Memorial Unveiled For Lancastria Maritime Disaster On River Clyde, Glasgow

Memorial Unveiled More Than 70 Years After UK's Worst Maritime Disaster

A memorial has been unveiled to the thousands of people who died in the UK's worst maritime disaster.

The sinking of the Lancastria off the coast of France on June 17, 1940, is estimated to have killed about 4,000 people, although some have put the number as high as 9,000.

The liner was attacked by a German bomber, receiving three direct hits and sinking in less than 20 minutes.

The tragedy is also described as the worst single loss of life for British forces during the Second World War.

Seventy-one years on, a bronze sculpture has been placed on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow at the site of what was the William Beardmore and Sons shipbuilding yard, where the ship was constructed.

The memorial is set on a granite block with a commemorative text, and was created by Fife artist Marion Smith. The bronze represents the early steel sheet construction of the Lancastria.

Jacqueline Tanner, 74, from Malvern, Worcestershire, who is the youngest known survivor of the disaster, was at the unveiling. She was aged just two when the ship sank, and her parents are said to have held her up out of the water for more than two hours before they were rescued. She had to be revived, and still has the sailor's jersey she was wrapped in by her rescuer.

She said: "The memorial is a place where we can all come to remember. It's a long way for me, and I'd like something in England too, but this what we needed. It's part of our history."

Winston Churchill banned all news coverage of the disaster, fearing the scale of the tragedy would impact on public morale. That decision is said to be the reason why it has taken so long to have a memorial put in place.

Fiona Symon, vice chairwoman of the Lancastria Association of Scotland, said: "For the last six years we have been determined to achieve the right and proper acknowledgement for the thousands of men who died, including my father, Andrew T Richardson, when the Lancastria was sunk. This ceremony gives the association a sense of great satisfaction and fulfils the hope of a lifetime for many of us."

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