U~Boat Attack on HMS Lapwing

A total of 158 men lost their lives when HMS Lapwing was torpedoed by a German U~boat U968 on March 20th 1945, as it travelled with other allied ships to the Kola Inlet, in Northern Russia.

The memorial was recently held in Saffron Walden, because during the Government's War Week in 1941, the town raised a large amount of money to sponsor a ship and HMS Lapwing was chosen to bear the town's coat of arms on it's quarter deck.

Every two years the Lapwing Association and Royal British Legion meet up with the last remaining crew members and their families to honour and remember those who gave their lives.