Vehicle    From 2/7/1940  To 2/7/1940

Arandora Star

Categories: Tragedy

Countries: Germany, Italy

Deporting Italian and German prisoners of war the cruise ship was between Liverpool and Canada when it was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine. Of the 734 Italians on board, 486 died. Of the 479 Germans, 175 died. Amongst the dead were the father and grandfather of Paolozzi.

May 2009 - The BBC informs that there is a campaign for a memorial to the Welsh Italians who died on the Arandora Star, for the 70th anniversary in 2010. And here that the Teesside-based Italians will be commemorated on a plaque at Middlesbrough Town Hall. There are already memorials in Liverpool, Glasgow and Italy, as well as the one in London.

September 2023: The BBC reported on the recent identification of a body that was washed up on the South Ayrshire coast in August 1940.  ".. the unidentified individual was buried in an unmarked grave in Girvan's Doune Cemetery. More than 80 years later, detailed research has revealed his name - Francesco D'Inverno ..." We find the following story puzzling - it's not clear how, since his grave was unmarked, how this name has been associated with it. 

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Arandora Star

Commemorated ati

St Peters Church - Arandora Star

This carved memorial shows 3 drowning men reaching up to the cross from the w...

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Burns' Day Storm

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Rachel Elizabeth Rackow

Rachel Elizabeth Rackow

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1 memorial
Leigh Pitt

Leigh Pitt

For more information about this hero click on the picture of his plaque.

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1 memorial
Antonio Lacovara

Antonio Lacovara

Graphic designer killed in the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster, aged 24. Andrew Behan has kindly carried out further research: Antonio Lacovara was born on 28 May 1975 in Nottingham. He was the son o...

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1 memorial
Dinah Fryer

Dinah Fryer

Born in 1954, Dinah Fryer was an Australian history schoolteacher at Golden Grove High School in Adelaide, South Australia, who was on her first overseas trip with her husband Chris Fryer and their...

Person, Education, Tragedy, Australia, Southeast Asia

1 memorial