Thousands of Lancastria victims remembered

Survivors of Britain's worst-ever sea disaster are leaving for France today to commemorate the sinking of the ship, Lancastria, with the loss of almost three-thousand lives.

The ship was bombed sixty years ago during the Second World War by German warplanes outside the French port of St Nazaire.

Many civilians -- men, women and children - died alongside British troops.

News of the disaster was suppressed at the time, on the orders of the wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, who feared it would damage morale in Britain.

More than twenty survivors will take part in a series of events to mark the anniversary, culminating in a remembrance service at the spot where the Lancastria is believed to have gone down.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service