Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Leopoldville Disaster


With the news this week of the tragedy of the cruise ship sinking off the coast of  Italy, this has brought to my mind another tragedy, the sinking of the Leopoldville on Dec. 24, 1944... 

I worked as a travel agent in the 80's and 90's and once an older gentleman came in, chewing gum and passing out gum and candy to everyone there.  As I was arranging his trip to see his army buddies at their annual reunion, I asked him what did he do in the war.  He looked at me and said, "Have you ever heard of the Leopoldville?"  Before I had a chance to reply, he said, "You wouldn't have, it was kept top secret for 50 years!".  Now, my co-workers didn't exactly roll their eyes but it was pretty close to it. When I asked him to please tell me more, he was eager to do so...

W.S. Conner (and I always called him Mr. Connor, in those days you didn't have to use your full name on an airline ticket and he always went by his initials) was in the United States Army, the 66th Infantry Division, they were called the Black Panthers.  They were in England, in Southhampton, and were being shipped out as replacements to fight in the Battle of the Bulge.  It was Christmas Eve 1944 and because it was Christmas, everything was lightly staffed.  The S S Leopoldville had already made 24 cross channel crossings with no problems but that was about to change...at 5:54PM the ship was hit by a torpedo and 248 men died from the hit...but then a further 515 were lost when the ship sank. (This total somewhat varies, I have read that the total lost was 802.)  This happened just five and half miles off the coast of France, near Cherbourg. The Captain of the ship, Captain Charles Limbor, sent out no distress messages, no calls for assistance...nothing! One of the escorts for the ship, the S S Brilliant, was able to take on some of the survivors. The ship was able to go alongside the Leopoldville and if it was timed just right, a soldier could actually jump from one ship to another. When I asked Mr. Connor if that is how he survived it, he said he had seen too many get crushed between the two ships and decided not to try it. (I have read that men WERE crushed between the ships and because the water was so choppy, some of them broke arms and legs jumping to the other ship.)  Survivors were told not to write or talk about it.  They were advised that if they did so, their GI benefits would be cancelled!  Incredibly, this was not cleared by the government to discuss until 1996! NO WONDER he wanted to talk about it!  I was able to get Mr. Connor to speak of his experience to the local Rotary Club and since it was the same year as the gigantic movie hit "Titantic", there was great interest in his story. 

Mr. Conner gave me a book to read about it, and I liked it so much, I ordered my own copy and asked him to sign it for me.  (He winked at me and told me that he wasn't mentioned BY NAME in the book but that there was a mention of him in it  and to see if I could recognize him when I came to it.) The name of the book is "A NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS" by Jacquin Sanders.  Jacquin "Jack" Sanders was on the SS Cheshire, another American ship full of GI's en route to Europe, the Cheshire was sailing just behind the Leopoldville when it was hit.  He was able to write of the sinking of the ship as an eye-witness.   In describing who was to blame for the mis-communication and foul-ups that resulted in so many drowning, this is what he had to say...
No single man or group was responsible for the catastrophe. The guilt was not national, not personal, perhaps there was no guilt at all. Certainly none was properly tested in court...Indeed, an undiluted guilty conscience is as rare in the Leopoldville episode as in most of life...in the general passage of action a small body of experienced men behaved on the whole badly, and large body of inexperienced men behaved very well. It was, in brief, a disaster full of human beings, and human unpredictability is its only lesson, and also, perhaps, its chief glory.

This book, A Night Before Christmas, is one of my most cherished books...

Now, back to Mr. Connor... as I read the book there on the page in front of me, is a description of a young man up on deck joking and laughing and passing out chewing gum and candy to all around him and his nickname was "Deep Pockets"!  I laughed and called him on the phone and said that of course, I knew that had to be him!    When I asked him to tell me the story of how he DID survive it, this is what he told me... he tied several duffel bags together, held on for dear life and went down with the ship!  HE WENT DOWN WITH THE SHIP! "Didn't the force suck you down?", I asked him.

