HANSON Cuthbert Dennis

Appears on the Army casualties list for Worcestershire.

Cuthbert Hanson attended Worcester Royal Grammar School from 1927 to 1931. After the fall of Dunkirk, further evacuations of troops took place using ports in Normandy and Brittany. The troopship Lancastria was sunk by enemy bombs off St. Nazaire on the 17th June 1940 whilst taking part in these evacuations. The sinking of this ship was considered the worst incident of the Dunkirk evacuations with 5,800 troops on board when she was hit and set on fire. The ship sank in less than 15 minutes with the loss of 3,000 lives.

Source for additional information: In Dedication to a Future World By Mark Rogers, 1999.

A letter from Cuthbert Hanson’s parents, Mr and Mrs Hanson, Alicia House, 24 Droitwich Road, Worcester, dated 22nd February 1950 can be found within war records held at Worcestershire Archives requesting that his name be added to the county roll of honour. The letter states that Private Cuthbert Dennis Hanson, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Service No 7623949 was a “dear and only son” and that he was killed at sea on 17th June 1940. A second letter from his mother, Mrs M.E. Hanson, same address, dated 19th March 1952 can also be found within the same records. The second letter gives his date of death as 17th July 1940 on board H.M.S. Lancastria, France.

A further letter from Reverend James G. McNought, St George’s Vicarage, dated 19th May 1950 can be found within war records held at Worcestershire Archives requesting that Dennis Hanson be added to the county roll of honour.