SINKING OF THE LANCASTRIA: Britain’s Greatest Maritime Disaster and Churchill’s Cover-Up

The bombing of the Lancastria, a troopship packed with troops evacuated from France in June 1940 was hidden from history. At least 3,000 died - more than twice the Titanic’s toll - and Churchill censored the bad news for fear the British could take no more. At last Jonathan Fenby reveals the full horrific story.

By rights the name Lancastria should be up there with Titanic as one of the world’s worst martitime disasters. But as Jonathan Fenby’s dogged investigation revels, the magnitude of the catastrophe was kept from the public on Churchill’s orders at a time when - in the wake of Dunkirk and the fall of France - he judged that the British could take no further bad news. The Lancastria was an aged Cunard liner converted to a troopship and packed to the gunwhales with soldiers evacuated from France when she was sunk by a Ju-88 dive bomber on 17th June 1940 off St Nazaire in the Loire estuary. Because of the subsequent secrecy, the actual death toll is still not known for certain, but it was at least 3,000 - more than double the Titanic’s toll. Churchill, fearful that telling the truth about the disaster would shatter Britain’s already battered morale, censored the truth, and by the time reports leaked out, history had moved on. Fenby, a former editor of The Observer turned historian, uses his journalistic skills to ferret out the whole story which he has pieced together from survivors, unpublished reports and records. As well as the sad story of the Lancastria’s end, he also tells a second forgotten tale: that of the fate of the 100,000 British troops left stranded in France after the Dunkirk evacuation. Gripping and moving, this is truly one of the last forgotten stories of the Second World War rescued from oblivion by a very fine writer.

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Product Code:	10670
Author:	Jonathan Fenby
Format:	269pp, b/w photographs, hb. Published Price £14.99
Shipping Time:	This item is usually dispatched Next Day
Retail Price:	~~£14.99~~
Our Price:	£5.95 save 60%