"It tried to", he said, "but I kicked so hard and my bags held me up  and then I was in the water waiting to be rescued".    I then asked him, "How long were you in the water?".  This was his reply, "I was told that thirty minutes was all a body could stand before it would freeze, so I would say thirty minutes."  Now, I don't know if anyone has ever felt the cold waters of the English Channel, but I have and I can tell you the water is cold even in the summer, I can only imagine the cold waters of Dec. 24, 1944...

30 comments:

  1. What an absolutely amazing story! And what a smart, intelligent person he was to figure out a better way of surviving, than jumping from ship to ship and maybe getting crushed (I can't even bear to think about it).

    It's shocking to think it was hushed up for so long. I'm really glad you managed to get him to talk about his experiences, and it's good that you are also telling this story yourself, it was totally unknown to me.

    Oh, I see you answered my question by accident, about when you were a travel agent! :)

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    1. Jenny,
      I'm pleased that you think so. Everytime one of the men would come in to arrange a trip to a military reunion, my co-workers would direct them to me, since they knew how much I loved to talk with them!
      Most people have never heard of the Leopoldville, but then, neither had I until I met Mr. Connor!

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  2. Fascinating. What a privilege to have met him and heard his story first hand.

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    1. Scriptor,
      It was a absolute honor for me to talk with him and also to arrange that talk to gave to the Rotary Club.

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  3. Truly fascinating and amazing (borrowing from both Jenny's and Scriptor's comments here). Thank you for posting this!

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    1. Dear Librarian,
      So glad you like this. I meant to also say (and I might just have to mention this in another post) that he did go on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. He met and married a wonderful girl from Germany named Gisela. (He told me all of this, except he said "gal" instead of girl.) He passed away in April of 2001, and even though I was in Alabama at the time, I found out about his death later and found and saved his obituary and keep it in my book signed by him, my copy of "A Night Before Christmas".

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  4. Wow. What a story. I can see why you cherish the book and your meeting with 'Deep Pockets'. :-)

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    1. Kay,
      Can you believe my co-workers didn't believe him? Why would someone make that up, something that is so easy to verify? Even then, before the internet, I was able to find the info about it, it is even easier now.

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  5. What an incredible story of your Friend "Deep Pockets". I wish that we could gather stories from the older generation, so often they don't talk about things, but what a lot we could learn from them.

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    1. Marti,
      I found that many of the men from World War II wouldn't talk about their time in military but as time went on and more and more stories came out, more of the men were less reticent.

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  7. SP,
    Mr. Connor is a brave man indeed.
    Thank you for your comment!

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  8. my uncle Alvin Wincheski was on that ship. His body was never recovered.

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    1. Oh, I thank you for leaving me this comment. You must know that the Army kept this top secret for many years, the survivors were told that they would lose their GI benefits if they talked about it. Did your family know the details of how your Uncle had died or were they just told that he had died? I am sorry for your family's loss but I am honored that you have given your uncle's name here.

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  9. My father Luther Phipps was on the ship. He went onto help liberate the area of Lorient, France. He was with Co. C 264 Infantry 66th Panther Div. Wish I would have been able to hear stories of his time in WWII.

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    1. I am just now seeing your comment for which I thank you very much.
      I am very grateful that I was able to speak with Mr. Connor and also that he spoke of his experiences with the Rotary Club.
      Great respect and honor to your father. Surviving the sinking of a ship and then, to go on and to fight in France...it brings tears to my eyes. I know that it sounds clichéd to say "Greatest Generation", but doggone it, it's hard not to think so, isn't it?

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  10. My book, Leopoldville: A Tragedy Too Long Secret, (369 pages 70 photos & illustrations) details the disaster. There is a In Memoriam list of dead in alphabetical order by state as well as a lost of all survivors. As a result of my efforts to promote public awareness of the catastrophe, a Leopoldville disaster monument was dedicated at Ft. Benning, GA in 11/1997. I was the American historical consultant for a TV documentary concerning the tragedy that originally aired on the National Geographic Channel in 02/2009. (Deep Wreck Mysteries...Sunk on Christmas Eve). I provide info from my research files to families of victims & survivors at no charge. My e-mail address is agandrade37@msn.com.

