Sinking of Royal Navy ships in WW2 commemorated

28 September 2025

Jack SilverGuernsey

Guernsey has held a memorial service every year since 1947 at Le Foulon Cemetery where the 21 mariners are buried

Jack Silver/BBC A row of people in uniforms in a cemetery at low light, surrounded by trees. They stand on a path holding flags at different angles as they raise them. In front of them a line of grave stones with flowers and wreaths in front of them. Other people in military and church uniforms stand behind them. — Guernsey has held a memorial service every year since 1947 at Le Foulon Cemetery where the 21 mariners are buried

A service has been held in Guernsey to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the sinking of two Royal Navy warships hit by German torpedo boats.

More than 500 men died when HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne sank in the English Channel, in October 1943, with 21 bodies washing up in Guernsey.

The bodies were buried with full military honours and a memorial service has been held every year since 1947 at Le Foulon Cemetery, St Peter Port.

John Eskdale, a 101-year-old former Royal Marine and one of the last surviving HMS Charybdis crew members, attended this year's service.

Former Royal Marine John Eskdale, 101, right, was the last crew member to be rescued from the sea after the sinkings

Jack Silver/BBC An old man in a blazer and green Royal Marines beret, with medals over his lapels. He sits on a chair next to other people, many in similar outfits. — Former Royal Marine John Eskdale, 101, right, was the last crew member to be rescued from the sea after the sinkings

The service was led by Father Joe Thompson.

He said: "If we ever lose sight of the sacrifices that have been made for freedom, we really are on to a sticky wicket.

"We are still living in the product of what they were fighting for, and we're still striving to find the respect and the dignity they sought."

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Terry Wilmot's father Eric survived the sinkings and lived to be 99

Jack Silver/BBC A man with receding grey hair and a well-kept grey beard in a blazer with medals on the lapel stands in front of a line of neatly-kept graves with flowers and wreaths in front. — Terry Wilmot's father Eric survived the sinkings and lived to be 99

Terry Wilmot, 72, was attending the ceremony for the first time in memory of his father Eric Wilmot, a signalman on HMS Charybdis who survived the sinking and lived to be 99.

Terry said his father was a "talented linguist" who worked as a translator later in the war and studied French and linguistics at university in his 70s.

Eric wrote the story of the sinkings for his dissertation in both French and English.

"His tutor said it was the most emotional piece of literature he'd ever read in his life," Terry said, adding the tragedy was "obviously very much in [my father's] heart" throughout his life.

Guernsey sea cadet Sam, 17, was a grave sentry during this year's ceremony.

He said it was important for everyone to "pay their respects" and come together for "such a special moment".