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The Scotsman coverage of the sinking of the Lancastria, 26th July 1940. Although it contains some obvious errors such as men swimming ashore, there is a great deal of accurate content, given the supposed media black out.
SINKING OF LANCASTRIA - 2500 KNOWN TO BE SAVED - STORIES OF HEROISM
Nearly 2500 are known to have been saved - and many more may be in enemy hands - from a total of 5300 aboard the transport Lancastria which, it was admitted in London yesterday, was sunk on June 17 by the enemy during the evacuation of the BEF from France. (The story of the sinking of the Lancastria was published in The Scotsman yesterday from our New York correspondent.)
The Lancastria, a Cunard-White Star liner, was lying at St. Nazaire and was about to weigh anchor when the Nazi bombers launched their attack. After half an hour's ineffectual bombing she was hit by a salvo, took a heavy list, capsized and sank.
As the ship went down Tommies sang "Roll out the barrel" and "There'll always be an England."
Women and child evacuees, of which there were a number in the ship, jumped overboard - the heavy list hampering the launching of lifeboats - only to be machine gunned by the raiders.
A member of the crew said: "We scrambled up on deck, stripped and jumped overboard. One group of Tommies started to sing 'There'll always be an England' and as the ship went down I heard the strains of 'Roll out the barrel.'"
The majority of survivors were picked up by small craft which were engaged in ferrying personnel from the docks to troopships. Some however managed to swim and wade ashore in the shallow water. Two thousand four hundred and seventy seven survivors are known to have been picked up but it is possible that the actual number may have been larger, and that others may have fallen into enemy hands. There is great difficulty in estimating what are the exact figures in view of the difficult circumstances under which evacuations was taking place.
Survivors all paid tribute to the magnificent courage displayed by the ship's crew and all ranks at the time the ship was struck.
HEROISM AND COOLNESS
Survivors' stories paint pictures of heroism and coolness in the face of disaster. Two Church Army sisters told a reporter that they were taken aboard the Lancastria after a dash for the coast in a military convoy, which was attacked five times by German planes. "Through an open porthole we saw a black cloud in the sky moving very fast. It turned out to be five or six aeroplanes which as soon as they were over the ship released their bombs. We rushed on deck and hearing the order 'women and children first' got into a lifeboat which men were sliding into the sea by ropes and others leapt overboard.
"The German planes swept down and we saw spurts as their bullets struck the water where men were swimming for their lives. Twenty five men were hanging like grim death to a piece of wood which was too small to float but none of them would let go.
"As our boat moved away from the side of the ship soldiers watching through a porthole saw that we were wearing our lifebelts. They shouted 'give us a chance' and we took off the belts and flung them into the sea. The soldiers jumped in after them.
"Two old Belgians and a little boy were in the water. The child was saying his prayers which the adults encouraged him to keep afloat. They were saved.
"We threw our oars overboard and saw RAF planes arrive and drop a number of lifebelts. We ourselves were finally picked up by a French trawler."
"NO PANIC"
Major Frank Golightly, a Durham county member of the Salvation Army, told a reporter that, in addition to a large number of troops there were women of the Church Army and YMCA as well as civilian refugees on board.
"There was no panic," he said. "The boats were swung out and we helped to load them with the women and children and some of the wounded. Everything was done as quickly as possible. I stayed as long as I could be of any use and then slipped over the side of the ship.
"I swam towards a warship, but it moved off. The I saw a cargo boat and struck out for it, but it too moved away. Later some Frenchmen in a coble saw me and pulled me in. They took me to a warship from which I was transferred to another ship which brought me to England."
A cook told how he saw a soldier grab a young girl both of whose legs had been broken. He swam with her and both were picked up but she died later.
Other survivors said that when the Lancastria heeled over men clambered on the side in the belief that she would remain afloat, but within 20 minutes she sank suddenly and all the occupants were thrown into the water.
As soon as the Lancastria went down the water became thick with oil.
R.A.F. MEN LOST
A member of the crew said:- "Beneath where I had been sitting I know there were at least 200 R.A.F. men and they must have been lost. They just hadn't a chance. Their means of escape was cut off and I heard the terrible sound of their cries as I scrambled away to safety."
A cook said that the second bomb killed all those in the ship's hospital numbering a dozen, including the doctor.
One of the planes whose bombs made the direct hits which sank the Lancastria is believed to have been shot down later by another British vessel. The pilot, uninjured, was taken prisoner.
Some of the survivors spent five hours in the water and were covered inches thick with oil when brought ashore.
The Lancastria (16,243 tons) was built in 1922 by W. Beardmore & Co., Ltd., Glasgow, and reconditioned in 1933 for holiday cruising. Her home port in peace-time was Liverpool.
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