Remembered 80 years on: Sea tragedy hushed up during the war

The ship was packed with British nationals and troops still being evacuated from France in the days after Dunkirk.

The former Cunard cruiser was built at the Beardmore Shipyards in Clydebank and requisitioned by the Government as a troopship at the outbreak of the war in 1939. Its sinking, near the port of St. Nazaire, remains the largest single ship loss of life in British maritime history.

An official commemoration was due to take place on Wednesday at the memorial monument to the ship in the grounds of Golden Jubilee National Hospital, the site of the former Beardmore shipyard, but was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

Organisers said the thousands who died would not be forgotten however, and flowers will be laid at various locations in tribute to them.

Audrey McNeish, whose grandfather Robert Smith, from Glasgow, was among those killed, will lay wild poppies in the Clyde in remembrance of him and others.

She said: “The sinking of the Lancastria was the worst maritime tragedy in the war, but its story has been largely forgotten. It would be a further tragedy if the 80th anniversary was to go unmentioned and forgotten.

“It’s not possible to have gatherings just now but there are plans to lay flowers at different sites, including in Scotland where the ship was built and where hundreds of victims, including my grandfather, came from.”

Mrs McNeish, who was part of the planning group for the 80th anniversary event, said news of the sinking was suppressed 80 years ago after a media blackout was imposed.

Telegrams to families of those on board simply said they were “missing in action”, she said, and survivors were instructed not to speak about it. Many were sent back into action, often on ships.

She added: “One of the most controversial aspects of the sinking of the Lancastria was the alleged cover up of the facts by Winston Churchill’s Government.

“As soon as news reached the Cabinet Office, Churchill issued a ‘D’ notice, an official request to news editors not to publish or broadcast items on specified subjects for reasons of national security.”

Robert Smith, from Glasgow, was among victims on board the Clydebank-built ship

Mrs McNeish’s grandfather was 33 years old when the Lancastria sank. His body was never recovered, but his name is recorded on the Dunkirk North War Memorial.

A soldier with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, he served in China and Jamaica in the 1920s and early 1930s before returning to civilian life as a reservist. In 1939 he was part of the British Expeditionary Force in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps.

Mrs McNeish, who in 2015 received a commemorative medal struck for the families of victims, said: “We cannot have a gathering, but it is important the victims are not forgotten.”

The Lancastria was launched on the River Clyde in 1920, originally as RMS Tyrrhenia. Designed to carry 2,200 passengers, she made her maiden voyage, from Glasgow to Montreal in 1922.

In 1924 she was refitted and renamed Lancastria, sailing between Liverpool and New York until 1932, before being used as a cruise ship in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. 
But at around 3.50pm on June 17, 1940 the Lancastria was hit by up to four bombs, one of them said to have gone down the ship’s funnel. It took only around 20 minutes to sink, with those alive in the water machine-gunned by German planes.

Estimates of the number of people on board at the time range from 4,000 to 9,000, as its captain was instructed to take as many people as possible “without regard to the limits of International Law”.

The losses were so great Prime Minister Winston Churchill suppressed news of the disaster, telling his staff that “the newspapers have got quite enough disaster for today at least”. In his memoirs, he said he “forgot to lift the ban”.

When news did emerge weeks later, it was described as “the greatest sea tragedy of all time”.