the ss tuscania sinking was a massive disaster for a small island to manage. and then there we re and medical care. and then there were the dead. eventually almost 200 bodies were washed ashore. and the man in charge of relief and recovery was gaelic —— was islay's malcolm mcneil. his grandson is a well—known public figure. he was in the building that is now a bank, and he could have had no experience of anything on a major scale. hisjob would have been largely administrative in an island without any real crime. the island with just four police officers had to identify and bury nearly 200 men. this is like lockerbie, or 7—7, and bury nearly 200 men. this is like lockerbie, or7—7, or even and bury nearly 200 men. this is like lockerbie, or 7—7, or even 911. for a small community, the huge events taking place with deaths, bodies, survivors and the calamity that was involved, certainly in the early stages before any of the emergency services could be mobilised to come. it was probably one of the worst things they had ever seen one of the worst things they had eve

100 years on from the sinking of hms otranto and the ss tuscania,

100 years on from the sinking of hms otranto and the ss tuscania, glenn campbell travels to his home island of islay to tell the little—known story of tragedy and rescue. good morning and welcome to bbc news. a man in his eighties has died following flash flooding in walsall. police say they were called to the rushall area atjust after 2am this morning after reports that a vehicle was in the water. the incident came after widespread flooding in the midlands and parts of wales last night. in some places, more than one month's rainfall felljust one hour. there are still four flood warnings in england and 38 flood alerts. ben ando‘s report contains flashing images. the waters rose with

in events to mark the sinking of the ss tuscania and hms 0tranto in 1918. from islay, here's our correspondent, glenn campbell. as islay remember the twin tragedies on the —— of 1918 at the american monument, a naval tribute completed with a wreath—laying at sea. when the hms 0tra nto with a wreath—laying at sea. when the hms 0tranto went down off the west coast, 300 men were thrown into the atlantic in hurricane condition. badly damaged, torn to pieces, every man for himself. but they hardly stood a chance. 0nly man for himself. but they hardly stood a chance. only 21 made it ashore allowed. despite not being able to swim, his father was one of the lucky few. he ended up at the

now on bbc news, glenn campbell tells the little known story of ss tuscania and hms otranto.

they were attacking the ss tuscania, a luxury liner converted for the war effort.t 2,500 us soldiers and british crew when it was hit. a torpedo is a ship killer. it is apparently one of the worst ways to disable a ship, because it creates an air bubble above the explosion, and then literally breaks the back of the ship. and one hit the tuscania amidships, destroyed its boiler room. the ship was now a powerless hulk. the call came to abandon ship, and hundreds made for the lifeboats. among them, arthur siplon, a young man from michigan who'd never been to sea. in america, i met arthur's youngest son, bob. there had been, i think, at least one or two british destroyers that came alongside and tried to take off survivors. some of them were successful, some of them weren't. they were dumped into the ocean, and drowned or crushed between the ships and everything. so finally, him and another guy decided that they were going to try to lower a lifeboat, and they each got in it, and they lowered it, and they did it successfully. and then they were alone, and they really di

princess anne took part in events to mark the sinking of the ss tuscania and hms 0tranto in 1918. from islay, here‘s our correspondent, glenn campbell. as islay remembered the twin tragedies of 1918 at the american monument on the island, a naval tribute by three warships from britain, germany and the us, completed with a wreath—laying at sea. when the 0tranto went down off the west coast of islay, 500 men were thrown into the cold atlantic in hurricane conditions. the ship was badly damaged in a collision, and torn to pieces on a reef. it was every man for himself, and they hardly stood a chance. 0nly 21 made it to shore alive. despite not being able to swim, johns roberts‘ father was one of the lucky few.

princess anne took part in events to mark the centenary of the sinking of the ss tuscania and wreck of hms 0tranto in 1918. hundreds of american troops drowned within sight of land. from islay, here's our correspondent, glenn campbell. as islay remembered the twin tragedies of 1918 at the american monument on the island, three warships from the uk, germany and the us patrol its coast. then able to be completed with a wreathlaying at sea. when the hms 0tranto went down off islay‘s west coast, 500 men we re down off islay‘s west coast, 500 men were thrown into the cold, heaving atlantic, india hurricane conditions. —— in near. the ship was badly damaged in a collision and torn to pieces on a reef. it was every man for themselves, but they harvested chance. 0nly

they were attacking the ss tuscania, a luxury liner converted for the war effort. the ship was carrying almost 2,500 us soldiers and british crew when it was hit. a torpedo is a ship killer. it is apparently one of the worst ways to disable a ship, because it creates an air bubble above the explosion, and then literally breaks the back of the ship. and one hit the tuscania amidships, destroyed its boiler room. the ship was now a powerless hulk. the call came to abandon ship, and hundreds made for the lifeboats. among them, arthur siplon, a young man from michigan who'd never been to sea. in america, i met arthur's youngest son, bob. there had been, i think, at least one or two british destroyers that came alongside

princess anne took part in events to mark the sinking of the ss tuscania and hms otranto in 1918.member the twin tragedies in the money went on the island, worships from britain, germany and the us patrolled its coast. they're unable to' naval tribute completed, —— their naval tribute completed. when the ship went down off pep—mac's coast, men were sent into the atlantic in the hurricane conditions. the ship was badly damaged in a collision, torn to pieces on a reef. it was every man for himself, but they hardly stood a chance. only 21 made sure alive. john roberts' father was among the lucky few, despite not being able to swim. he had his life vest on and ended up at the cliff over here. onshore, the mcphee family saw the disaster unfold and rushed to help. it was said they went into the water seven times and each time pulled out a man. one of those men pulled to safety was 17—year—old private david roberts. 100 years on, his son has come to thank the family of his father's rescuer, fulfilling a long—held wish. this will be the last chance. i am 88 going on 89. i had to make it r

