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. 

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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...

Read More

Other Subjects

Hasret Gültekin

Hasret Gültekin

23 years old, poet and artist

Person, Tragedy, Turkey

1 memorial
Great Storm of 1987

Great Storm of 1987

In the early hours of Friday 16 October 1987 a great storm struck South East England. In four violent hours London lost 250,000 trees. Its skyline changed for ever.  22 people were killed in Englan...

Event, Tragedy

11 memorials
Robert Seymour

Robert Seymour

Illustrator.  Born Somerset.  In November 1835 Seymour, a successful illustrator, aged 38, known for comic sporting prints suggested to the publishers Chapman and Hall a project, a series of illust...

Person, Art, Tragedy

1 memorial
Hyde Park bomb

Hyde Park bomb

A large nail bomb hidden in a car parked on South Carriage Drive exploded as the Queen's Life Guard passed.  It was set by the IRA and probably controlled remotely.  Four members of The Blues and R...

Event, Terrorism, Tragedy

2 memorials
PC William Frederick Tyler

PC William Frederick Tyler

William Frederick Tyler was the third child of Alfred Tyler (1853-1900) and his first wife, Susan Tyler née Fenn (1852-1883). His birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1877 in the Hendon, Midd...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

1 memorial