No Evidence of Mass Grave

Excavation work at  Ardrossan Cemetery, where there was thought to be a mass grave of bodies from the HMS Dasher disaster, has ended with no positive result.  The archaeology team, led by John Atkinson, hoped to find evidence of a grave site but instead found only undisturbed virgin soil.

HMS Dasher blew up off Arran in March 1943, killing 379 people, but only 23 bodies are in marked graves. The others have never been accounted for.
Some locals believe there could still be a grave site at Ardrossan Cemetery as well as a second site, possibly in a field within a two-mile radius of Ardrossan.

The mystery continues.

Possible Mass Grave - HMS Dasher

Work began at Ardrossan Cemetery on Monday and a team archaeologists began their excavation on Tuesday morning 23 October 2012 to try and resolve an unsolved mystery dating back to World War 2.  They are endeavouring to determine whether victims of a war-time sea tragedy are buried in a mass grave.

The aircraft carrier HMS Dasher exploded and sank in the Firth of Clyde on 27 March 1943 with the loss of 379 of her 528 crew.  Of the 68 bodies recovered, 24 were buried at Ardrossan Cemetery and it is not known what happened to the other 44.  Local historian John Steele believes some of these missing 44 who perished in the tragedy may also be buried in the cemetery.  He persuaded North Ayrshire Council to petition a court for permission to excavate part of the cemetery suspected of being the mass grave.

Much secrecy still applies to this disaster and it's to be hoped that these excavations will go some way to answering some of the unresolved questions hanging over the event.

HMS Dasher

It has taken 68 years, but at last relatives of those who died in one of the worst British naval disasters might soon be able to discover where the bodies are buried.

Lawyers acting for North Ayrshire Council have just agreed to start the legal moves which, campaigners believe, will solve one of the longest lasting and painful mysteries of the Second World War.  A formal request will be made to the courts asking for the excavation of a patch of ground at Ardrossan cemetery in Ayrshire.

This excavation should allow archaeologists to peel away the topsoil from an area which is thought to contain the bodies of more than 60 British seamen – sailors who were dumped in the unmarked pit, apparently because the Royal Navy was desperate to keep the true story of their deaths a secret.
The sailors had been part of the complement of 555 serving on HMS Dasher. The Royal Navy vessel had started life as a freighter, but was hastily converted into an aircraft carrier during the early part of the war.

HMS Dasher sank suddenly in the Firth of Clyde in March 1943, ripped apart by an explosion which may well have been caused by a fuel leak and a dropped cigarette.
The loss of 379 of the 555 crew still represents the second-worst naval disaster in home waters. It is only surpassed in scale by the loss of the 833 men in the sinking of the Royal Oak at Scapa Flow in 1939.

Thirteen of the bodies which were brought ashore were buried with military honours at Ardrossan cemetery and another seven were buried at Greenock. However, dozens more which were washed up along the Ayrshire coast, were apparently taken away by the Navy and never seen again.

Members of the History Group may recall David Craig, speaking about the Arctic Convoys on 18 October this year, stating that HMS Dasher was one of the escort vessels protecting Murmansk Convoy JW53 which left Loch Ewe on  15 February 1943. The flagship was the cruiser HMS Belfast and the convoy's other escorts included the cruisers HMS Cumberland,  HMS Sheffield and 15 destroyers. David was then serving as the Third Radio Officer on SS Dover Hill.
 
As the convoy sailed northwards it encountered heavy winds. Six merchant ships were damaged and diverted to Iceland, along with HMS Sheffield and the armed trawler HMT Lord Middleton.  A Royal Navy flotilla led by the cruiser HMS Scylla relieved the original escorts off Iceland.  However, during the storm HMS Dasher had suffered engine trouble and returned to the Firth of Clyde, leaving JW 53 without air cover.  The convoy reached the Kola Inlet on 27 February 1943.