Luftwaffe aircraft sink the troopship Lancastria
Luftwaffe aircraft struck the Cunard liner Lancastria off Saint-Nazaire on 17 June while the ship was crowded with British military personnel and civilians being evacuated from western France. Bomb hits set the vessel on fire and caused it to capsize and sink within minutes. Rescue craft pulled survivors from water covered with fuel while air attack continued in the area. The death toll reached into the thousands and became one of Britain's worst maritime disasters. Lancastria belonged to Operation Aerial, the wider evacuation from western French ports that continued after…
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