Remember the Niobe tragedy

One of many , but this one seems to be a forgotten tragedy of the Battle of France.

On June 11th 1940 The Niobe , a French cargo was attacked and sunk by the luftwaffe. Estimated casualties are 810, mostly refugees......

The wreck was found in 2002 off the Albaster coast (off le Havre)

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niob%C3%A9_%28cargo%29

http://www.grieme.org/pages/niobe.html

http://navale.pagesperso-orange.fr/epaveniobe.htm







RIP

 

Thanks for keeping the memory alive, Skip.

 

Not much is known about this , but apparently it was sunk by Stukas

 

(I read the title and all I could remember was Marcus Verenus pushing his wife Niobe off the balcony in Rome....)

 

Thanx for the info, SKipper!

First I thought you meant the German AA-ship that was bombed to the ocean in 1944 in Kotka

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNLMS_Gelderland_(1898)

 

Precisly my point guys. Nobody has a clue when I mention this tragedy.

just like the Lancastria, instructions were given to keep this hidden (morale oblige) , except that after the war the Lancastria was not forgotten. The Niobe did transport ammunation that's a fact, but its passengers were civilian refugees and the fact that it's not a war grave may explain this amnesy

 

Maybe time for someone to start a campaign to have it designated as such, Skip.

 

Maybe a local will read this. It's too far away from my home and there are already so many crews to commemorate nearby.