Attack on a Hospital Ship During the Great War: Atrocity on the Atlantic by Nate Hendley
Review by James M Fisher
Canada has produced some great “True Crime” writers: Debra Komar, Dean Jobb and Nate Hendley, to name three with whom I am familiar. The True Crime genre has always been a popular subject under the broad non-fiction banner, and Nate Hendley continues to cover some of the least-known (and forgotten) crimes throughout history. His last two books covered crimes in and around Toronto1 but his latest for Dundurn Press takes us to the Atlantic Ocean at the time of the Great War (1914-1918) and the intentional sinking of a Canadian Hospital ship by a German U-boat.
The Llandovery Castle was a converted ocean liner requisitioned for the war by Great Britain. It was fitted out as a hospital ship, the hull painted white with red crosses, identifying it as such. Hospital ships were protected under international law, as long as they carried no troops (other than casualties), weapons, ammunition or supplies for the Army. It had transported thousands of wounded from war zones to safety, across the Atlantic to Halifax. On its fateful voyage, it was returning devoid of casualties back to England in 1918 (just months before hostilities ended). Still, it had its staff of medical officers, nursing sisters and ship’s crew aboard, 258.
U-86 knew the ship it was stalking, yet the U-boat’s commander, Helmut Patzig, lined up for a torpedo shot. One missed, but the second hit the ship. The staff and crew scrambled to get into lifeboats, but many were plunged into the ocean. The U-boat surfaced, interrogated some of the crew then proceeded to fire upon the lifeboats with their deck gun, killing many, including all of the nursing sisters. One lifeboat with 24 passengers escaped and made it back to safety.2
A tragic and deplorable incident near the end of the war, however, the sinking of the Llandovery Castle had immediate and lasting consequences, as Mr. Hendley so ably describes throughout the balance of the book, which is filled with survivor stories, memorials to their legacy, and the resulting trials which were pivotal in instituting the “I was just following orders” defence as a non-defence in subsequent war crimes trials.
Mr. Hendley’s writing is authoritative but never dry. He has plotted the book in a sensible order, and the pacing of events is agreeably done. Lots of backstories on relevant figures and other moments in the war and the subsequent war crime trials, both after the Great War and WWII. Exemplary reading for those interested in naval history as well as war history in general. My author friend Heather McBriarty said in her review3 “A must-read for anyone interested in Canadian history.” I wholeheartedly agree.
About the Author
Nate Hendley is a journalist and author of several books, primarily on crime-related subjects. His book, The Beatle Bandit (about a murderous 1964 bank heist) won the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for Non-Fiction 2022. He lives in Toronto.
Book Details
Publisher : Dundurn Press (Feb. 13 2024)
Language : English
Paperback : 240 pages
ISBN-10 : 1459751345
ISBN-13 : 978-1459751347
The Beatle Bandit and The Boy on a Bicycle are both from Dundurn Press. Links will direct you to my reviews at The Miramichi Reader.
The attack took place just off the Irish coast, and other boats came to their eventual rescue.