The Sinking of the 'Lancastria : Britain's Greatest Maritime Disaster and Churchill's Cover-Up

by Jonathan Fenby

A fortnight after the evacuation at Dunkirk some 150,000 British troops were still stuck in France. As the German advance thundered west these Allied soldiers and airmen were faced with a mad dash to the coast in the hope that a troop-ship awaited them there. One such vessel was the 'Lancastria', a 16,000-ton liner pressed into service and now anchored off the port of St-Nazaire. On 17 June 1940, ready to head for home, the ship was bombed by the Luftwaffe. As she sank, between 3,500 and 4,000 of those on board lost their lives. Re-creating this extraordinary episode with great narrative flair, Jonathan Fenby shows us not just the human stories behind the disaster but the cover-up that followed -- as Churchill ordered a blanket ban on news stories for the sake of the country's morale. Gripping and moving, LANCASTRIA tells one of the great forgotten stories of the Second World War.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Military History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jonathan Fenby, CBE, has been the editor of The Observer and the South China Morning Post. He is currently China Director at the research service Trusted Sources.

Reviews

[carl theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The once top-of-line ocean liner Lancastria was relegated to shuffling cost conscious tourists about, when like a faded movie star, she was once again called to the big, silver screen to help evacuate British forces from western France. She raised her head, and steam, took on too much of a load of fuel, and nobly headed in harm’s way.

As the title implies, not much good happened after that. If there’s a prize for most interviews on a subject, Author Fenby should be awarded ! And he does a great job of keeping them organized throughout the story. Despite the tragic over 4,000 casualties, over 2000 survived the sinking as well as a few thousand on shore and those on surrounding ships who witnessed the event and applied themselves to rescue.

There were Lancastria Survivor societies that met regularly into the 2000s allowing the author plenty of subject interview opportunities as well as astounded at to why this subject was largely ‘skipped over’ during the war as well as why no one else covered it till he did (published 2005).

The subtitle teases at a ‘Churchill’s coverup’, and indeed if he wanted to go the shock route, he could make the situation look bad. Churchill pulled off a propaganda win with the Dunkirk retreat, however, looming in western France was a similar disaster with over 150,000 British troops trying to get out of the way of the Blitzkrieg as fast as they could.

Once again, great interviews from those fleeing civilian and troops alike, and one marvels at the British aplomb as the weather is good in springtime France, retreating units often stop at French cafes for a bit of wine and cheese, all in good order.

A good read of a fascinating niche of the war that is not well known.

[Jennifer W · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting subject, poorly executed. I think the author included every person he could find records for, rather than isolating 3 or 4 people to focus on. I also felt lost around some of the history, as I'm not really familiar with the evacuation from Dunkirk or most of the political players from the time. Finally, there was very little about "Churchill's Plot to Make It Disappear." The author stated that Churchill told the press not to talk about it and then claimed he forgot to tell them that they could. Not what I would call a "plot" to hide something.

[Philip Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult read in more ways than one

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1940, British troops were forced to flee from France upon the surrender of the French government. Many of the fighting troops had already been famously evacuated at Dunkirk, however there were thousands still left throughout France--communications officers, mechanics, engineers, supply depot managers, and other support troops--who needed to be moved back to England as quickly as possible. The British used whatever ships were available, including commandeered luxury liners like the Lancastria. On June 17th, 1940 thousands of soldiers, sailors, medical personnel, and civilians aboard the Lancastria were killed when the German airforce attacked and sank the ship. Although the official death toll was listed as approximately 3500, unofficial totals put the number killed at up to 6000, making the sinking of the Lancastria one of the worst naval disasters in history. However, it is virtually unknown because at the time, Winston Churchill decided not to release the news (he felt that public morale was bad enough, and another disaster would be extremely detrimental to the war effort) and then claimed that he forgot to ever lift the reporting ban. There is a lot of historical context regarding the fall of France as well as the efforts made by the British to change the course of events in France.

The book is particularly interesting, since the author was able to interview many survivors and get many personal details about the events that occurred. The story is well-told, and it is clear that the author researched carefully. The memories of those who were there really personalize the story and make it accessible--as well as both tragic and funny.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it.

