During the second world war the city of benares was used as an evacuee ship to evacuate 90 children from britain to canada. History of varanasi benaras history varanassi history. Remembering the ss city of benares tragedy 70 years on. The boat, which was carrying british children to safety to the u. The ss city of benares is the setting of the book wish me luck by james heneghan, the story of a boy from liverpool being sent away to safety on the city of. This book tells a story about real people during world war ii. Many more would have travelled overseas had it not been for the disastrous events of 17 september 1940, when the ss city of benares packed with 197 passengers, including 90 children was torpedoed and sunk in the atlantic. City of benares 1865, a sailing ship of 1,182 tons. It is one of those stories that never fades in the. The imagery of the waves hitting the lifeboats and rafts as the survivors hung. Torpedoed by a german submarine in the north atlantic over 600 miles from briton. The ss city of benares was part of convoy ob2, and was being used as a refugee ship in the overseas evacuation scheme of great britain, the. The ss city of benares the story of the red jacket and its owner, colin ryderrichardson begins in 1940, and is linked to a steam passenger ship called the ss city of benares.
Ss city of benares vindicated the fears of the gibraltar evacuees who were. The library building is closed until further notice. Commanded by master landles nicoll, the city of benares had departed liverpool on september, 1940, bound for quebec and montreal. The land of varanasi kashi has been the ultimate pilgrimage spot for hindus for ages. Ahoy macs web log pictures of the ss city of benares. In the distance he can see the british convoy ob2 which had left liverpool on the th september 1940 heading on its 2500 mile journey across the north atlantic to canada. On 17 september 1940, a passenger ship called the city of benares was sunk by a german uboat while crossing the atlantic. Fantastic nonfiction for fourth to sixth graders white. It was 600 miles and 5 days into its journey carrying 400 passengers and 99 evacuated children. The ss city of benares was torpedoed by a german submarine.
This book moves quickly and is loaded with interesting facts about both the british and the germans. In september 1940, passenger liner ss city of benares set sail for canada. In this gripping account, heiligman vincent and theo relates the september 1940 attack by a german submarine on the british passenger ship ss city of benares, which killed 258 people, including 77 children. The passenger ship ss city of benares was one of these ships. Ss city of benares was a steam passenger ship built in 1936. Chicago public library best informational books for older readers 2019. A british passenger ship, the ss city of benares tossed the in stormy north atlantic waters 600 miles off the coast of england. The boys in this film are 5 of the 6 who were in a lifeboat for 8 days.
Deborah heiligman reveals the dramatic story of the passenger ship ss city of benares, torpedoed without warning in the midatlantic, with a civilian passenger load that included 100 children fleeing the war in europe. This is a listing of people associated with this ship. The story of child evacuee beryl myatt and the sinking of. Lifeboat 12 by susan hood is a kids historical fiction novel about the sinking of the ss city of benares by a german uboat. Torpedoed centers around the passengers on board the ss city of benares during world war ii. Just before midnight on september 17 1940, the bech children were among 100 evacuees on board the ss city of benares, who were woken from their sleep by a german torpedo. The ss city of benares is the setting of the book wish me luck by james heneghan, the story of a boy from liverpool being sent away to safety on the city of benares. There were 406 people on board, but the ships prized passengers were 90 children whose parents had. The sinking of the ss city of benares brought an immediate halt to a scheme that had begun with the very best of intentions. In september 1940, passenger liner ss city of benares set sail for canada with one hundred children on board. Heiligman navigates the chaos of those crucial minutes by. Bess cummings was one of the last survivors of the sinking of the ss city of benares, which was torpedoed by a uboat in 1940 with 400 passengers and crew onboard, including 90 children.
Six small boys in a lifeboat the story of the city of. Parkins vivid description of the benaress fate is, at times, a distraction from the larger. In september 1940, passenger liner ss city of benares set out in a convoy of 19 ships sailing for canada. The next day, beryl left home for liverpool, where she would board the passenger liner ss city of benares. In the weimar period he was a wellknown voice in the political debate, a vocal opponent of the nazis, a fierce advocate of human rights and one of the first to alert the world to the treatment of jews by the nazis in 1934. History of varanasi is, perhaps, as old as the indian civilization itself. There were 406 people on board, including 90 children headed for peaceful canada, their parents having elected to send them away from great britain to escape the ravages of world war ii. There were many unanswered questions about this disaster. We also have a detailed page on the british steam passenger ship city of benares. On 17 september 1940 the liner ss city of benares, bound from liverpool to canada carrying young evacuees, was torpedoed by a german uboat.
Bess, louis, and beth stared wide eyed at the huge vessel towering over the dock, the ellerman city lines ss city of benares. The play lifeboat by nicola mccartney tells the story of bess walder and beth cummings, two survivors of the ss city of benares. The story of the sinking of the city of benares is so important that everybody needs to be reminded of it from time to time, said derek. Torpedoed deborah heiligman macmillan macmillan publishers.
