A MALVERN grandmother who survived the worst maritime disaster in British history has called on the Prime Minister to recognise the thousands who perished.

Jacqueline Tanner, from Moorlands Road, was just two-and-a-half when the HMT Lancastria was sunk by German dive bombers on June 17, 1940, as it evacuated servicemen and civilians from the French port of St Nazaire.

The 16,000-ton Cunard liner, which had been commandeered for military purposes, was crammed with passengers, including Mrs Tanner’s parents, who had been living in Belgium.

The family survived by clinging to a plank of wood as the Luftwaffe machine-gunned the oil-filled waters around them.

“They were finally picked up by the HMS Highlander, whose deck was strewn with bodies. Estimates of those killed range from 4,000-7,000 – more than the combined losses of the Titanic and Lusitania disasters.

With the war effort under way, the tragedy was the subject of a government D-notice – meaning the British press were banned from reporting it.

Mrs Tanner, who is the youngest survivor of the catastrophe, now fears the already limited public awareness of what happened on that fateful day will soon disappear completely.

She said: “It was kept quiet at the time because it was just after Dunkirk. Churchill, it’s stated, thought the British people had had enough worry than to say we had lost all these lives on this ship – it was too much to take in.”

Mrs Tanner, aged 72, along with her 73-year-old husband Harry, their son and grandchildren, made the pilgrimage to St Nazaire for the 70th anniversary of the tragedy last month.

It is a trip she has made often since she was a young girl and she has seen the number of British survivors dwindle.

“I may be the only one left at some time. If you consider the age of the survivors, there were other children but they’re obviously older than me,” she said.

Mrs Tanner has a couple of souvenirs, passed down from her mother, which she has always kept.

Among these is the watch her mother was wearing, which stopped at exactly 4.10pm when it hit the cold water of the Bay of Biscay.

As the years pass, however, other links to the past are struggling.

“Our association is folding now in England,” said Mrs Tanner. “We do not have the people or the money to keep it going. It does not seem right that our government over the years has not given it any recognition.

“We have no memorial. There’s nowhere for us to go. I think there’s so many relatives still eager to have somewhere.”

Mrs and Mr Tanner have written to David Cameron asking that the survivors be formally recognised.

Mr Tanner said: “It needs to be kept alive. We cannot let a tragedy like this disappear.”