On 26 July 2010 07:50, Gilbert Lawrence <[email protected]> wrote: > Just purchased Robert Ballard's book (monogram) on the sinking of > the Lusitania, > which occurred on May 7, 1915. Not surprising no Goans (names) are mentioned > in > this book; though it is claimed that many Goans went down with this ship. > Has any Goan(s) compiled the names of Goans who worked on and died with the > ship's sinking? Perhaps we could write our own "Goan" perspective of this > Lusitania tragedy. > I would be happy to provide any research details from this book - time > permitting.
GL, I think Cliff J Pereira has done some work that we might all might find of interest and relevant. Please check the journalistic piece I wrote some seven years ago: Goan story emerges strong on lifeboat of World War II-torpedoed Britannia >From Frederick Noronha PANAJI (Goa), July 23: It started off as an old puzzle. But for a journalist in Goa, the six-decade old story about a colonial vessel sunk off the African coast, open untold pages from history and stories of grit and determination that people back home simply didn't have a clue about. Melvyn Misquita (31), assistant chief of news bureau at the local newspaper Herald, has been working on his family tree for nearly a decade (see misquita.net). But two family members intrigued him -- adopted seven-year-old Luiza Misquita who died by accidentally drowning in a well and his grand-uncle Constantinho Mathias Luduvico, who died in a lifeboat close to the Brazil coast after the British ship he was travelling was torpedoed by the Germans. "The only information given to me at the time was that he was in the ship S.S. Britannia, which sank in 1941," recalls Melvyn. In the Goan village of Aldona, the local church records his death as sometime in March-April 1941. Tapping the Internet, and slogging it out for the past four months, the scribe tracked Australian web-pages that gave details of the little- remembered ship, descendents of Goan survivors and those who perished, and even an 83-year-old vice-admiral in Britain who knew the Goans on board. The SS Britannia was sunk in "enemy action" -- read, German fire -- on March 25, 1941. Many took to lifeboats. Later "Indian seamen" on board apparently drank seater and "died in torment", says a rare article on the Net. Other survivors from the village, Aldona, had since died. The Britannia had sunk off the west African coast, but because of the winds, one lifeboat only reached the shores of Brazil after a four-week grueling journey. Slowly, the jig-saw fitted in place. Relatives in Aldona traced photographs and documents linking them back to 1941. By some "eerie coincidence", as Melvyn calls it, he started the search exactly on March 25 this year, exactly 62 years after the Britannia sunk with its considerable Goan crew. LINKS WITH MIGRATION: This story, while at one level of a few Goans on a single ship, also links up with the generations-old story of Goans migrating and scouring the globe for a livelihood. Goa, under Portuguese rule since 1510, was one of the first regions in South Asia to encounter the Western world. The poor state of the Portuguese-ruled economy in the latter centuries of colonial rule, saw tens of thousands migrating acorns the globe for jobs and a better life. In coastal central Goa, there are few families, especially Catholics, who don't have some history of global migration along the generations. Says Melvyn: "This search has also -- probably for the first time -- focused on the Goan seamen who served on the Britannia. Such Goan-oriented research needs to be pursued, especially since so many Goan seamen died on many ships during the two world wars. Their contribution to maritime history needs to be recognised and it is never too late to do so." Says Melvyn: "My project is aimed at uncovering the experiences of some of the Goan seamen before, during and after the Britannia episode. Their voices have remained silent for over half a century. They need to be heard now." VIA THE SUEZ: S.S.Britannia, the third ship with this name on Anchor Line, was built by Alex, Stephen & Sons at Linthouse. Since 1926, she plied from Glasgow to Bombay via the Suez Canal, till being sunk by the German commerce raider H.K.Thor during what the Western world refers to as World War II in 1941. During the war, the Suez Canal was closed. On March 25, 1941, Britannia was carrying about 500 passengers, off Africa's west coast, some 600 miles from Dakar in today's Senegal. The Thor, built in 1938, was a 9,200 tonner, with the appearance of a normal merchant ship. On that successful voyage, she had been at sea for 322 days, sunk 11 merchant ships and one armed merchant cruiser -- a total of 96,602 tonnes. After being torpedoed some 600 miles from the West African coast, the survivors decided to work on the prevailing winds and currents to reach Brazil, some 1600 miles to the west, which they thought was a more achievable goal. But the lifeboats had holes in their planks, survivors were ailing and food was in short supply. Rations comprised one egg-cupful of water, one biscuit and a few drops of condensed milk each day. Some storms helped the survivors to catch some rainwater. The number of people surviving decreased. But many were covered with salt-water sores, aggravated by the crowded conditions and the constant rolling of the boat. Survivors recall that the lifeboat which reach Brazil was just 28 x 10 ft in size, with two sails and a rudder. At points of their voyage, dolphins following it. This vessel had a capacity to carry 56, but actually had as many as 81 packed on its board. On landing in Brazil, one of the Goan sailors -- Louis Albino de Souza of Aldona -- was "very helpful as he was able to make himself understood to the native fishermen", according to records available. 39 OTHER GOANS: Melvyn's work helped him dig up the names of 39 other Goans, who died on board the SS Britannia. They were employed as general servants, topass, scullion, cooks, bakers, butlers, butcher's mate, bar-keepers and in similar capacities. They were Catholic Goans with typical names like Alphonso, Cardozo, Carneiro, D'Costa, D'Cunha, Heredia, D'Sa, D'Souza, Fernandes, Ferrao, Gomes, Mendonca, Pereira, Rocha, Rodrigues, Mendes or Vaz. Many had become skin and bone by the end of the journey, and on reaching Brazil some refused to believe they reached land. Melvyn found his grand-uncle died hours before they reached the shores of Sao Luis in Brazil. Later, he learnt that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission What egged him to undertake this search? Says Melvyn: "The fact that no one in Goa really knew what happened to the S S Britannia III in 1941 -- even though there were many Goans on the Britannia who either perished or remarkably survived -- ignited my interest in the incident." In an interview with this correspondent, he said that the response has been very encouraging. "Besides a number of relatives and friends who have been interested to read about the Britannia incident, I have even received queries from some in USA and UK, who had their loved ones serving on the Britannia. None of these people were previously aware of the events shortly before and after the sinking of the Britannia," says he. Melvyn spent between one to four hours on a daily basis scouring for clues. Says he: "Much of my work was undertaken after office hours, that is between 12 am and 3 am." What's the lesson he learns from it? "That it is possible -- given a generous dose of enthusiasm, determination and advances in information technology -- to collect information on an incident which remained hidden for well over six decades," he says, in hindsight. "Give it your best, for the truth is out there." --- Melvyn S. Misquita can be contacted at A/2, Campal Splendour, Opp. Parade grounds, Campal, Panjim, Goa 403001 India. Telephone 0091.832.2236646. Email: melvyn at misquita.net (Goanet 2003) -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.org http://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.com http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks ------------------------------------------------------------------------- T: 0091.832.2409490 or 2409783 M: 0 9822 122436 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * IS YOURS one of the stories of Goans on board the S.S. Dwarka, or at the Strait of Hormuz, Basra or Bahrain, Dubai, Swindon, Mombasa, Poona or Rangoon? Selma Carvalho's new book *Into the Diaspora Wilderness* docks at many other ports. Get your copy from Broadways, Panjim [9822488564] Rs 295. P&p extra. http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
