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LTC Stephen F.
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In total war and less than total war attacking enemy troop ships is perfectly legitimate. The Germans regretted letting so many British Army and RAF forces evacuating from France. They launched massive air strikes against the departing forces whenever and wherever they could
We sank many Japanese troop ships ion the southern and western pacific in WWII and sank a few ships carrying our own captured service members who were POWS - usually by submarine.
In any event, thank SGT John " Mac " McConnell for summarizing the sinking of the RMS Lancastria which was a as a British Cunard liner that was commandeered by the UK Government that was sunk off St Nazaire by German Luftwaffe aircraft on 17 June 1940 during Operation Ariel which was the evacuation of forces from France via Dunkirk and other ports.
I think Winston Churchill made the appropriate decision to blackout the sinking of the RMS Lancastria from the news. Deaths of soldiers and air personnel in wartime is not uncommon and it made sense to inform the families of those killed that they died in France IMHO. They certainly died in French water and their was no need to induce panic in the populace.
FYI LTC Stephen C. LTC Greg Henning LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown CW5 (Join to see) SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT MSG Andrew White SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SP5 Mark Kuzinski SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Joshua Caldwell LTC John Shaw
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SSgt Robert Marx
SSgt Robert Marx
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Well stated. Death while contained within the hull of a troop ship must have been an ugly way to die.
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SGT John " Mac " McConnell
SGT John " Mac " McConnell
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I thought it was a very wise choice LTC Stephen F. . Winston Churchill kept it to himself and the few whom known or lived it... Save the Morale of the country !
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SSgt Robert Marx
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Straving troops treading water in the ocean is an illegal war crime. Defenseless men struggling for life must either be helped by lifeboats or left alone to their fates.
The sinking of a retreating troop ship is a rich prize. The chance would be that troops are packed as tightly as safety allows with a few more pushed into the ship.
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SGT John " Mac " McConnell
SGT John " Mac " McConnell
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Sad state of events that day SSgt Robert Marx ...
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SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth
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Thank you for the great piece of WWII history on the RMS Lancastria.
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SGT John " Mac " McConnell
SGT John " Mac " McConnell
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My pleasure David....Have a great day !
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SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth
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