Can you give any further details eg. name of ship, date?
Prior to this discussion the only one I was aware of was the SS Mendi
which sank in the English Channel on 21 February 1917, leading to the
death of 600 of the 800 members of the South African Native Labour
Corpson their way to fight in France.
Cheers
Angela
On 5 Oct 2008, at 01:20, Alex Pascall wrote:
> Dear Arthur
>
> Grenada had one of the worst losses with a ship which was sunk by the
> British in between Grenada and Trinidad, the ship had on board on a
> week end the most talented group of people going to Trinidad and
> because it had a German engine it was sunk by the Briish by mistake
> and has never admitted it to date,
>
> Best wishes
>
> Alex
>
>
> --- On Sat, 10/4/08, arthur torrington <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> From: arthur torrington <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: EVENT
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008, 5:31 AM
>> FYI.
>> ------
>>
>> WORLD WAR II in the CARIBBEAN is an event that features the
>> stories of West Indians who served in their own countries
>> from 1939 to 1945. Many of them were killed by Hitler’s
>> U-Boats after British ships were torpedoed in Caribbean
>> waters.
>>
>> In November 2008, as we remember the victory over Nazi
>> Germany, we must reflect on the contribution made by West
>> Indian servicemen and women. Also, it is important that we
>> hear the untold stories of that period. For example,
>> Trinidad, the largest source of oil in the British Empire at
>> that time, played a key role. There was oil also from
>> Venezuela, Aruba and Curacao that was shipped in tankers
>> north to the United States and across the Atlantic to
>> Britain. Trinidad's Gulf of Paria thus became for a few
>> years one of the world's most important assembly points
>> for merchant shipping convoys, and its capital one the
>> world's busiest ports.
>>
>> Jamaica and British Guiana exported bauxite, which was used
>> to make aluminium, essential for aircraft manufacture. The
>> traditional Caribbean export, sugar, was in demand as usual.
>> The colonies gave money. While Britain was holding off the
>> Germans, it needed all the financial support it was offered.
>> Colonial and dominion governments made substantial loan to
>> the British Treasury or waived repayments of old debts.
>>
>> During the conflict, the allied forces lost a worldwide
>> total of 2,603 merchant ships and 175 warships. Of that
>> total 400 merchant ships were lost and 46 were damaged in
>> the West Indies. There was a German Prisoner-of-War camp in
>> Jamaica.
>>
>> Come along to Museum in Docklands on Saturday 8 November
>> 2008 from 1pm and hear the stories of two West Indian who
>> volunteered their services for Britain and who were
>> eyewitnesses.
>>
>> Arthur
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