There are several survivors of the Laconia sinking in the Liverpool Retired Merchant Seafarers club at the Eldonian Village Hall in Burlington Street. For 9 months we tried to get in touch with Mr Bleasdale, his production company and BBC2 but did not even get a reply or acknowledgement. One was amongst the last to leave the ship and was injured in doing so. He was taken onboard the u-boat and his wounds treated. On being put back into the lifeboat he was given bread water and cigarettes "for Kamaraden." An Italian survivor asked for cigarettes and was contemptiously pushed aside by the German who said "no for Zeeman." The captain had previously commanded the Lancastria when she was lost with an estimated 7,000 dead. The authorities tried to unfairly tried to blame him for the tragedy. The last man to see him before the ship went down said that as he waited on the boatdeck he heard a shot from the captains cabin.
Captain Kong is correct in writing that the story is well documented in published records and books. After the Franconia it is probably the best known story of the Battle of the Atlantic. Between 1950 and 1970 the story would be told on every ship on every voyage, often by a survivor. Even today to say the story is forgotten is rediculous.
There are even greater tragedies that are not known because the details have been supressed by government. The papers on the Lancastria are embargoed beyond 2040, why/ Who knows. A final beef, Cunard recruited their crews from the Burlington Street Scotland road area of Vauxhall and the vast majority of Laconia's ratings came from there, so why are there so few Liverpool accents to be heard on screen in these movies or ducumentries, this programme and the Titanic movies are examples Can they not undestand us.
div>
For a producer with the BBC's record of getting costume drama detals right this show was a disgrace, it is as if they hired the costumes from a fancy dress shop
Regarding the "Scouse Lads" accent being authentic John Dho says tis was proved by his appearing on the follow up interviews with survivors broadcast on BBC the following night. Well as far as I saw in the documentry the "Scouse Lad" was identified as Billy Hardacre. Billy was a famous Liverpool Boxer and ships fireman. Later he was forman of the ship painting contractor British Paints and then his own business. He died some years ago so could not have been interviewed last week by the BBC. His family are still pominent in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool where they run the best funeral service in the town. His son, also Billy, is managing director of the undertaking business and another son John, is the director of Hardacre and Smiths the ship painting contractors in Cammell Lairds.
Final piont John Dho says few Liverpool seamen have commented on the documentry. As far as I can establish all the objections have come from Liverpool Seamen, it is after all Yo Liverpool
Bookmarks