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In 1936 the Cunard White Star cruise ship RMS Lancastria took a large party of First World War veterans on a pilgrimage cruise to their former battlefields and the #GreatWarHutsCollection has a number of Lancastria tour artefacts including a cruise poster for the trip...
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...and another promoting her regular cruises to Norway and the Mediterranean...
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... On 20th March 1936, the Times reported the following:
“Pilgrimage to Gallipoli and Salonika: The Liner Lancastria will leave Liverpool on May 1 with 600 passengers for Salonika and Gallipoli.
The cruise coinciding almost with the 21st anniversary of the landings...
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“Pilgrimage to Gallipoli and Salonika: The Liner Lancastria will leave Liverpool on May 1 with 600 passengers for Salonika and Gallipoli.
The cruise coinciding almost with the 21st anniversary of the landings...
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... on Gallipoli, will enable some hundreds who fought in the Near East to revisit the scenes of the most eventful years of their lives.
Field-Marshal Sir William Birdwood will lead the cruise jointly with Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, and the passengers will...
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Field-Marshal Sir William Birdwood will lead the cruise jointly with Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, and the passengers will...
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...include 100 nurses who served in Salonika hospitals or on the hospital ships in the Mediterranean.
Arrangements are nearing completion for a meeting en route with the River Clyde, which, after deliberate grounding on V Beach on the morning of April 25, 1915, was a...
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Arrangements are nearing completion for a meeting en route with the River Clyde, which, after deliberate grounding on V Beach on the morning of April 25, 1915, was a...
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...familiar sight to all who served in the Cape Helles area. She is now a tramp steamer in the ownership of a Spaniard who cherishes her historic past. Her war-time commander, Captain E Unwin, VC, who won his decoration for his services during the landings, will be on...
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...board the Lancastria to welcome his old ship.
Malta, Gibraltar, and Istanbul will be visited primarily for sightseeing and reunion with old comrades still living, and two days each at Salonika and Gallipoli will be devoted to commemoration.
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Malta, Gibraltar, and Istanbul will be visited primarily for sightseeing and reunion with old comrades still living, and two days each at Salonika and Gallipoli will be devoted to commemoration.
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...It was a very different story 80 years ago today, on 17th June 1940.
At 15.40 HMT Lancastria was attacked by German bombers and sunk as she was about to leave the French coast and sail for England with thousands of soldiers and civilians on board. They were being...
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At 15.40 HMT Lancastria was attacked by German bombers and sunk as she was about to leave the French coast and sail for England with thousands of soldiers and civilians on board. They were being...
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...evacuated from the west coast of France as the German Army closed in on them.
No one knows how many died, crammed below deck in the pitch black holds as the ship turned over, but estimates range between 3,000 and 6,000 lives were lost on the overcrowded ship...
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No one knows how many died, crammed below deck in the pitch black holds as the ship turned over, but estimates range between 3,000 and 6,000 lives were lost on the overcrowded ship...
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...Many more drowned in the oily water or were machine-gunned by German aircraft as they struggled to stay afloat...
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...Despite 2,477 survivors being rescued, it remains the worst British maritime disaster in history.
Remembering all those who lost their lives on the Lancastria, 80 years ago today, and also remembering those happier times too.
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Remembering all those who lost their lives on the Lancastria, 80 years ago today, and also remembering those happier times too.
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