[Joan Selhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this book as my father was one of the survivors among the 9000 passengers that were on board the liner. This book was published well after he died. However there was no information given about him in the book as I wanted to find out any more information that he may not have told me earlier on. It was true that Churchill had kept silent. My French mother in England was waiting for him to return and being a soldier he did not get back immediately to London from his post and she decided to return to France to rejoin her own mother in Paris as he was missing in action. On her way to France from London at Victoria Station she had the biggest surprise of her life when he ran over to her from a different train platform coming in from Portsmouth or either Southampton after the disaster. The book was informative however I did not find any details about my fathers story.

[Andrew Fear · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting book and a quiet reminder that the "miracle of Dunkirk" wasn't all there was to the disastrous campaigns of 1940. A fair bit of the book is about those campaigns and particularly the political bickering which accompanied them - including a proposed Franco-British Union, something the odious Jean Monnet had his finger in. Mercifully it came to nothing. It takes some time to get to the Lancastria herself and her bombing, I reckon you're about half-way through before the background story stops. The account of that bombing is dramatic and moving. There's lots of stuff here about the heroism of ordinary folk and, sadly, some too of the crass nature of officialdom post-eventum. Was this a "naval" disaster? I suppose so, but comparing it with either the Lusitania or the Titanic seems forced to put it mildly. The bombing of an over-crowded troopship in port isn't remotely like the torpedoing of a liner at sea and even less like a liner hitting an iceberg. Let's be charitable and assume the author was at the mercy of his marketing men. There was hardly a plot either - Churchill censored news of the event, not unreasonably given the circumstances, but it was, as the book itself points out, reported openly, and with permission, in the press some five weeks later. That's hardly a conspiracy is it? That said, suppression of the disaster does seem to have helped the legend of Dunkirk grow. I had no idea that there were lots of troops left in France after Operation Dynamo and I suspect I was in the same boat (so to speak) as much of the population. More discussion of this and how intentional it was, not very I suspect, would have been a very valuable addition to the book.

[Laini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, well-written, and engrossing.

I've always enjoyed Cornelius Ryan's war books. He has a way of describing the actual events that happened, then interspersing them with the actual experiences of soldiers and sailors on both sides of the event. I've found it makes for an exceptionally interesting way of describing the topic.

Jonathan Fenby's style is very similar, and the poignancy of the ship's sinking with so many on board is still powerful, all these years later. Then, their treatment after-- unable to speak about what happened to them, and some of them even being lambasted by their own countrymen, or hauled in to be investigated due to their strange apparel--was just as bad.

This is a powerful book about one of the worst shipwrecks of the war.

[David Worsfold · Rating 3 out of 5]

The chapters that describe the sinking bring the horror of the disaster vividly to life and are expertly woven together from multiple accounts. For these alone the book is worth reading. However, the chapters either side do occasionally lose their way with so many fragments and different voices.

It was a shocking incident and the initial understandable reluctance on Churchill's part to release the news goes a long way to explain why today we still know so little about all of the post-Dunkirk evacuations. It is a shame that the book's sub-title gets rather carried away with this. There is very little in the book (or elsewhere) to justify "Churchill's Plot to Make it Disappear".

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally a well-written and engaging account of the 'other' evacuations from France after Dunkirk. Some jarring non-sequiturs but generally a touching and personal account of the events which led up to the evacuation of troops from St Nazaire and the sinking of the Lancastria. Shocking to think my grandfather may have witnessed these events when he was evacuated from St Nazaire.

[mike hann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A touching tribute, written with compassion.

My Grandfather was one of the many who lost their lives that day. I knew a bit about the story but this book explained everything. Well written and so moving.

[Skye סקיי Doggett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of a WW2 tragedy that few know about and that Churchill tried to bury.

[Hollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

7s December book, Audible. Interesting factual account of German sinking of UK cruise ship carrying thousands of troops off French coast (Saint-Nazaire)

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book about a small slice of history - took me a while to read it, it became repetitive after a while.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story of largest British naval disaster in history. A good read.

[Michael Hendrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting, very informative

[Garvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very decent read

[Graeme · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good account of a huge maritime account that was covered up at the time by Winston Churchill.