Sinking of the Laconia

12th July 1942: The sinking of a British troopship carrying Italian POWs leads to a rescue operation organised by the U-boat commander

Cunard Line postcard of the RMS Laconia circa 1921. in September 1942 she was operating as a troopship carrying 463 officers and crew, 80 civilians, 286 British Army soldiers, 1,793 Italian prisoners of war, and 103 Polish soldiers (guards).

On the 12th September the German U boat U-156 torpedoed a passenger ship off the coast of Africa. There was nothin…