In memory of Douglas Kirkham
Douglas Kirkham was a General Post Office wireless operator before joining the shipping company Blue Star Lines in his early twenties, writes Adrian Hughes. By 1940 he was a Second Radio Officer, working as a wireless operator on the Arandora Star.
The Arandora Star was a leisure cruiser before the Second World War and had journeyed to almost all the oceans of the world on its many cruises. At the outbreak of war it was commandeered by the British Government and used as a troop carrier and for the evacuation of civilians from Europe and the Mediterranean. In 1939 it evacuated a boatload of women and children from the island of Malta. It was also used to take Canadian troops to Britain to help with the war effort.
On 2 July 1940 the Arandora Star was on its way to Canada from Liverpool with 1,200 Italian and German internees and prisoners of war. The internees were mostly shop owners, barbers, market traders and such like who had been arrested by the British as they were considered a threat once Italy had allied with Germany. The ship was also carrying 400 troops to guard the internees and some heavy machine guns for protection, as well as the ship’s regular crew.
At 6.58am off the northwest coast of Ireland, the ship was struck by a torpedo from the U-47, commanded by U-Boat ace Günther Prien. All power was lost at once, and 35 minutes after the torpedo impact, the Arandora Star sank. More than 800 people died, including Douglas Kirkham, of Nant-y-gamar Road, Llandudno. He was 28 years old. He left a widow, Muriel, and two young children.
Return to Llandudno war memorial page
Return to Welsh Prisoners of War history page
