The evacuation of over 330,000 British and Allied troops from Dunkirk, from May 25 and June 4, 1940, is regarded as a Second World War triumph over adversity.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill ‘romanced’ Britain’s withdrawal from France by the ‘little ships’ of England, that came to the rescue of thousands.
Two weeks later, a tragic disaster took place that Churchill, shamefully, tried to cover up and is all but forgotten today.
On June 10, Paris fell to advancing German forces. An exodus of hundred of thousands of refugees fled France’s capital.
Among them were British civilians, Belgians, nuns, mothers, children, plus thousands of British soldiers and airmen still in France.
They were all forced to rush south to St Nazaire, Brittany. The frantic mayhem of that arduous trek, on foot, by rail, cars and lorries, was made more dangerous by frequent strafing from German aircraft.
Those who reached St Nazaire by June 16 waited to be rescued by a flotilla of British Navy, trawlers and the Cunard liner Lancastria.
Among them were a group of Isle of Wight soldiers of British Army Service Corps. Among them were Alfred Walter Caws, George Ward Penny and Ernest Arthur Darbyshire.
To their great relief, they boarded the overcrowded liner on June 17.
Penny went below deck to get warm. Darbyshire stayed on the upper deck to avoid the thousands massed below.
The liner’s Captain Sharp continued to board more human cargo as nearby rescue ships were bombed.
Official records state 5,400 were on Lancastria. Unofficially, estimates vary. Anecdotally, the passenger counter gadget stopped at its upper limit.
Thereafter, hundreds more boarded. Caws was one of the last to embark and stayed on deck.
Tragedy struck when German aircraft hit Lancastria with three bombs. One hit the engine room and exploded. Sea water instantly flooded in and oil stained the sea.
Attempts were made to launch lifeboats filled with women and children. Thousands of men ditched into the sea.
The aircraft strafed the oiled sea and set it alight. Darbyshire dived in from the deck and swam around for hours until he was saved from the fouled, burning waves.
The great liner sank in 20 minutes with thousands trapped inside.
George Penny was never seen again.
Caws had jumped overboard and swam away. He was in the water for many hours and ingested oily brine. Eventually, a Spanish fishing boat rescued him.
He was transferred to a British Navy vessel and landed in Plymouth, where he was hospitalised.
Churchill was informed the day after Lancastria sank. He immediately imposed a ‘D’ notice to keep it secret until 2040. This gagged the British press. Survivors were sworn to secrecy.
However, he failed to silence everyone. One Lancastria survivor was an American journalist who’d fled Paris on June 10.
His New York Sun report one month later was wired to Britain.
MPs demanded answers in Parliament. Churchill could no longer contain Fleet Street editors. British newspapers, including the County Press, began to print survivors’ stories, including Alfred Caws safe arrival home.
Years later, Alf attributed his survival to his strong swimming but he never recovered full health.
Mentally, the disaster was almost too difficult to retell. On one rare occasion he told his family: "They claim there were 6,000 on board. More like 9,000."
After the war, he established himself as a well known local artist and art teacher.
His artistic flair ranged from pen and ink sketches of Island pubs to modern art.
His work is proudly shared by his family, Jennifer and ‘Butch’ Butchers, with County Press readers.
No accurate count of Lancastria casualties exists. George Penny is officially listed among those who died.
He’s remembered on Yarmouth War Memorial and Southern Vectis Second World War memorial plaque. He’s also listed in Stephen Wynn’s book, The Lancastria Tragedy, Sinking and Cover Up, as Lance Corporal T/63441 George Ernest Ward Penny.
Ernest Darbyshire, who was injured, had a metal plate in his head. After the war, he ran The London pub, Wells Street, Ryde, for many years.
He told Penny’s brother, Jim, what happened to George. Mike Penny recalls his uncle George joined Southern Vectis, as a driver, at the start of the war.
Soon after, he was conscripted into the army.
The HMT Lancastria Association exists today to remember the British forces who perished. Robert Miller, secretary, said Alfred Caws wasn’t on the survivors list. He is now.
The great liner is officially a war grave and there's a memorial in St Nazaire.
If your ancestor was on Lancastria get in touch via editor@iwcp.co.uk
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