I'm sharing the story of the Sunderland men whose high seas drama was like something out of a classic war film
A group of Sunderland men had a dramatic story to tell from a famous incident in the Second World War.
Imagine the tales which were regaled by these sailors who were on a ship sunk by a German pocket battleship, and then kept prisoner on a tanker.
Hand to hand combat
But that’s exactly what happened to a group of Wearsiders whose adventures still hadn’t ended. They could only listen as their German captors fought hand-to-hand with British rescuers.
Prisoners on a German ship
The story unfolded 86 years ago this month when they were all being held as prisoners on board the German tanker Altmark when it was at the centre of a drama involving British destroyers in the South Atlantic.
It was in 1940 when the Altmark came face-to-face with the British destroyer HMS Cossack.
Its prisoners were British sailors, whose ships had been sunk by the pocket battleship Graf Spee.
Eight German sailors killed and 10 wounded
The Sunderland-built steamer Newton Beech was one of the Graf Spee's conquests and she was sunk on October 5, 1939. She was a small ship, 4,615 tons, with a crew of 35 and was owned by Ridley, Son and Tully of Newcastle.
The Altmark was eventually cornered and there was hand-to-hand combat when British forces boarded the the ship, leaving eight German sailors killed and 10 wounded.
A heroes welcome home
The prisoners were rescued and the Sunderland contingency was given a civic reception on their return to Wearside on February 20, 1940.
Pictured at the Town Hall were, left to right, seated, Messrs W L Dumble, Noel Bevan, the Mayor Coun Wayman and Mr H Saville.
Standing are the Town Clerk Mr G S McIntire and Mr J Dumble.
Tell us if you are related to any of the heroes and if they relayed their memories of the story to family members.
Email me at [email protected] to share what you know.
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