The City of Benares
TO THE crew of the U-boat U-48, the British merchant ship out in the Atlantic was a target too good to be true.
The convoy was only lightly escorted and the Germans could take their time.
The first two torpedoes missed but the third found its target and within 15 minutes passengers and crew from the City of Benares were making for the lifeboats on a dark and windy night.
Little did the Germans know but the City of Benares was on a mercy mission evacuating children to Canada, away from a Britain where an invasion was expected any day.
She had set out from Liverpool in good weather on September 13, 1940, just as the Battle of Britain was at its height. But, by the time the U-48 pounced on September 17, the Atlantic had turned ugly.
Just 158 of the 406 on board survived to be rescued the following day by the destroyer HMS Hurricane after long night at sea, some of then even unable to climb to the relative safety of a lifeboat. Among the 90 children, there were 13 left.
