Remembering the tragic sinking of HMT Lancastria – 85 years ago today

Today, June 17th, we mark the 85th anniversary of the sinking of HMT Lancastria, as part of Operation Aerial, the mass evacuation of civilians and military personnel from the port of St. Nazaire, Brittany. Britain’s worst maritime disaster, the sinking of the 23,500 ton troopship HMT Lancastria, which took place in the Loire estuary, near Saint-Nazaire, when she was bombed by a German Junkers 88 dive bomber.

An estimated 3000-5000 Army and RAF personnel, ship’s crew and civilians were lost. Many were unidentified, but those that were are buried north and south of the submerged wreck. Some as far north as Brest and others as far south as Soulac-sur-Mer, near the Gironde. Those that were either not found or unidentified are remembered at Dunkirk, Runnymede, Brookwood and Tower Hill Memorials.

We will remember them.

Unlike the much higher-profile Operation Dynamo (evacuation of Dunkirk) in May and early June 1940 which had lifted more than 338,000 British and French troops from the beaches, Operation Aerial was a considerably larger operation which lasted 10 days in June 1940 and was tasked to uplift and evacuate troops, British civilians and refugees fleeing Europe, medics, diplomatic personnel, supplies and equipment – the evacuation fleet comprised five Royal Naval destroyers and over 130 British and allied vessels including merchant ships, requisitioned liners, tugs and small motor vessels.

Sadly, despite heroic efforts and many people landed to British shores, the tragic event which unfolded during the operation remains, to this day, the worst maritime disaster involving a British ship with a loss of life greater than that of the Titanic and Lusitania combined.

The 20,000+ ton Cunard liner, RMS Lancastria originally launched in 1921, had been requisitioned and was sent to St. Nazaire as part of the operation; the ship – heavily laden with somewhere between 5,000 – 7,000 troops and civilians (men, women and children) – was bombed by the Luftwaffe just as they were preparing to leave, resulting in the ship sinking in under twenty minutes. Estimated loss of life was between 3,000 – 5,000 from bomb injuries, drowning, burning and being strafed in the water by German planes; under relentless and heavy air bombardment the smaller craft stayed to try and rescue survivors from the water.

When word of the disaster reached Winston Churchill he was moved to comment along the lines that “the newspapers have got quite enough disaster for today at least” and, to protect morale on the home front, he ordered a D-Notice be applied to the event which very largely prevented news outlets from reporting the loss. A few newspapers did publish reports but not until later in the summer. In his memoirs Sir Winston Churchill referred to the matter as “a frightful incident” that occurred on June 17, 1940. Furthermore, he conveniently ‘forgot’ to lift the D-Notice which remains in force to this day and the official report will not pass into the public domain until 2040. As a result, the loss of the Lancastria does not receive the official recognition it is due, and the site was not officially recorded and protected as a war grave by the French government until 2006. There is a British cemetery and memorials to the operation, and the Lancastria, in St. Nazaire and an annual service is held on the 17th June every year.

Further reading:
Royal British Legion – Remembering Dunkirk and HMT Lancastria
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lancastria
Youtube – Remembrance service and wreath laying