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Scottish officials seeking to
scupper LANCASTRIA medal
Lancastria Association of Scotland dismayed by 'hypocritical'
Parliament officials
Officials at the Scottish Parliament are planning to sink
hopes of a medal being awarded to those involved in Britain’s worst
ever-maritime disaster which claimed the lives of 4000 people, an
estimated 400 of them Scots. Civil servants for the Parliament will
next month recommend to a committee of MSPs that Holyrood has no
powers to commission a commemorative medal to honour those who were
involved in the sinking, despite officials previously sanctioning the
commissioning of a commemorative medal for Scottish MPs in 1999.
The Clyde built troopship Lancastria was evacuating troops and
refugees off the French coast in June 1940 when she was bombed by
enemy aircraft and sank in just 20 minutes. The disaster was the
worst single loss of life for British forces in the whole of World
War 2 and according to campaigners the sacrifice of the victims and
courage of survivors who struggled together in the sea for hours
after the sinking, has never been officially marked. Relatives are
presently gathering signatures for a petition which will go before MSPs in August calling on them to commission a commemorative medal to
honour those who took part in the disaster as official recognition of
the sacrifice of victims and endurance of survivors. Veterans issues
were devolved to the Scottish Parliament in 1999
Mark Hirst, Secretary of the Lancastria Association of Scotland, the
group behind the petition, has hit out at the officials trying to
block the medal claiming it smacked of hypocrisy but emphasised that
the final decision still rested with MSPs. He said:
“Parliament officials have sought legal advice about the
commissioning of a commemorative medal for those aboard Lancastria
that day. They claim that the Parliament has no powers to commission
a commemorative medal, despite the precedent set when a medal that
was commissioned for MSPs in 1999. At the moment they are not
prepared to share the legal advice they have sought.
“Back in 1940 when the British government learned of the scale of the
disaster they banned all news coverage worried about the impact on
public morale. The effect has been that Lancastria has remained
largely forgotten and the event has never been officially marked.
“When we realised the Parliament has a locus over veterans’ issues,
we saw an opportunity to put that right, but it appears the
bureaucrats are determined to ensure the official silence surrounding
Lancastria stays in place.”
Mr Hirst, whose own grandfather Walter Hirst survivied the sinking
stressed the issue would be formally considered by the Public
Petitions Committee made up of MSPs and he appealed to them directly
to recognise the thousands who gave the ultimate sacrifice aboard
Lancastria. He added:
“This is MSPs opportunity to bring closure for the victims families
in the form official recognition of their loss, something consecutive
British governments have wholly failed to do. I remain optimistic
MSPs will recognise this is a special case and back our call for a
commemorative Lancastria medal.”
Readers can sign the Lancastria medal petition and find out more
about the disaster at
www.lancastria.org.uk
Related News: (Added Monday 9th July 2007)
Scottish Parliament cannot issue
LANCASTRIA medal
Scottish official says matter is reserved, but MSP's may take it up
with those responsible
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