HMS Dasher - suspected mass grave dig

[Hughie]

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court has given North Ayrshire Council permission to carry out excavation work on a suspected mass grave in Ardrossan Cemetery to establish if some of the Dasher victims are buried in it.
The story can be read on http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home ... e.19078477.

On Monday 22 October a section of ground in Ardrossan Cemetery will be subjected to an archaeology search which will be carried out by Guard Archaeology Ltd, formerly part of Glasgow University. After months of planning with North Ayrshire Council the archaeologists will arrive on site and commence the search for a mass grave. The highly professional team will remove the top soil before investigating the site. Guard Archaeology estimate the sensitive search will take between 2 and 3 days.

At the instigation of John Steele and Noreen Steele, authors of The American Connection To The Sinking Of HMS Dasher, the section of ground was earlier investigated by Glasgow University Archaeology Department. Low Level radar was utilised in the search. The university report stated;

It cannot be ruled out that there are numerous bodies, without coffins in a deep pit.

The unprecedented search for a mass grave relates to HMS Dasher blowing up and sinking within 5 minutes on the 27th March 1943. Five weeks before the disaster the Commander in Chief. Home Fleet advised in writing;

Safety alterations should be carried out on these American built escort carriers at the earliest opportunity. This report was completely ignored by the Admiralty.

Source : John Steele http://www.hmsdasher.com/

[Jim McCreadie]

If remains are found and proven to be victims of sthe DASHER loss, they should NOT be left in an unmarked mass grave. A multi-faith re-interment with stone and plaque is appropriate. In addition, relatives of those whose remains were never recovered should be invited to attend so they can commemorate the loss of their loved ones.

[calleytwo]

Actually with DNA testing they can identfy all the bodies - they are doing so with WW1 graves in France and Belgium at the moment. Wee Ali

[brvhrtjimmy]

i was out at Ardrossan cemetry to day (Mon 22 oct) there were two Archeaoligist working there getting the site ready for the work to be carried out,they told me the work would start tomorrow, i personaly did not know the work would be where it is going to take place,i just thought that it was going to be in the old part of the cemetry,
i came across the grave of an Edward Mc Readie Sea Captain i think this might be the realtive that Jim mentioned.I have attached a couple of photo,s when the preperation work is finished it will all be enclosed and screened from public view ,very befitting in my opinion considering what they think is there

James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[brvhrtjimmy]

I was back out at Ardrossan cemetery today, lot more activity today compared to yesterday,the B.B.C. was there doing interviews as was STV,talking to the archeologist's leaves me to believe they will not be any further down than the topsoil today as this is a very very painstaking investigation, tomorrow im pretty sure they will be on the subsoil, there can only be one of three outcomes. They can find remains in which case the digging will cease (it will also cease right away if they find any human remains whatsoever even before they get to the depth they have planned) Second outcome can be they find nothing, so not sure what will happen then but these people have to be buried somewhere, and with the enthusiasm and passion John Steel and his wife have for this project then i am pretty sure they won’t let it end there, Third outcome is they can’t determine one way or the other without more time in which case they will report to the council, and the word i got today is that there won’t be any problem in the council applying to the court for an extension. Tomorrow an official from the graves commission will make a visit i will be there again for that and indeed each day till it is finished which probably will be Friday. Tonight on STV news and B.B.C. Scotland news will be the John Steel interviews 6pm and 7pm respectively.Again i have included photos first one is john steel and his wife,second his interview with bbc, third one his interview with stv.

James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[Richard]

Thank's very much, Jimmy, for keeping us all informed.
I was only just contemplating, this morning, contacting the BBC and letting rip with both barrels due to their
lack of coverage of what is a very important event in both local & national history.
I will be "tuned-in" tonight.
Thank's again, Jimmy.
Very much appreciated.

[Jim McCreadie]

Aye Jimmy
Thanks for the updates - keep 'em coming. Being so far away, I'm very interested but lacking news.

You're correct - Captain Edward McCreadie was my granpa who lived initially at 2 Manse Street adjacent to Miller's the furniture showroom (who remembers that!. At age 4, I burnt down the storehouse at the back) then 21 McNay Crescent.

[brvhrtjimmy]

almost nothing to report today (Wed 24oct.) there was no one there today apart from the two archaeologists who are doing the work,however the information that i got from them is that they are still on the top soil,as it in itself is pretty deep i was told. One of them told me they will have a look at this site tonight and this post in particular.Tomorrow i think will be a better day for more information,i cant see in the enclosure as it is closed to public view but i do know its is being done by hand,even the excavation of the top soil,it is quite a large area that they are working on and there is only two of them and coupled with that is the fact it is quite heavy ground,so it is quite understanable,and these two people are really experience archaeologists one i know has worked in spain looking for victims of the spanish civil war.There superior turned up while i was there, i did ask him about the chap from the graves commission and he said he didnt know but he was supposed to be there today, this was at 13.30pm and i know the chap was coming from down south somewhere,so there was no word from him to say at what point in his journey he was (i am of course assuming he had a mobile phone, because who hasn't these day's) so thats when i left i will be there again tomorrow when i hope to be able to report more information than was available today.

James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[Hughie]

I'm reliably informed the dig area will be eight by one metres.

[brvhrtjimmy]

This is the last report (Thursday25th.oct,) the excavation has been completed and the results are negative, nothing was found, so not quite sure what happens now, but if Hughie is in touch with David Steele we might get some indication as to what the plans for the future are, and i would be quite pleased to follow up on that, the work that is left to be done is to put the site back to its original condition and with the two people who carried out the excavation im sure it will be done quite meticously, ive enjoyed doing these reports and im disappointed nothing was found as it would have brought this to some sort of conclusion, but more importantly it would have given the missing a marked and tended grave. The man from the graves commission turned up yesterday just after i left he was there to see that the other graves were not damaged and with the two people who done the excavation that would not have happened.

James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[Richard]

Thank's again Jimmy, for all your efforts.
I'm quite sure this is not the end of it. Afterall, as well as it being an event of local, national & International
importance, there are a lot of families who want & deserve answers. Not to mention closure.
The bodies of 44 men just don't disappear. Someone knows ?????

[Gillian]

Hi there, can I ask if someone could confirm something for me please! When i was younger and lived in the high flats, I used to speak with an old lady who lived there. One day we had a conversation about a ship that had sunk just off the coast during the war. She spoke about lots of bodies being found and brought from the beach up to the old clinic that used to sit beside the flats. She said it was used as a makeshift mortuary. I've only seen reports of the harbour house being used so can someone tell me if this was true please and was this the Dasher? Its only in recent years that I've thought she could have been talking about H.M.S Dasher Thank you!