Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 9022 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 75

x The H.M.S. Llandovery Castle Casualty Pair to Second Engineer W. Leighton, Merchant Navy British War Medal (William Leighton); Mercantile Marine War Medal (William Leighton), surname partially officially corrected on last, lacquered, extremely fine, together with a photograph of the recipient, various photographs and drawings relating to the sinking of H.M.S. Llandovery Castle, and a copy of Mr. Lee Bishop´s exhibition talk on the pair ´Spurlos Versenkt (sunk without a trace)´ (2) Estimate £ 60-80 Second Engineer William Leighton, born Hampshire; served during the Great War in the Hospital Service Ship H.M.S. Llandovery Castle; drowned at sea as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, 27.6.1918, and is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London. ´´Spurlos Versenkt´´ At 9:30 pm on the night of the 27th June 1918 the Hospital Service Ship H.M.S. Llandovery Castle, enroute to Liverpool from Halifax, Nova Scotia, with 258 people on board, including 94 medical officers and nurses of the Canadian Medical Service, was 114 miles south-west of Fastnet, when, despite being lit up lit up like a Christmas tree, the huge red crosses illuminated on her sides clearing telling her duty and the nature of her voyage, she was torpedoed by the enemy submarine U-86, under the command of Lieutenant Patzig. The impact and resulting explosion was of such magnitude that the wireless was put out of commission, and no S.O.S. was sent out. As in the case of many other torpedoings, the engines could not be stopped or put in reverse to take the forward speed off the ship. In spite of this a number of lifeboats were got away while others were smashed against the side of the ship, or filled with water and capsized, drowning the occupants. The Llandovery Castle went down by the stern in less than ten minutes, but in spite of this rapid sinking a large number of people did get away in the boats. After the ship had sunk the lifeboats picked their way through the wreckage seeking further survivors. During this time the U-86 came alongside the Captain´´s boat and accused him of having American flying officers and munitions on board the Hospital Ship. Captain Sylvester, Master of the Llandovery Castle, denied this. On hearing this, the U-86, determined to ´´sink without a trace´´, commenced to run at speed among the lifeboats, running them down and leaving the survivors to drown, before opening fire with the big deck gun, in an effort to ensure that there would be no survivors to tell the tale, shooting the nurses as they struggled in the water. As dawn broke all that remained was Captain Sylvester´´s single lifeboat with just 24 out of 258 souls aboard. However, Germany could not hide the damning evidence of her hideous crimes, this wanton act of murder perpetrated by a man whose callousness truly superseded all tradition of the sea and common decency. After the War Lieutenant Patzig was to be tried as a war criminal, but he vanished and the ´´assassin of helpless men and defenceless women´´ was never brought to task for his criminal acts.

Sold for
£520