This was a quite small ship with a capacity of just 219 passengers and one single class, but still very new, as it was in service for just 4 years during its whole life. Sir, further to the letter from john carder sept 4, i am one of the children survivors from the sinking of ss city of benares. There were 406 people on board, but the ships prized passengers were 90 children whose parents had elected to send their boys and girls away from great britain to escape the ravages of world war ii. From awardwinning author deborah heiligman comes torpedoed, a true account of the attack and sinking of the passenger ship ss city of benares, which was evacuating children from england during wwii amid the constant rain of german bombs and the escalating violence of world war ii, british parents by the thousands chose to send their children out of the country. Among the passengers were children being sent from london to canada to keep them safe from the bombings. The ss city of benares was actually torpedoed on the 17 sept not 16th. City of benares, with 406 crew and passengers aboard, was 630 miles out in the north. Rudolf olden january 14, 1885 in stettin september 18, 1940 was a german lawyer and journalist. He spent nine days in the atlantic drifting on a lifeboat. City of benares sets sail on friday september, 1940 a passenger ship called city of benares began its 2,500 mile crossing of the north atlantic. Ss city of benares captain heinrich bleichrodt raises the periscope of his submarine u48 of the german navy and peers out into the darkness of the atlantic. This was during a critical period in british history, between july and september 1940, when the battle of britain was raging, and.
The prized passengers on the city of benares were children being transported to canada to escape the war and constant air raids. The true story of the world war ii sinking of goodreads. The third shot was successful and city of benares sank in about 30 minutes. City of benares british steam passenger ship ships hit. Unused unissued material locations unclear or unknown. Heiligman tells a story of bravery, courage, and despair through the eyes of the passengers on the ss city of benares, a ship commissioned to sail to canada with 100 children on board during world war ii. The ship was carrying 90 child evacuees, accompanied by. Often referred to as benares, varanasi is the oldest living city in the world. Heavily researched and showcasing numerous individual stories, this nonfiction book details the experiences of many who were aboard the ss city of benares, a. The true story of the world war ii sinking of amazon uk.
They would go there for a better safer life away from war, this was the plan. The true story of the world war ii sinking of the childrens ship by deborah heiligman isbn. On friday september 1940, the city of benares left liverpool bound for quebec and montreal in canada. The true story of the world war ll sinking of the childrens ship godwin bookshenry holt, oct. Fred steels from eastleigh was an 11yearold evacuee. Nazis called this the happy time because their uboats roamed the seas with impunity, sinking civilian vessels carrying cargo and, notably, the passenger ship ss city of benares, which was carrying 90 children fleeing the united kingdom. The corb evacuated 2,664 british children from england, so that they would escape the imminent threat of german invasion and the risk of enemy bombing in world war ii.
Primary source documents photographs, letters, manifests, applications, telegrams are seamlessly woven throughout the book. Six small boys in a lifeboat the story of the city of benares the ss city of benares was torpedoed in the atlantic ocean. In unflinching detail, the book depicts the often fatal struggles of enduring a torpedo strike at sea, as well as the selfless acts of those striving to keep. In 1940, the british childrens overseas reception board shipped children overseas to safe homes until september 17, when u 48 sank the city of benares. Remembering the city of benares tragedy the national. The city of benares torpedoed in 1940 was only about 4 years old. Queen of the england to india run, the ship was an 11,080ton, 480foot liner launched in 1935. On board were 90 corb children, chaperones, and crew, along with paying passengers. The city of benares was a steam passenger ship built in 1936 for ellerman liness service between england and india. This story of the ss city of benares, a luxury ocean liner pressed into duty.
Late on the 17th september 1940, in rough midatlantic seas, u48 made two unsuccessful attempts to torpedo her. All i can remember were the screams and cries for help on 17 september 1940 a german uboat sank the city of benares. During the second world war, she was commissioned as an evacuee ship in a scheme organized by the childrens overseas reception board. The ship was torpedoed in 1940 by the german submarine u48 with heavy loss of life. The ship was torpedoed in 1940 by the german submarine u48 with heavy loss of life, including the death of 77 children. The city of benares encyclopedia titanica message board. Five ships have been named city of benares, after the former name of varanasi, a city on the banks of the ganges in uttar pradesh, india city of benares 1853, a 3masted sailing ship of 751 net tons. Vs of the survivors from the city of benares leave their rescue ship at a british port.
The city of benares, an 11,000 ton passenger vessel of city lines and under captain landles nicoll, was torpedoed by the u48 on 17th september 1940 en route from liverpool to canada. Ss city of benares tragedy was caused by the best of. An unforgettable story of children in wartime, of heroism at sea, andabove allof courage and the power of the human spirit. The city of benares left liverpool on th september with 406 people on board, including 90 children who were being evacuated from wartime britain to canada. When the war ships escorting the benares departed, a german submarine torpedoed what became known as the childrens ship. A highstakes game of battleship helped turn the tide in. The ss city of benarescarrying two hundred passengers, half of them childrenis torpedoed in the north atlantic and begins to sink, leaving the pajamaclad passengers little time to scramble onto lifeboats in the dead of night.