2018

NR2558 : The flag used at the burial of American victims from the SS Tuscania

taken 6 years ago, near to Port Charlotte, Islay, Argyll And Bute, Scotland

The flag used at the burial of American victims from the SS Tuscania
The flag used at the burial of American victims from the SS Tuscania
Home made in Islay, and now a historical artefact. Apologies for the window reflection.
The Great War Centenary Commemoration on Islay – 2018

The first week of May 2018 saw Islay remembering the centenary of two events in which the Island and Islanders were greatly involved – the shipwrecks of the British ships SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto carrying American soldiers to the Western Front.
On 5 February the SS Tuscania was torpedoed by a German submarine. 2000 men were rescued, but 220 died. The survivors were helped by the islanders, and the bodies of the dead were recovered and buried with honour. The day before the mass interment of 126 bodies it was realised that there was no American flag to fly at the burial. The housekeeper of Islay House, with three helpers, worked overnight to make a flag, with material from a local shop and a plan from an encyclopaedia, to fly at the burial. The flag was later presented to President Woodrow Wilson who, in turn, gave it to the Smithsonian Institute of American History in Washington D.C. That flag is now displayed, on loan, in the Port Charlotte Museum of Islay Life, together with many other artefacts relating to the two incidents, as well as Islay life in general.
On 6 October HMS Otranto collided with another ship in her convoy during a storm. More than 600 American soldiers and British crewmen were rescued by HMS Mounsey, but 500 men were still aboard when the HMS Otranto hit the reef off Kilchoman. Only 19 survived.
The contribution of the Islay people was commemorated by the laying of wreaths at the American Cemetery at Kilchoman, the American Monument on the Mull of Oa, and the war memorial at Port Ellen.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright M J Richardson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Islay [29] · SS Tuscania [4] ·
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NR2558, 118 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
M J Richardson   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 13 May, 2018   (more nearby)
Submitted
Sunday, 20 May, 2018
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NR 2528 5859 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:44.5504N 6:22.7272W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NR 2527 5859
View Direction
Northeast (about 45 degrees)
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Image Type (about): close look 
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