A commemoration for the sunken Liner the ‘Lancastria’ was held on Saturday the 21st of August 2004 at Larch Hill, Scouting Ireland's National Campsite. A permanent memorial comprised of a sea anchor mounted on Wicklow granite was unveiled to assembled guests, including the Irish Naval Service, The Lancastria Association (UK), The British Legion of War Veterans and original members of the Scout pilgrimage that travelled to Rome on the ship in 1934. Commenting on the event, Chief Scout Martin Burbridge said "Scouting Ireland is proud to commemorate the Lancastria and its links with our National Campsite, Larch Hill with a lasting, living memorial to a proud old ship".
Above: Members of the Irish Naval service at the unveiling of the Lancastria memorial.
The liner ‘Lancastria’ has links with Irish Scouting going back to the 1930’s when it was chartered to bring a huge Scout sponsored pilgrimage to Rome via Gibraltar, North Africa and Naples in 1934. Some 500 Scouts from the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland and many other passengers from Dublin travelled. It was led by his Eminence Cardinal McRory, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland. The pilgrims included William T. Cosgrave T.D., who had been President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State for ten years and was a personal friend of our Chief Scout, Prof. Whelehan. Also aboard was Brendan Corish who became leader of the Labour Party and Tániste, Professor Risteard Mulcahy an eminent surgeon in later life and Cornelious Ryan author of ‘The Longest Day’. They sailed from Dublin Port in July 1934.
Above: The Lancastria in peacetime.
Sir Martin Melvin, then proprietor of The Universe Catholic newspaper, took a great interest in this pilgrimage, which he accompanied. He had decided to present a costly trophy to C.B.S.I. for inter-troop competition and had commissioned the leading silversmith of the time Miss Mia Cranwell to produce it. In a ceremony on board the Lancastria on the way to Rome he formally presented the handsome silver trophy to the Chief Scout. Nobody foresaw then that, for reasons never explained, it would be fifteen years before it would be competed for. However, from then on, it played a big part in the annual programme of events, as C.B.S.l.'s "All Ireland". The first contest was held in Larch Hill in August of 1949. The result was not announced at the end of the event, but several weeks later. And on the following Easter Sunday (1950) Sir Martin Melvin came from Manchester to present the trophy to the 1949 winners, 26th Dublin (Iona Road), at a large gathering in the Marlborough Street school grounds. The attendance included the then Taoiseach, Mr. John A. Costello.
Above: The wreath laying at the Lancastria memorial at Larch Hill.
The highlight of the Scouts' stay in Rome was the memorable audience of Pope Pius XI during which he blessed their troop flags and spoke in high praise of Scouting and of Ireland. Amongst the young boys listening to him that day was one from a Co. Tipperary troop. His name was Pat Hogan and thirty-six years later he would become fourth Chief Scout of C.B.S.I. The profit from the Scout cruise was used to purchase land at Larch Hill, Tibradden in 1938 which today is Scouting Ireland's major activity centre in the Greater Dublin area used by thousands of young people every year.
Above: Sunset and smoke over the Scouting Ireland National Campsite at Larch Hill.
The commemoration brought friends from far and near, including some of those on the trip to Rome, such as renowned heart surgeon Professor Risteard Mulcahy. He says he only got to go because a kind relation was able to afford the £10 fare which his parents could not. The scale of the trip for boys at the time in Dublin, a poor city, could not be believed, he said. "It was as if you were entering a new world. Life was so austere at that time, and to go from the austere lives we had to where you had five and six course lunch and dinner was just like heaven, really."
Above: The Main Lounge of the Lancastria during peacetime.
As he proudly shows off photographs of himself aboard the ship as a lad, 88-year-old Jacob Roche remembered it like yesterday. "She was a wonderful ship, a magnificent ship. The dining room was out of this world, with pillars and the like, while there was even a swimming pool, and games organised for the passengers," he says. A number of those who were aboard, were, like the Lancastria, later to go to war themselves. Nicholas Donegan, 89 was one of those scouts who travelled aboard the ship in 1934 and like his father before him, later enlisted in the British army.
Above: The flag ceremony during the Lancastria ceremony at Larch Hill.
His departure from his scout troop was sudden and unexpected. "It was 12 October 1939. I had a meeting of boy scouts in Dublin and that afternoon I went up to Belfast and joined the Irish Guards," he says. "So everybody was looking for the scout master that evening, wondering 'Where is he? What's happened to him?'" he laughs. "But I was on my way to my first posting in France," he says, proudly wearing the scout's scarf he wore on the Lancastria 70 years ago. Fellow Dublin scout Billy Bradshaw - who survived the war as a wireless operator on Wellington bombers in the RAF - remembers the stop-off at Morocco as the first time the boys had encountered people from a different country. "It was wonderful, a great experience, and I still have the pictures which I looked after carefully since they were taken with the local people in Morocco," says Billy. But all remember the feeling when the ship went down. It still brings a tear to Jacob Roche's eye. "I cried tears that day when I heard about the old ship going down. Five thousand people, my God, 5,000," he says mournfully. "They were a lovely crew who were on the ship, they were really down to earth, even the captain who used to come down and talk to the lads," says Jacob.
