Hi, I have noted 2 IGs who were missing presumed dead - at sea. I believe they had been wounded in Normandy and were being evacuated to England for treatment ... both commemorated at Bayeux. Can anyone please tell me if there were any contenders for ships lost/attacked en route to England on or around 07/08/1944 ? Many thanks in advance, D
7 August 1944 Off Normandy the hospital carrier Amsterdam (London and North Easten Railway) returning to the UK, was lost, believed mined. Hope this is a help. Regards Peter
Hospital Carrier Amsterdam During the Battle of the Falaise Pocket of Operation Overlord the Normandy Landings casualties were evacuated aboard the Hospital Carrier Amsterdam. She made several successful Channel crossings where soldiers were taken to English ports but sadly she struck a mine on the 7 August 1944. The engine room was destroyed along with about half of the craft and it started to list. The QAs on board were up against the clock to get their patients below decks to the safety of the lifeboats. This quickly became dangerous and those patients who had lost lower limbs were helpless. The Sister in charge was Miss Dorothy Anyta Field of the QAIMNS and she bravely returned to the lower decks with fellow Sister Molly Evershed. Together they rescued 75 men even though the Hospital Carrier Amsterdam deck was angled to the surface of the water. Without a thought to their own safety they returned once more to rescue the wounded soldiers and sadly the Hospital Carrier Amsterdam sank taking the two QA Sisters with her. Sisters Field and Evershed were posthumously Mentioned in Dispatches and each man wrote to the parents of each Sister thanking them for their lives and brave actions. (Cited in Quiet Heroines: Nurses of the Second World Warhttp://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=borntoloaf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0701129395 by Brenda McBryde). A mortality list of the members of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) who died at sea during World War Two after sinking of the hospital ships or troop ships are included as an appendix in the book Quiet Heroines: Nurses of the Second World Warhttp://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=borntoloaf-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0701129395 by Brenda McBryde.
Hello Diane, I suspect this must be a contender. The hospital ship AMSTERDAM sunk by mine 7/8/44. Regards Hugh That was quick, Peter - obviously more organised than me.
Thanks anyway Hugh, Good to know you were both on the ball. A second opinion is always handy. Regards, Diane
