Lest we forget.

chadders

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Jim
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Please spare a thought today for the 3500+ soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians who died 74 years ago today, 17th June, 1940, in Britain's worst ever, but least known, maritime disaster.

HMT Lamcastria was evacuating troops and civilians from St Nazaire when German bombers sank the ship, strafed the survivors and then tried to set light to the fuel oil floating on the water. HMG did their best to hush this up (on the grounds of national security) and although finally first reported in The Scotsman, the story remains little known to this day. Many of the official reports on the sinking remain locked in the archives until 2040, despite frequent FOI requests.. HMG still refuse to request the wreck be declared a war grave. Only the Scottish Parliament have fully recognised and commemorated the tragedy, apart from memorials in St Nazaire and Liverpool.
 
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Thank you, in the sense that I'm one who'd never heard of this until today but won't forget it now! Just as i only learnt about the loosely contemporarious Wormhout Massacre a couple of years ago.
 
So D-day, about 4000 people die and its a huge deal, quite rightly, but a few years before, 3500 people die and Ive never even heard of it, despite being quite into military history, especially the 2nd WW era. Not good.
Going to read up on it now.
 
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