    Allan Andrade
    Leopoldville disaster author/historian

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    1. I can't thank you enough for your comment! I try to tell people about the tragedy of the Leopoldviille and since I met one of the survivors, that has made it very personal for me.
      Thanks again. I am glad that you wrote a book about it.

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  11. My uncle, Frank Colwell, was a casualty of this disaster.

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    1. Thank you very much for your comment. I will do another post about the Leopoldville. Hardly anyone knows about it and I think that everyone should.
      All honor and respect to your uncle and all who served on the Leopoldville.

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  12. My dad was with the 66th Panther Division and witnessed the sinking of the Leopoldville. He was on an escort ship because, he said, "there was no room on the Leopoldville." I remember him telling us the story of the sinking in very general terms. Didn't think much about it when I was a kid. It was only later that I discovered the true horror of that night.

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    1. Thank you for leaving me this comment and telling me of your Dad.
      It must have been a horrific thing to have witnessed. I hope he led a peaceful life after the war: he deserved it.
      Thanks again for your comment, I appreciate it. I am working on my next post about the Leopoldville and hope to convey what a massive tragedy it truly was, for the men on the ship and those who witnessed the sinking.
      P.S. You don't have to, but if you would like to leave me your father's name, you are welcome to do so. It would be an honor just to know his name.

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    2. Kay, I am the very proud daughter of Roy W. Alexander. My dad lived a good life and passed away at the age of 80 back in 1995. He was always low key about his WWII service, regaling us with funny stories but rarely sharing anything bad. Even when he told us about the sinking of the Leopoldville, he spared us the horrific details. I am so glad you are telling this story. Thank you!

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    3. Dear Sue,
      You are welcome! And I can't thank you enough for leaving this comment! I am proud to have your Dad's name on here and when I do my post about the Leopoldville, I will have a link to this post and ask people to read the comments here also!
      Thanks again for leaving your Dad's name on here, Roy W. Alexander.
      I will remember him.

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  13. Thank you for the story you shared.

    James E. Hutchens (Pfc 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division) perished on the Leopoldville on December 24, 1944. He had been married to my mother for a brief four months.
    We do not believe that his body was ever recovered, but are still searching for information.
    My mother passed this last March (in 2014) and on the 70th anniversary of this tragedy, we will be dispersing some of her remains at the site near Cherbourg.

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    1. Thank you, Don, for leaving me this comment and letting me know about James E. Hutchens and the terrible grief felt by a young bride.
      I am so sorry for the loss of your mother. I will remember her on the 70th anniversary and also, all those who died in the tragedy of the Leopoldville.
      Thanks very much for your comment here. I truly appreciate it.

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  14. my mom's only brother died on the leopoldville. but my mom found a drunken sailor a few years afterwards, who told her the whole story. so I secretly prayed every Christmas eve for all on that ship who died. my uncle's name was james coen. my mom also lost her only sister in uniform. so after that she left NYC and I grew up not knowing any relatives. now my own children are affected not having relatives. I can say more....

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  15. is there anything publicly being said on memorial day, tomorrow, about the leopoldville ship sinking::? my email is hailmary5@yahoo.com. please let me know. I want my young adult daughters to know. very important to me, thank you

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  16. ps, both anonymous are me, pat and my uncle came from the Bronx, he was a medic his name again, james p coen he was born in 1915 and his sister was a lt cmdr in the navy. and her death was a mystery too! she died in Bermuda triangle, shortly after leaving Puerto rico for wash dc. with 12 navy officers on a pby flying boat her name was lt cmdr Helen marie coen. their parents were from co sligo in Ireland. I have four young adult daughters who really need to know...

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