SAILORS lost in the Second World War sinkings of HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne were remembered at Le Foulon Cemetery yesterday.
Islanders, dignitaries and relatives all gathered to pay their respects on the 65th anniversary of the naval disaster in which more than 500 died.
Within days of the tragedy on 23 October 1943, 21 bodies were washed up on the beaches of Guernsey. Those now rest at Le Foulon.
The occupying Germans allowed them a funeral with full military honours on 17 November 1943 and it is estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 islanders attended. In the region of 900 wreaths are reported to have been laid that day.
Yesterday’s gathering was much smaller, but included nine survivors of the sinkings.
One of them, Charybdis veteran Alan Larcombe, was in Guernsey for the first time to pay his respects to his former shipmates.
He discovered only through a search on the internet by his son less than 12 months ago that a Charybdis and Limbourne Association had been established.
‘As soon as I found out, we got in contact with the association and made plans to come to Guernsey.
‘It’s so special to meet up with these people again and to exchange memories. I wish I had found out earlier that this association existed.
‘But coming here this weekend has helped me find out bits and pieces from that day that I could never work out because after the torpedoes hit, I kept falling in and out of consciousness.’
Article posted on 6th October, 2008 - 11.30am
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