235204 Sgt. Horace Victor Vardy British Army 2nd Btn. Sherwood Foresters from:Nottinghamshire During his time at war, in June 1940 Horace Vardy was put aboard the Lancastria which was packed full in an emergency evacuation from France. While evacuating from St Nazaire, a German bomb had hit the ship and killed hundreds of soldiers instantly.
To survive the Lancastria disaster Vardy had to fight for his place on a piece of wreckage, while comrades lost their lives. He felt guilt and sorrow later for this. Troops in the water were being machine-gunned as Vardy paddled away from the ship, covered in oil. As he was in the sea he could hear the men trapped below decks in the ship singing Roll out the Barrel, a song that brought tears to his eyes whenever he heard it, until the day he died in 1963. He spent many hours in the water praying and singing until a fishing boat picked him up. This was the 17th June, the day before his birthday. He would be 22 years old the next day; it was the best birthday present he could wish for. He served in Bees Squad, 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters.
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