On This Day…….SS Khedive Ismail

On this day 1944, after leaving Mombassa for Colombo on 5th February 1944, SS Khedive Ismail (a troop ship) was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean with the loss of 1,297 lives. 17 of them Wrens:

3rd Officer Jeanette L Barden WRNS
Wren Hazel M Batten
Wren Mary E Breakall
Wren Agnes G Carlyle
LWren Winifred B Dalton
3rd Officer Cicely C Dean WRNS
LWren Gladys Fletcher
Wren Ethel M Hunter
Wren Aileen A B Nickson
Wren Beatrice M Nye
3rd Officer Marion C Robinson WRNS
LWren Heather M Smail
Wren Audrey H Stafford
Wren Margaret P Todd
LWren Helen M J Valentine
Wren Betty R White
LWren Pamela I Wyllie

77 women lost their lives on that day (including QARNNS and Army Nursing Sisters and Matron), the largest single loss of servicewomen in history.

Rest in Peace ladies ⚓️⚓️

#NavyWomen #QARNNS #womenatwar

We Will Remember Them ⚓️