Glasgow War Memorial

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Comment by Ronald Drysdale on August 13, 2024 at 14:32

Ivor Mcneill Adam Drysdale 1911–1941

Married Annie Beryl Ritter, January/February 1941, just before his

unfortunate death at Sea, on 25 March 1941

Comment by William Douglas on August 13, 2024 at 10:13

Re: Lifeboat Number Seven
I recall that story - I wonder if I read the book when at school.
A copy today would be quite valuable.

Comment by Ronald Drysdale on August 13, 2024 at 1:05

Ivor McNeill Adam Drysdale, M.B., Ch.B, a Surgeon Lieutenant in the Royal Navy in WW2 - died when his ship the SS Britannia was sunk by the German auxiliary cruiser Thor in 1941

https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCasAlpha1939-45Di.htm

• DRYSDALE, Ivor McN. A., Surgeon Lieutenant, Britannia, steamship, (Phoenix, O/P), 25 March 1941, killed

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Britannia_(1925)#:~:text=SS%20Brit....

 SS Britannia was a UK steam ocean liner that was built in Scotland in 1925–26 and operated by Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers). In 1941 a German merchant raider [Thor] sank Britannia with the loss of 249 lives.

 ………..Britannia's Third Officer, William McVicar, commanded lifeboat number seven. It was certified to carry 56 people but packed with 82, some of whom were wounded. Although they were nearer Africa than South America, McVicar elected to sail west due to the prevailing currents and winds. The voyage lasted 23 days, in which time 44 people in the boat died. After sailing 1,535 miles the 38 survivors came ashore near São Luís in Brazil. For their achievement McVicar and the ship's surgeon, Nancy Miller, were awarded the MBE. One of the survivors from McVicar's boat, Lt-Cdr Frank West MBE, wrote a book, Lifeboat Number Seven, describing their voyage.