OVER 2000 LIVES LOST

Grey River Argus, 27 July 1940, Page 8

OVER 2000 LIVES LOST

BRITISH TRANSPORT

Sunk in Recent Army Evacuation

[British Official Wireless] RUGBY, July 25.

Details have now become public of the sinking at anchor, off the northwest coast of France, of the 20,000ton liner Lancastria during the last days of the evacuation, by enemy action.

The Lancastria had just completed the embarkation of her personnel, when German bombers swooped down and dropped an aerial torpedo, which struck the ship, which was so badly damaged that she sank within half an hour.

It is reported that some 5000 troops, together with a number of civilian refugees, were on board. British warships and tugs picked up the survivors, and transferred them to another transport. While it is known that there were 2477 survivors, it is possible that others were wounded, swam ashore, and became prisoners.

ACCOUNT OF THE SINKING

German Cruelty MEN IN THE WATER FIRED AT. '(Received July 26, 8.45 p.m.). LONDON, July 26. It is revealed that the liner Lancastria, when evacuating British troops on June 17 last, was sunk at Saint Nazaire. German planes ineffectually bombed the liner for half an hour before scoring their hits. The liner took a heavy list. This hampered the launching of lifeboats. The Germans machine-gunned lifeboats and rafts on which the British troops were endeavouring to escape.

The Lancastria was anchored when the attack occurred. Three aerial torpedoes found their mark; one going directly down a funnel of the liner, and exploding in the boilerroom.

The ship sank within half an hour. Captain R. Sharp was the last to leave the ship, which went down as he was going over the side. The ship’s surgeon rescued the captain. Meanwhile,, Germans were mach-ine-gunning the other survivors. They killed every one on one large raft. The majority of the survivors were picked up by small craft that were ferrying othex - personnel from the docks to the troopships. Some survivors swam ashore, and these may have fallen into enemy hands. The survivors have all paid a tribute to the magnificent courage on the part of the troops and crew. Tommies sang “Roll Out the Barrel,” and “There °Will Always be an England,” as the ship went down. . Two Church Army sisters rushed on deck when an order rang out, “Women and children first.” They jumped into a lifeboat, while men slid into the sea by ropes. Others leapt overboard. One said: “As the German planes swept down, we saw bullets spurting in the water where men were swimming for their lives. When our boat was moving away, soldiers watching from the porthole saw that we were wearing lifebelts. They cried out ‘Give us a chance!’ whereupon we took off the belts, and flung them into the sea, into which the soldiers jumped. R.A.F. planes arrived and dropped lifebelts. Two old Belgians, and a little boy were in the water. The child was praying, while the others encouraged him to keep afloat. They were saved. A French trawler picked us up.” An Army cook said: “I saw a soldier grab a young girl, both of whose legs were broken, and swim with her. Both were picked up. The girl died on board the rescue ship.” One member of the liner’s crew described how a soldier, who was blinded by the first explosion, was led to the ship’s hospital, where a second explosion killed all there, including a doctor.

One survivor who was flung into the sea when the Lancastria lurched, said that the water was almost a solid mass of men, who were clinging together like flies, and the water was also covered with thick, black oil. It was “every man for himself.” Overhead three planes continually swooped, and they bombed and machine-gunned men struggling in the water, some of whom were horribly burnt by the explosion.