Thomas Daniel James Basford

In memoriam

Royal Artillery

Thomas Basford was the son of John Webb Basford and Jessie Maud Pike. In 1921 he married Annie Akers at Preston, Lancs. On the 1939 Register he is living with his wife in Nantwich, Cheshire. His occupation is given as "Railway Porter"' He died whilst being evacuated from Greece which remains one of the worst maritime disasters to have occurred during in wartime. "Operation Demon" In 1940, during WW2, the Passenger liner Slamat was taken over for service as a troop transport. In 1941 she was sunk with great loss of life in the Battle of Greece. On the 27th April 1941, while engaged in the evacuation of British, Australian and New Zealand troops from Návplio, Greece, she was attacked by German JG-77 aircraft from the Luftwaffe and sank with the loss of 203 crew members and gunners. There were around 508 troops on board the Slamat and many of them were saved by the destroyers HMS Diamond and HMS Wryneck. Both were later bombed and sunk, drowning most of the initial survivors of the Slamat. The total death toll was 975men. Breakdown of casualties SS Slamat Crew: 222, victims: 211, survivors: 11 Soldiers: 508, victims: 500, survivors: 8 HMS Wryneck Crew: 133, casualties: 106, survivors: 27 HMS Diamond Crew: 186 , casualties: 166, survivors: 20

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