English Channel Archives - Jean-Jacques Cornish https://jjcornish.com/tag/english-channel/ The low down on African affairs Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:00:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://i0.wp.com/jjcornish.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-Fountain_Pen_favicon-812.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 English Channel Archives - Jean-Jacques Cornish https://jjcornish.com/tag/english-channel/ 32 32 Theresa May returns to bell of the SS Mendi to South Africa https://jjcornish.com/2018/08/theresa-may-returns-to-bell-of-the-ss-mendi-to-south-africa/ Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:00:00 +0000 https://jjcornish.com/2018/08/theresa-may-returns-to-bell-of-the-ss-mendi-to-south-africa/ British premier Theresa May, landing in Cape Town this morning,  comes bearing a piece of South African history. She will be returning the bell off the SS Mendi that sank in the English Channel in 1917 killing 646 people, most of them black South African troops. ends intro  The loss of the SS Mendi was […]

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]]> British premier Theresa May, landing in Cape Town this morning,  comes bearing a piece of South African history.

She will be returning the bell off the SS Mendi that sank in the English Channel in 1917 killing 646 people, most of them black South African troops.

ends intro 

The loss of the SS Mendi was the greatest wartime maritime disaster for South Africa which will now have a physical item from the ship for descendants of the victims to visit.

The soldiers had arrived in Britain from South Africa and were being moved to the theatre of war in France when their ship collided with a cargo steamer.

The men sang and stamped a death dance as the ship sank within 20 minutes.

607 black South African troops and nine of their white compatriots died together with the 33 crew.

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