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Lancastria - Remembrance text of this web site is available under the Creative NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. Survivor Reg Brown speaks to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, Palestinian hunger striker dies in Israel prison, The 17 most eye-catching looks at the Met Gala, The burden of being cricket legend Tendulkar's son, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Furthermore, estimates are that 36% of all BEF troops killed in action between September 39 and June 1940 were lost on theLancastria. [citation needed], In June 2010 to mark the 70th anniversary of the sinking, special ceremonies and services of remembrance were held in Edinburgh and St. Nazaire. [39][a] In the face of continued campaigning by relatives, the MoD stated in 2015 that all known documents had long since been released through the National Archives. There were multiple air raids and, in addition, the British feared possible U-boat attacks, so Captain Sharp decided to wait for a Royal Navy and/or RAF escort. Read about our approach to external linking. A spokesman added: "The sinking of the HMT Lancastria remains the United Kingdom's greatest maritime disaster and, although it occurred over 70 years ago, the sacrifice of many thousands of servicemen and civilians, and the endurance of those who were saved that day, must never be forgotten. Many men jumped into the sea wearing life jackets and broke their necks when they hit the water, others were killed as they hit the hull of the ship. Or, you can request a quotation for a copy to be sent to you. [23] As the ship began to list to starboard, orders were given for the men on deck to move to the port side in an effort to counteract it, but this caused a list to port which could not be corrected. Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. At the end of the day, some 2,477 survivors were picked up from the sea. However, themovetowardswar went initially quite slowly. Stephen Wynn, a retired police constable with 30 years service in Essex, began writing prior to his retirement. And what do those touched by the catastrophe want now? Estimates of the loss range between 3,000 and 5,800 fatalities. RMS Lancastria (later HMT Lancastria) was a British Cunard liner commandeered by the UK Government for war, sunk on 17 June 1940 during World War II sending 4,000 people to their deaths, possibly many more. The first boat away was filled with women and children but it capsized on landing in the water and a second had to be lowered for them. casualties and survivors with related. Many other survivors were machine-gunned in the water by the German planes. Only about 2,500 people survived in the largest single loss of life. The French Government recently placed an exclusion zone around the wreck site. These were dangerous journeys, along roads blocked with refugees and under bombardment by enemy aircraft. Please ensure the tag is appropriate for the record. Now aged 77 and living in Malvern, Worcestershire, she will be joined by her husband, her children and her grandchildren at a ceremony in Saint-Nazaire on 17 June to mark the tragedy.