Families pay their respects at Le Foulon Cemetery
FAMILY members of those who died or survived when HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne were sunk during the Second World War 81 years ago were among those present at the annual remembrance service held at Le Foulon Cemetery.
A procession of standards led by the Guernsey Boys’ Brigade Band preceded the service, which was led by St Stephen’s Church rector the Rev. Joe Thompson, and Dean of Guernsey the Very Rev. Tim Barker.
Wreaths were laid by Lt-Governor Lt General Richard Cripwell and Bailiff Sir Richard McMahon, as well as by Chris Welsby, president of the Guernsey Association of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Merchant Navy, and officials from St John Ambulance.
Chris Cannon, whose late father Alan Cowley survived the sinking of the Charybdis, also laid a wreath.
Attending the service with her sister Liz Jones and wearing her father’s Navy medals, Mrs Cannon, who lives in Cambridge, said this year was the first time she had been asked to lay a wreath.
‘There aren’t many families left now who come to the service, but it’s an honour to do it.’
Her father was one of the founders of the Charybidis Association, a now-defunct organisation dedicated to preserving the memory of the sinking.
‘Dad was very active in the work he did with the association, he used to come to Guernsey every year for this service. Now the responsibility has fallen to me and Liz.’
Also present was Patricia Lufkin, who was only three years old when her father William Dennis Simpson, who was a Petty Officer wireman on board the Charybdis, lost his life in the attack.
Mrs Lufkin lives in Morton in Derbyshire, and has been coming to the service for at least the last 25 years.
‘The first few occasions I was upset, but over the years I have become less emotional about it all,’ she said.
‘However, the day always brings back memories and makes me think more about Dad.’
Mr Welsby said that survivors themselves or their families had been attending the service for at least 60 years, adding that there were three survivors still alive today, including John Eskdale and Roger Roberts.
Mr Eskdale recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
‘The attack and aftermath were defining moments during the course of the Occupation of the Channel Islands,’ Mr Welsby said.
More than 500 sailors died when a German U-boat sank HMS Limbourne and Charybdis in October 1943.
The bodies of 21 men were recovered by the St John Ambulance Brigade after they washed up on the island’s shores.
The then-Bailiff and the vicar of St John’s Church saw to it that they were afforded a full military funeral, which thousands of islanders attended in defiance of orders from the occupying German forces.
