Wednesday, August 20, 2014

S.S. Leopoldville Disaster Dec. 24, 1944



Not too many people know about the sinking of the Leopoldville on Dec. 24, 1944 in the English Channel and the cover-up that followed.   I have written about it on my blog before and it is very moving to read some of the comments left on those posts, many of them from the relatives of the survivors or the relatives of the men who died from this ship. http://georgiagirlwithanenglishheart.blogspot.com/2012/01/leopoldville-disaster.html
(There, you should be able to click on that link to see my Leopoldville post.)

Allan Andrade wrote a book, "S.S. Leopoldville Disaster Dec 24, 1944" with lists of all the survivors that he could find. 
He later added new material with photographs along with a revised list of the survivors in a book entitled  "Leopoldville: A Tragedy Too Long Secret".  I have read both of these books.    If you click on this link:  http://leopoldville.org/  you will see a list of all the men who died along with drawings by Richard Rockwell, depicting the tragedy.

 How did I find out about it?  When I worked as a travel agent, one of the army veterans came in to arrange his military reunion and told me that he had survived the sinking of the Leopoldville and that I wouldn't have heard about it because it had been kept top secret for over 50 years.  That army vet's name was W. S. Connor. He told me that there was a book about it but somehow, his name was not listed as one of the survivors.  The author, Allen Andrade, was kind enough to inform me that Mr. Connor's name was now listed in his second book and I am very grateful that this is so.

"Forgotten by many, remembered by few", that is the quote from Clive Clessler about this tragedy...you may read an article about it here.

In Allen Andrade's introduction to his book, he tells us that in research for a book he was planning to write he found that in one American business, over 700 employees served in the military during World War II.  (The Oneida Company).  Thirty two of them were killed.  One of them, was an orphan who celebrated his 20th birthday on board the Leopoldville on Dec. 1, 1944.  He perished in the tragedy.  His name was Staff Sergeant Benjamin J. Blaskowski and it is to his memory that this book is dedicated. 

The ship was torpedoed and sank just five miles off the coast of Cherbourg, France.
 
There are so many personal stories and I found them to be so moving that I have found it very difficult to write a post about this book.  Like the story about Mr. Louis Zamperini, it is my hope that one day, someone will make a movie about this true story.  There was a documentary about the Leopoldville which was on the History Channel here in the USA and there is also a monument to the memory of the men, one here in Georgia and also, one in Florida.  I hope to visit both of them one day and when I do, I will show you the photos and will mention the men from the Leopoldville again.
I will never forget them.

25 comments:

  1. While i can understand that, for national security perhaps, the government needed to keep this quiet at the time, there's no reason it should have remained a secret once the war was over.

    Thank you for highlighting this, and i hope the story becomes more commonly known.

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    1. Not only was it kept secret for all those years, the survivors were told that if they discussed it with anyone they could lose their GI benefits! Certainly, I understand that during the time of war, it was necessary to withhold the information of the sinking but not after the war was over. If you read some of the comments left by some of the families connected to this, you will see how grateful they are to have someone acknowledge this seldom told story. I have done my best to tell it.

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  2. Fascinating. I am off to do some research.

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    1. If you go to that link I gave you, just after the Clive Clessler quote, that is a well written piece about it.

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  3. I always learn so much when I read your blog.

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    1. Thanks, Terry. I have a lot of things I still want to tell you!

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  4. I'm in tears as I write my comment. I seem to be in tears a lot lately...nothing was ever learned from the Second World War. Things are only getting worse by the day. If I shake my head any more, I'm sure it will fall off...despair seems to be our second best friend these days...edging it's way closer and closer each day to being our best friend, but an unwelcome one.

    A wonderful post in tribute, Kay...thank you.

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    1. I know, I feel a bit overwhelmed at times myself. There are all kinds of events in England just now to commemorate World War I, "the war to end wars".
      If you read this book that I told you about, you will learn of the bravery of these young men on this ship. Hardly anyone knows about this, and I think everyone should.
      Thank YOU!

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  5. I've just read your 2012 post and added to this one it all sounds very peculiar. I'd like to say that I'll read the book but in reality I'd probably buy it and just never manage to get to it.

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    1. Oh, just read the book, Graham, just read the book!!
      I have TONS of non fiction books that I could tell you to read, but this one...it's a story that so few know, you see, and the men were so brave and were told to wait on deck and ...just read the book!
      (A Night Before Christmas by Jacquin Sanders is another one.)

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  6. Kay, I will have to read this book. It sounds so mysterious. Blessings to you,xoxo,Susie

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    1. Oh yes, please do Susie, the government cover up is not very nice, but then, that was not the fault of the brave men on this ship. Let me know if you read it. Blessings to YOU! xx

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  7. Yes, thanks for giving some additional exposure to this sad story. I enjoy collections of personal accounts as well--I feel like I learn so much.

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    1. Oh, I am afraid that I did a very poor job at explaining this story to you and I am sorry, it needs a better reviewer than I am.
      If you read any books about the Leopoldville and the cover-up, please write about it on your blog, would you? I was quite moved by the comments that I received from the families connected to this, they seemed so grateful to have someone call attention to the story.

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  8. I am glad that veteran's name was added to the book.
    War is sad any way you look at it.

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    1. Mr. Connor passed away in 2000 but I was able to get him to speak at the local Rotary Club Meeting in 1998.
      I am also pleased that his name is listed as one of the survivors. I am glad he survived and lived long enough so that he could discuss it.

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  9. I had never heard of this before reading your post - and my feeling is, what a sad thing this disaster was, and somehow specially sad on Christmas eve.

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    1. Christmas Eve on Dec. 1944, everything was lightly staffed, you see, so that was one of the problems that the ship's distress was not known until much later at which time, it was too late.
      The book, A Night Before Christmas by Jacquin Sanders is another book about this and it is also a very treasured book of mine. Mr. Connor loaned me the only copy that he had when I first met him and when I purchased my own copy, I asked him to sign my book, which he did. Of course, that makes me very special to me.

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    2. OH, that makes IT very special to me! Sorry, I never notice my mistakes!

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  10. Thanks for this information. I had never heard much about Louis Zamperini before this past year, and I read Unbroken. I will definitely check into this book for my husband and I to read togeer.

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    1. Let me know if you read this. I will let you know if there are any plans to make a movie about it.

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  11. This is new to me and now I need to investigate and read about this tragedy....you have done a great service to those who would have been forgotten. I'll let you know when I read it!

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    1. I do hope that you get a chance to read about it. There is another book, "A Night Before Christmas" by Jacquin Sanders. That is the book that Mr. Connor gave me his copy to read and when I purchased that book for myself, I asked him to sign it for me! Of course, I treasure that book!
      xx

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  12. There is so much covered up during any war it's a very distorted picture that emerges. I noticed that about the Falklands conflict, Suddenly the BBC went from being an organisation that covered any story in depth as it unfolded to one that could only report selected events happening.... days after they actually occurred.
    A high ranking officer admitted recently it was a very close run thing and could easily have went the other way with the British forces being destroyed in air attacks yet at the time it was portrayed as something of a walkover.

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    1. Interesting, I just read the same thing recently. (We must read the same things!) Very often, you will hear me say these words when watching the news..."Hmmm....I wonder if that is really true, what the full story is behind that.". Life is much more complex than little sound bites.

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