The Sinking of the "City of Benares"

In the early days of the Second World War, the nation and the government were very concerned about the likelihood of air raids on mostly unprotected cities and in particular the potential for mass loss of children's lives. Evacuation of children out of city centres was the response and whilst most children were shipped off to smaller towns and the country, some were evacuated abroad, with Canada being the destination for many. The City of Benares was one of many ships chartered by the government to transport evacuees to Canada. On 17th September 1940, it was sunk by a German submarine mid-Atlantic, whilst en route to Montreal. Over 250 people were lost in the attack, including most of the child evacuees. The news of the sinking arrived over a period of days and clearly provoked feelings of outrage and anger, as well as great sadness, in particular in communities directly affected by the tragedy. News of children being rescued days after the event were covered in some detail, to try to elicit some positive elements from what was a very tragic event.