hidden europe 4

Tragic waters: the sinking of the Arandora Star

by Nicky Gardner

Summary

a look back at the tragic sinking of the Arandora Star off the coast of Ireland on 2 July 1940

Cesare, Giuseppe and Alfonso probably never knew each other, yet in life and in death they had much in common. When Europe was convulsed by war in the autumn of 1939, all three Italian men had lived for years in Britain, all happily settled with commitments to home and family. These were simple men, driven by poverty from the land of their birth to make new lives in Britain. None of the three kept diaries. Memoirs were things reserved for greater men.

On 10 June 1940, the lives of all three were changed by Italy's decision to enter the war on the side of Germany.

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