Post by Administrator on Feb 21, 2021 10:21:31 GMT
On This Day, February 21st 1917:
SS Mendi, a First World War troopship, was carrying 802 men of the South African Native Labour Corps (SANLC), to the Western Front. Many had never seen the sea before.
The men signed up believing that if they demonstrated loyalty to the British Empire, they would gain a voice in their divided home land.
Their role was to build the railways, trenches, camps and roads upon which the Allied war effort depended.
At 5am on the morning of February 21st in heavy fog near the Isle of Wight the British merchant ship, SS Darro, collided with the SS Mendi. It had not seen the much smaller ship until it was too late.
The Mendi was hit side-on with tremendous force and quickly sank. 618 of the Corps drowned in the freezing waters, together with white officers and military passengers, and 33 of the crew.
The Darro made no proper attempt at rescue, a fact that was never explained by its captain, who was disciplined but who lost his licence for only 12 months.
There is a Bronze Memorial at the Delville Wood Memorial on The Somme commemorating the South Africans who died during The Great War.
LINK
SS Mendi, a First World War troopship, was carrying 802 men of the South African Native Labour Corps (SANLC), to the Western Front. Many had never seen the sea before.
The men signed up believing that if they demonstrated loyalty to the British Empire, they would gain a voice in their divided home land.
Their role was to build the railways, trenches, camps and roads upon which the Allied war effort depended.
At 5am on the morning of February 21st in heavy fog near the Isle of Wight the British merchant ship, SS Darro, collided with the SS Mendi. It had not seen the much smaller ship until it was too late.
The Mendi was hit side-on with tremendous force and quickly sank. 618 of the Corps drowned in the freezing waters, together with white officers and military passengers, and 33 of the crew.
The Darro made no proper attempt at rescue, a fact that was never explained by its captain, who was disciplined but who lost his licence for only 12 months.
There is a Bronze Memorial at the Delville Wood Memorial on The Somme commemorating the South Africans who died during The Great War.
LINK