from the Lancastria  © In many ways the survivors feel that their sacrifice and the ultimate sacrifice of those that share the Lancastria as their final resting place is not valued, simply because it is not recognised. Slowly but surely that sacrifice is becoming known and more widely recognised.

Harry Pettit from Hampshire, who was then a 24-year-old private, and Welshman Henry Harding, who was 19 at the time of the disaster, both survived the catastrophe.

Henry, who still has the watch he was wearing as the bombs fell, which stopped at five minutes past four (the time he decided to jump into the water), talks emotionally about his memories of the ship sinking.

'Lancastria' survivor Henry Harding, in 1940 (left) and today  © He describes seeing thousands of men cling desperately to the hull of the ship which sank in just 20 minutes, saying: 'I remember there were thousands of voices singing "Roll Out The Barrel" and "There'll Always Be An England", and for years afterwards I could not stand the sound of those two songs. I was turned around in the water and the next that I saw, nothing. Thousands had gone to a watery grave and I will always remember it, I can't ever forget it.'

The struggle for recognition

Survivor Harry Pettit, at the time of the sinking (left) and today.  © Although some photographs appeared in the American press late in the summer of 1940, and were then published in the UK, the full story of the Lancastria never came out.

Harry Pettit and Henry Harding, who both served in the Royal Army Service Corps, are angry that there has never been any official recognition of the sacrifice and bravery of their comrades.

Harry says: 'What I feel strongly about is that hundred and hundreds, possibly thousands, of people lost close relatives in that tragedy and nobody told them what had happened. It shouldn't have been left to someone like me to go out and help these people in this way. It's a bad show.'

Harry has worked hard to publicise the story, and has been successful in filling in the gaps for up to 200 people about the fate of their loved ones.

In the summer of 2000, Harry and Henry, 24 other survivors and many more relatives of victims made a last pilgrimage to St Nazaire and back to the site of the wreck, which is now an official war grave.

Remembering the lost

Memories of the 'Lancastria' are still painful to those involved in the catastrophe  © Of the 2,477 men rescued from the Lancastria, about 100 are still alive today. There are many families in England who never knew of the fate of their loved ones in western France in June 1940, only that they died with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).

The original HMT Lancastria Association was founded by a survivor, Major C V Petit. After his death, the Association was later renewed in its current form by some of the other survivors, and children of survivors. Today, it continues under the leadership of a Committee with the aim of remembering and honouring all those who lost their lives in the Lancastria disaster, and helping those survivors who did return.

The Association has in some cases been able to confirm to some families that their family member was indeed on the Lancastria, and has accompanied that family to a grave in western France, so that at last they are able to say their farewell. On the first Sunday after 17 June, each year, an annual remembrance service takes place in St Katharine Cree church, in Leadenhall Street, London.

This article is based on an account of the 's sinking, by Raye Dancocks, Chair of the HMT Lancastria Association.

Find out more

Books

The Last Voyage of the 'Lusitania' by AA Hoehling and Mary Hoehling (1996)

Wartime Disasters at Sea by David Williams (1997)

Credits

The producer of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ South documentary 'Lancastria - A Secret Sacrifice' was Briony Leyland.

About the author

Raye Dancocks was the producer of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ South documentary Lancastria - A Secret Sacrifice.