Last Survivor of Arandora Star
Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:07 pmIt was reported in the Scottish Daily Express on October 15th that the last survivor from the Arandora Star sinking had died at the age of 93 years. The following is a summary from the paper.
Gilda Bertola was a 20 year old when he and his family were taken away from their home in the Gorbals to a Police station, where his family were held and he was moved to Liverpool.
On July 2, he was asleep on the Deck? of the Arandora Star,when at 6am. he heard a thump and dazed, he didn't know what had happened.He and friends jumped into a lifeboat and saw the ship go down, he said that this was a terrible sight, after which he said it was very quiet! He also lost a cousin in the sinking.
He and other survivors were taken by Canadian ship back to the UK,ending up in Greenock where he was put on another ship, which was also torpedoed, but the torpedoe failed to explode. He spent the remainder of the war in Australia but returned to Glasgow to work with his brother at the Victoria Watchmakers shop in Glasgow's South side, before retiring at the age of 85.
This is a sad reminder of the tragic losses that took place to many inocent families in wartime.
George Edwards.
See: The Herald The Daily Record STV
Gilda Bertola was a 20 year old when he and his family were taken away from their home in the Gorbals to a Police station, where his family were held and he was moved to Liverpool.
On July 2, he was asleep on the Deck? of the Arandora Star,when at 6am. he heard a thump and dazed, he didn't know what had happened.He and friends jumped into a lifeboat and saw the ship go down, he said that this was a terrible sight, after which he said it was very quiet! He also lost a cousin in the sinking.
He and other survivors were taken by Canadian ship back to the UK,ending up in Greenock where he was put on another ship, which was also torpedoed, but the torpedoe failed to explode. He spent the remainder of the war in Australia but returned to Glasgow to work with his brother at the Victoria Watchmakers shop in Glasgow's South side, before retiring at the age of 85.
This is a sad reminder of the tragic losses that took place to many inocent families in wartime.
George Edwards.
See: The Herald The Daily Record STV