It was a cold and cloudy morning in the beginning of October 1942. Few men had remained in the village of Lower Breakish. The war wore heavy on the people of Skye. They did not know what waited for them at the beaches of the island. They did not know, what they would soon have to face.
Warships were everywhere in the waters off the island, transport vessels carried troops to their destinations. The Allied Forces prepared for the D-Day Landings.
RMS Queen Mary transported 15.000 Anmerican troops to the U.K.. She and her escort vessel HMS Curacoa had reached the west coast of Ireland. The clouds were hanging low.
Suddenly, around midday, the two ships collided. RMS Queen Mary rammed the smaller vessel and virtually sliced it in two halves, it sank quickly.
Decription of an eyewitness: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/28/a4146428.shtml
The Queen Mary had orders not to stop and help. Left behind in the cold and relentless sea, most of the soldiers drowned. The Government put a communication ban on the disaster, not to affect the moral of the troops.
The bodies of HMS Curacoa washed ashore in Ireland, the Isle of Eigg, Oban, Knoydart and the Isle of Skye.
Only 101 of the 439 strong crew survived the disaster. They were picked up by other ships.
The people of Skye buried 17 bodies in the graveyard of Ashaig. Three could never be identified.
The headstones of their final resting place look away from where they drowned.
Most of the others in the graveyard face the sea.
That’s so touching that their headstones face away from the sea! It’s such a subtle thing that I’m glad you noticed it.
Yes, I felt the same. The things a grave can tell you when you take the time to actually “see” it.
Lovely post, I found it researching one of my own I’m writing about the holy well beside this graveyard!
Thanks, I never knew there was a holy well there. I will check your blog to find out more about it.