Above: Group members Pat Murphy and David Rogers with a Bugler from the Army No.1 Band playing at the Lancastria ceremony.
The Lancastria's captain, Rudolph Sharp, who had survived the sinking of the Lusitania in 1914, survived the sinking of his ship, but was to later lose his life on the Laconia on 12 September 1942, when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-156. Nicholas Donegan says he felt sick when he heard the news, as a serving soldier. "I said: 'My God, that lovely ship we went on to Rome, it's gone.' And then when we heard there were a lot of lives lost, I said a silent prayer for those who were saved and those who lost their lives. Because it was special to us that ship, it was special." For Roger Round, honorary secretary of the Lancastria Association - whose grand-uncle died on the ship - the ceremony in Dublin was also special. "It's very important that people remember the Lancastria. Obviously the chaps here in Dublin remember the Lancastria in happier times, but it's very important for people to remember that she was afloat, that she existed and what a wonderful ship she was," he says. But for the two scout and war veterans, Nicholas Donegan and Billy Bradshaw, the commemoration is almost a dream for them, one which they never expected would happen. "Tonight my eyes are agog, amazed with the number of people who are here, I am amazed that I met five or six old fellows who were on the boat and who I could have a chat with," says Billy - who has kept in touch with one other survivor of the trip to Rome. Nicholas adds: "I'm inspired before it's time to cash in my cheques that I was alive at 89 and a half to see this function and to take a prominent part in it. That was marvellous, for an oul' fella like myself," he laughs.
Above: A postcard image of the Lancastria.
The History of the Lancastria: This 16,243 ton Cunard liner was built by William Beardmore & Co, Dalmuir Glasgow, making her maiden voyage under the name of Tyrrhenia, from Glasgow to Montreal on 13 June 1922. Refitted just two years later with a plush new interior and a new name, Lancastria, she spent many years leisurely cruising the world’s oceans. Her final peace-time cruise in the idyllic waters of the Bahamas was made in September 1939, and ended with the ship docked in New York, and the world at war. Here she underwent a radical change - her portholes were blacked out, drab grey military paint daubed all over her and guns mounted near to the once splendid swimming pool! Her cruising days were over forever as she took on the role of one of Her Majesty’s troopships.
Above: Survivors from the sinking of the Lancastria.
After successfully dodging Luftwaffe bombs in the North Sea while helping with the evacuation of troops from Norway the Lancastria then took part in Operation Aerial where she was required in St Nazaire, France, to evacuate more British troops. At 04h00 on the 17 June 1940 she anchored slightly off St Nazaire at Charpentier Roads and began evacuating soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force along with some RAF men and a few civilians. There were so many people to evacuate that the afternoon arrived and the ferrying to and fro was still continuing. British Reserve Naval officers had coordinated the embarkation of evacuees with Sharpe. When the captain was asked how many troops his ship could take he replied “3,000 at a pinch”. By mid afternoon counting had ceased at 4000 and still the loading continued. There is no accurate figure for the number aboard but it is estimated that there were over 7000 people. The Lancastria was literally overflowing.
Above: The Lancastria being towed into port.
Then the bombing began. German Dornier Do17 aeroplanes flew overhead and, being trained for shipping attacks, were both delighted and amazed to see the enormous cruise ship undefended and stationary, just waiting for their arrival! It nevertheless took the enemy planes almost 2 hours to strike the Lancastria. Four bombs hit in total, one was a bull’s eye, dropping straight down the funnel and exploding in the engine room. At 16h15, less than 20 minutes later, the Lancastria rolled onto her port side and made her way bow first to her grave on the seabed.
Above: Survivors from the Lancastria are taken aboard neighbouring ships.
The crew and
passengers appeared not to panic while abandoning the sinking liner and
incredibly singing was heard as the ship went down (“roll out the barrel” and
“there will always be an England”!) Many people perished but there were some
survivors. Two lifeboats had been launched and many had jumped overboard as the
boat was swallowed up. However, the constant presence of enemy aircraft made
any rescue operation very difficult. Also one of the bombs had ruptured the
Lancastria’s fuel tank causing fuel oil to leak everywhere. Pulling victims
from the water was a very slippery affair and often
unsuccessful. Nobody knows for sure how many lost his or her lives that day
because nobody knows exactly how many people were on board. Estimates are that
approximately 4500 or 5000 people died. Thankfully around 2500 were rescued.
Above:
The death throes of HMT Lancastria
Above: The last moments of the stricken vessel.
On the coast overlooking the site of the tragedy there are no grand memorials for the dead of the Lancastria. However, looking closely at a nearby signpost that points out over the murky Loire estuary, a tourist’s hastily scratched “Lancastria – this way” is revealed. Any of you living or visiting London should try and visit the St Katherine Cree church in Leadenhall Street, EC3. Here a permanent memorial quietly adorns one of the windows. There is also a HMT Lancastria Association (for survivors) but on the whole the Lancastria lies forgotten with 26m of water on top of her.
Above: The R.M.S. Lancastria.
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