Pte. John Wiliam McManus
British Army Royal Army Service Corps
My grandfather William McManus was taken to Mediouna in October 1942. He was on the ill-fated Laconia ship on its way back to the UK from Africa because he was ill. The Laconia was torpedoed by a German U boat on 12th of September 1942. The ship was full of Italian POW's, civilians and Army personnel. The German's realised their mistake and set about a rescue mission and started rescuing the passengers who were stranded in the sea and crowding lifeboats. Unfortunately, the US allies bombed the German U boat so the rescue mission was abandoned. My grandfather was in a lifeboat for a week until he was picked up by a Vichy French warship and taken to Casablanca where he stayed for 6 weeks until it was liberated by the US. The Laconia incident and was made into a film in 2011
