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Two servicemen who escaped with their lives from the Lancastria share their tales of terror
It was the greatest loss of life in British maritime history - worse even than the Titanic disaster. But the sinking of the Lancastria still remains shrouded in official secrecy.
More than 4000 servicemen died when the horribly overladen ship was attacked by the Luftwaffe off the French coast. Now, on the 65th anniversary of the sinking, MSPs are calling for the Government to recognise the heroes who perished on the Lancastria. Sasha Mansworth tells the stories of two Scottish survivors
CHARLES' STORY
IT was a snap decision to sneak on to the deck of the Lancastria that saved Charles Napier's life.
The 21-year-old fresh-faced Royal Engineer chose not to venture into the ship's sweaty hold, packed with up to 9000 troops and refugees left behind in France after the Dunkirk evacuation.
Charles, now 87, said: 'I wasn't meant to be up on deck, but it saved my life.
'We were relieved to get out of France. The ship was crowded, mostly with troops and some women and children.
'I have since had information from the ship's purser, there were 8000 to 9000 people aboard and it was only supposed to hold 1200.'
Suddenly carnage erupted as bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe exploded inside the 16,000 tonne former Cunard liner. Soon bodies littered the seas just off the Normandie dock, in St Nazaire.
Speaking from his home in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Charles said: 'We were under fire most of the day. Bombs were dropping and I didn't want to be underground when there was bombing. When the ship was hit it shuddered.'
Charles, who signed up for the Engineers in 1940, was struck on the head and passed out as he tried to escape. He came round to find a sailor telling him to get into a lifeboat.
He said: 'The sailor lowered the boat into water thick with oil. We started to pick up people from the water. It wasn't a pretty sight.'
Men, women and children clung to floating wreckage as they fought for their lives in the freezing water while bombers rumbled overhead.
Charles said: 'I kept passing out. I never found out what hit me. I was never questioned or asked or anything. I didn't even see a doctor.'
He remembers lifeboats still attached to the ship as it sank to its watery grave, claiming around 4000 lives. Half of his company had been wiped out by the disaster.
He said: 'The next thing I knew I was on a French trawler. Then we went on to a destroyer, the Havelock. That's when I regained my senses.
'As a company we never discussed what happened. We were forbidden and didn't want to remember it.
'We'd been in France for about five months and lost half the company - about 100 men. We were the working force - not the fighting force.
'The true figures have never been published, but before the ship sank, a naval officer, a purser, came up.
'He said: 'I'm worried as there are between 8000 and 9000 people on this ship and there is only life-saving equipment for about 2500.' 'The purser survived and gave the figure of 6500 people. I understood he was only guarding himself. There was a war on and you accepted that kind of thing. I can understand why Churchill covered it up.
'He had to look after himself. Wars are wars.'
Some of the relatives of the dead would not hear anything for nearly 18 months, before receiving a War Office telegram stating that their loved one was lost in action, presumed dead aboard HMT Lancastria.
MSP Christine Graham is calling on the British government to 'recognise formally the sacrifice made by both victims and survivors' by awarding a Lancastria medal.
She told the Scottish Executive it was 'the worst naval disaster in British maritime history', claiming the lives of more than 4000 soldiers sailors, airmen and civilian refugees, a grim death toll greater than the combined loss of life in the Titanic and Lusitania disasters.
'The D-Notice banning news of the sinking, ordered by Winston Churchill, effectively remains in place in the UK to this day.'
But for Charles the memories will never be forgotten.
He said: 'Unfortunately I still think about what happened. I have flashes of the sea full of oil.
'I don't want a medal. I don't want it all raked up again, although we should never forget. 'It's been brought up again into my memory. That's the trouble.'
#The Sinking of the Lancastria, by Jonathan Fenby, pounds 14.99, is published by Simon and Schuster
WALTER'S STORY: DAY THE LANCASTRIA WAS HIT
WALTER HIRST was a 26-year-old joiner when he went to war. Before passing away he told his family his incredible story.
'On June 17 we boarded the Lancastria late in the afternoon. We immediately grabbed a couple of life jackets, which I thought would make ideal pillows.
'We were ordered below and shortly after witnessed through a porthole the Oronsay being hit. Another sapper and myself decided it'd be healthier topside and decided to climb the stairs, against orders.
'Soon after, the Lancastria was hit. It was a massive explosion. There was total panic and chaos.
'I managed to get into a lifeboat but as it was being lowered the ropes became jammed in the davit.
'A panicked sailor suddenly jumped up and started to hack away at the ropes with a knife. Myself and others yelled at him to stop, but immediately we were all thrown into the sea.
'I had a lifejacket on, but I still had my doubts about being in the water as I was a non-swimmer. We were all saturated with oil. I kicked off from the side of the Lancastria on my back. I kept thinking: 'Got to escape the suction of the ship.' 'The Lancastria continued to roll over to port. Hundreds of men were now clinging to the upturned hull. Some of them started to sing Roll Out The Barrel.
'The enemy continued to strafe the men on the ship and in the water. They also began dropping incendiaries in an attempt to light the leaking oil.
'I was in the water for two hours. Eventually I was picked up by a French fishing boat which turned and headed for St Nazaire.
'On seeing the Oronsay, however, the skipper decided to drop us off. We finally arrived in Plymouth the next day.'
Walter made it back to his hometown of Dundee and married Annie Miller in July, 1940, two weeks after escaping with his life. # For more information see www.lancastria.org.uk
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