The stranded Sunderland ship's crew mates who survived on albatross meat

We have discovered some remarkable stories of wartime bravery and tragedy from the pages of the Echo 80 years ago.

They survived by eating albatross

And that includes the tale of the Wearside crew who survived in a stricken boat by eating albatross.

Let’s take a look at a series of tales which were shared in the pages of the Sunderland Echo on VE Day in 1945.

Perhaps the saddest was the story of the Sunderland children who were evacuated overseas. Some of them were on board a ship called the City of Benares.

But it was a perilous journey and the ship was sunk in the Atlantic. Only two of the 11 Sunderland children on board were rescued.

The ship steward who wrote SOS in dough

A boat filled with Sunderland men was stranded at sea when it was hit by a torpedo. The crew survived because one of them dived overboard and captured a passing albatross.

The bird provided enough sustenance to keep the crew alive during the 14 days and nights that they were stranded at sea.

An ingenious ship steward in another instance, made the headlines for the way he attracted a rescue airplane to come to the aid of his crew.

He made an SOS signal out of dough and used so much dough that it could be seen from the air.

The Sunderland ship which was vital after D Day

A Sunderland ship called the Lambtonian was the first to take Merchant Navy crews to France after the D Day invasion.

And then there were the people of Sunderland who raised £22,000 - despite their own hardships - so that Britain could buy a Spitfire.

It even included a sponsored football match in which a collection for the Sunderland Spitfire fund was held. SAFC legends Bobby Gurney and Hughie Gallagher led the campaign to collect the money.

Watch out for more remarkable Sunderland stories from the 1940s as we mark 80 years since the end of the war.

And if you have family who lived through the war, tell us their stories by emailing [email protected]

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