princess anne took part in events to mark the sinking of the ss tuscania and hms 0tranto in 1918.win tragedies on the —— of 1918 at the american monument, a naval tribute completed with a wreath—laying at sea. when the hms 0tra nto with a wreath—laying at sea. when the hms 0tranto went down off the west coast, 300 men were thrown into the atlantic in hurricane condition. badly damaged, torn to pieces, every man for himself. but they hardly stood a chance. 0nly man for himself. but they hardly stood a chance. only 21 made it ashore allowed. despite not being able to swim, his father was one of the lucky few. he ended up at the cliff over here. i sure, the mcphee family saw the disaster unfold and rushed to help. it was said they we nt rushed to help. it was said they went into the water seven times and each time pulled out a man. one of those men pulled to safety was 17—year—old private david roberts. 100 years, his son has come to thank the family of his father's rescuer for filling the family of his father's rescuer forfilling a the family of his father's rescuer for filling a lo

princess anne took part in events to mark the sinking of the ss tuscania and hms 0tranto in 1918.dies of 1918 at the american monument on the island, a naval tribute by three warships from britain, germany and the us, completed with a wreath—laying at sea. when the 0tranto went down off the west coast of islay, 500 men were thrown into the cold atlantic in hurricane conditions. the ship was badly damaged in a collision, and torn to pieces on a reef. it was every man for himself, and they hardly stood a chance. 0nly 21 made it to shore alive. despite not being able to swim, johns roberts‘ father was one of the lucky few. he had his life vest on and ended up at the cliff over here. 0nshore, the mcphee family saw the disaster unfold and rushed to help. it was said they went into the water seven times and each time pulled out a man. one of those men pulled to safety was 17—year—old private david roberts. 100 years on, his son has come to thank the family of his father‘s rescuer, fulfilling a long—held wish. # amazing grace...#. all the victims were remembered in a ceremony attended by

the ss tuscania was torpedoed by a german u—boat in february 19 18. ship went down in october after a collision in a storm. together, these disasters claimed the lives of around 700 mostly american men, and tested this small island to its limits. the senior police officer on islay at the time was sergeant malcolm mcneil, whose grandson is a former secretary general of nato. there were survivors, there were the injured and there were the dead, so the job of handling that, you know, was really quite amazing. on a small island, maybe a couple of doctors actually there as well, so the marshalling of people took on enormous proportions. lord robertson laid a wreath in a commemoration in at sea, overlooked by warships by the british, german and american navies. these three ships sailed past the american monument on islay this morning as a tribute was played by a lone piper. and princess anne led a ceremony to honour those lost when the ships went down, and honour the islanders who responded to these disasters one century ago. and over that 100 year period,

princess anne took part in events to mark the centenary of the sinking of the ss tuscania and wreck of of land. from islay, here's our correspondent, glenn campbell. as islay remembered the twin tragedies of 1918 at the american monument on the island, three warships from the uk, germany and the us patrol its coast. then able to be completed with a wreathlaying at sea. when the hms 0tranto went down off islay‘s west coast, 500 men we re down off islay‘s west coast, 500 men were thrown into the cold, heaving atlantic, india hurricane conditions. —— in near. the ship was badly damaged in a collision and torn to pieces on a reef. it was every man for themselves, but they harvested chance. 0nly every man for themselves, but they harvested chance. only 21 made it ashore alive. —— hardly stood a chance. john roberts' father was among the lucky few, despite not being able to swim. he had his life vest on and ended up near the cliff over here. onshore, the macphee family saw the disaster unfolding in rushed to help. it was said that they went into the water seven times, and each time, they pul

coming up... 100 years on from the sinking of hms otranto and the ss tuscania, glenn campbell travelso his home island of islay to tell the little—known story of tragedy and rescue. good morning and welcome to bbc news. a man in his eighties has died following flash flooding in walsall. police say they were called to the rushall area atjust after 2am this morning after reports that a vehicle was in the water. the incident came after widespread flooding in the midlands and parts of wales last night. in some places, more than one month's rainfall felljust one hour. there are still four flood warnings in england and 38 flood alerts. ben ando‘s report contains flashing images. the waters rose with breathtaking speed. in some parts of birmingham, they had more rain in one hour than the average for the whole of may. on a bank holiday weekend in edgbaston, harborne and selly park, there was little residents or the emergency services could do other than watch and wait, as floodwaters reached up to five foot in depth. some of these houses have been flooded three times in recent years. the poli

¥é§§%%w a of the ss tuscania and hms otranto. 100 years ago, war‘s grim tide swept this coastline.of islay‘s sons fought away on the western front, at home their families could not escape the conflict. the carnage came to them, in two separate shipping disasters. this is the almost forgotten story of how islay cope with mass casualties in the first world war. to wake up in the morning going out to a day's work and to be ending up with this tragedy and all these dead bodies about, must have been horrific. islay‘s small community share the grief of an emerging superpower and one enduring respect. the fact that they so lovingly cared for the soldiers and cared to make