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Nov 27, 2015

Swansea sailor's 41 days adrift


Evan Basil Davies was one of four men who survived 41 days in a ship's lifeboat off Africa during the Second World War, but he died in another torpedo attack ...

later in the war. The men had not long left Sierra Leone on an oil tanker when torpedoes caused the ship to explode and the cargo to burn. To launch the lifeboat off the sinking wreck, useful equipment was jettisoned but fortunately a stock of ship's biscuits remained in the boat. However, the men couldn't eat or drink until their 11th day adrift, when the first rainfall allowed them to soften and eat the ship's biscuits. Evan died in December 1942 in one of the worst Atlantic convoy attacks of the war. To discover more about Merchant Navy men from Swansea who died in wartime, scan the new HistoryPoints QR codes on the plinth below the city's Merchant Navy memorial. Or click here. To go direct to Evan's story, click here