RMS Lancastria: 17 June 1940.

Introduction:
A day which is probably more in people’s minds due to resumption of the Premier League football season rather than the commemoration of Britain’s worst maritime tragedy – a disaster which took the lives of an estimated 3000 to 5800 sailors, soldiers, airmen and civilians.

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Yes, it was a long time ago – but to keep football supporters still interested perhaps there are parallels between the 1939-40 season and this year’s 2019-20 competition – for both were abandoned early. The first 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.

However, the move towards war went initially quite slowly. Footballers, just like many other blokes were drafted or enlisted with local teams sending gifted players such as Liverpool’s Tom Cooper and Everton’s reserve goalkeeper William Reid whilst Preston North End’s Tom Finney served in the Royal Armoured Corps.In fact, 629 professional footballers had joined the services by April 1940.By this time the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to France, but after relatively little action throughout the winter of 1939 the army faced its toughest battle which ended in the Dunkirk evacuation, an event which although essentially a British defeat, did save the majority of British troops and forged a new optimism for the nation.

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 Evacuation:

Dunkirk is well-documented to most; but although most troops in early June had been safely evacuated to English ports, the rest of the army were fighting a desperate rearguard action in north-western France around Brittany, a situation which Churchill recognised as an evacuation area to which many merchant and naval ships were duly despatched.Subsequently, on the 17 June the Lancastria had arrived off St Nazaire in an operation codenamed Aerial with orders to evacuate as ‘as many as possible‘ – a task the ship carried out continuously until there were an estimated 9,000 troops, RAF personnel, staff and dependants from Allied embassies and some French refugees including women and children.

Harrowing enough in itself – the grey-painted ship was anchored out in the Loire estuary with personnel ferried out in various small boats – it can be well-imagined that these hungry, traumatised and wounded people were so relieved to be transported to a safe place.But as more and more embarked below decks the vessel became hopelessly overcrowded, indeed a communique was sent stating that the ship should ‘embark as many as possible irrespective of international rules’ (1).

This of course would mean ignoring virtually all safety rules and regulations.

But despite the crammed conditions for most, earlier on there was a certain surrealism to the operation as some army officers were quoting it was ‘ almost like a cruise with people going to the restaurant, ordering from the menu and enjoying alcoholic beverages in the lounges.’ (2)

One steward reported that ‘the cocktail bar was reserved for Warrant Officers and Sergeants who were all shouting for drinks’ and complaining that it ‘difficult to find enough change.’(3)

However, there was no such light-heartedness for 800 RAF personnel of the ranks. Ushered down to decks E and F at the very bottom of the ship they nevertheless clutched their life jackets probably entertaining a thought that these would make good pillows.Ominously however, the troops were warned not to leave their confined quarters.

At midday Captain Sharp was advised to sail immediately but due to naval reports of a U-boat in the area he decided to await for a destroyer escort, a decision which was to seal the fate of many evacuees.

And at 15:55 on the 17 June the first bombs fell almost simultaneously from a German bomber causing the Lancastria to catch fire and capsize; hundreds would have been killed immediately whilst others struggled in the oil-covered sea.In a act of pure evil JU 88’s were machine-gunning survivors from the air – many of them women and children – but amidst the carnage smaller vessels did their best to assist, the anti-submarine trawler Cambridgeshire picking up no less than 900.

Estimates of total survivors were hard to quantify though. This isn’t just a result of an inaccurate muster of personnel embarked but in the main part by Churchill’s decision by to impose a news blackout stating that ‘the newspapers have had enough of disastrous news of late’ meant that the whole catastrophe wasn’t reported to the rest of the world until an article appeared in the New York Press several weeks later.

The Aftermath:

One can understand media censorship to ensure that morale wasn’t impacted but while people in Britain were unaware of the tragedy, French citizens around the coast could not escape it as bodies washed ashore all summer, all along a hundred kilometres of coastline.More and more appeared along the sand dependent upon tides and summer storms.But despite German rulings the French locals continued to give decent Christian burials although, once again, identification records were sparse.

And it is this sparsity of records, together with Churchill’s news blackout which has taken years for the facts to materialise, even though pressure from a post-war survivors association – the HMT Lancastria Association – has continued to ask questions such as: ‘which survivors saw who on board?; ‘had they seen them perish or had they seen them escape?’

Much of this proved heart-breaking as one family were told weeks later that their son, previously reported as a survivor, had instead been listed as one of the missing.

In fact the casualty figures, especially in perspective, are more shocking and although 59 merchant seamen were lost on the Lancastria (4), 126 merchant sailors perished during the whole of the previous fortnight’s Dunkirk evacuation. (5)

Furthermore, estimates are that 36% of all BEF troops killed in action between September ‘39 and June 1940 were lost on the Lancastria.

But with wearisome slowness the  U.K. government still hasn’t acknowledged the sacrifice, although to its credit the Scottish parliament commissioned a Lancastria survivors’ medal, plus a memorial in Glasgow where the ship was built.

On the other hand, somewhat cynically, an MOD spokeswoman in Westminster said  ‘there is no formal event being organised’ adding that ‘ the government did not commemorate events willy-nilly.’ (6)

Quite an official statement to ponder. But if we could ask a question wouldn’t it be revealing to have asked the servicemen aboard If they would have gone to war ‘willy-nilly’ – (too bad they didn’t have the opportunity to refuse).

So there you are – a sad narrative from our maritime history. But as we all look forward to life nearing ‘normality’ again, some folks will be mulling over ‘normal’ questions such as who will win the Premier League or the Scottish Premiership, whilst some thoughts may be of a more existential nature, i.e, ‘what is life?’ and ‘where are we going?’, etc.

Nonetheless, on June 17 let’s enjoy the footie but also spare a thought for the heroes of the Lancastria.They gave us our freedom. We salute them all.

1) www.bbc.co.uk (2017) Dunkirk – a few facts. (accessed 30.05.2020)

2) ibid

3) ibid

4) ibid

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……