Lakonia Disaster: 'Our vivid memories 60 years on'

Michael Lees (R & L) & Jill Tovey have kept photos, newspapers and tickets from the time

Two siblings who survived one of the UK's worst cruise ship disasters say the memories are still "very vivid".

The T.S.M.S. Lakonia caught fire on its way from Southampton to Madeira on 22nd December 1963, taking the lives of 128 people.

Michael Lees and his sister Jill Tovey, who both live in Wiltshire, have shared their memories 60 years on.

"Weren't we lucky that the whole family survived? We were so grateful," said Ms Tovey.

The siblings, who lived in Bishop Sutton in Somerset at the time, were aged just 11 and 13 when they boarded the ship on 19 December.

They were alongside their older sister Patricia, 73-year-old grandmother and their mother and father, who was a solicitor in Bristol at the time.

"I was looking forward to going on our cruise to some sunshine and even better when we got to the Canary Islands we were [due to be] staying in the same hotel as Cliff Richard who was filming Summer Holiday at the time," said Ms Tovey.

"But we didn't make it."

Michael Lees, Jill Tovey and their family were among more than 600 passengers on the TSMS Lakonia, many from the west country

Three days into the sail, faulty electrics started a fire in the hairdressing salon around 23:00 GMT and quickly spread to other areas.

Ms Tovey, who lives in Hinton Blewett, Somerset, near where they grew up, remembers they were in the ballroom watching her brother, who was singing carols.

"Normally we would have been well tucked up in bed by then," she told BBC Radio Wiltshire.

At about 11:15 GMT a sailor came to speak to the captain who was sitting close to them.

"They very hurriedly went out. Shortly after that we could see smoke coming up the stairwell," she said.

Passengers were moved to the deck then asked to go to the dining room.

Due to their grandmother being in a wheelchair the family stayed on deck, except her father.

While he was in the dining area he met a man whose sons were trapped in their cabin.

Ms Tovey and Mr Lees' father made several attempts to get to them, but had to give up.

"Very sadly those boys perished," said Ms Tovey.

The siblings' mother wrote to their father after she found he had been rescued and taken to Casablanca

"I can just about remember getting on a lifeboat and we were lucky," said Mr Lees, who lives in Kington Langley.

"The lifeboat was very full. It was one that was successfully launched."

He said many were not launched because they were not useable.

He remembers some of the other lifeboats tipped up and capsized as they hit the sea.

The Greek Merchant Marine Ministry launched an investigation which lasted two years and concluded that the order to abandon ship was given too late with only half of the lifeboats launched and the evacuation poorly executed.

Several of the Lakonia's officers were charged with negligence, the captain and first officer were both charged with gross negligence.

Ms Tovey said the Atlantic Ocean was "jolly cold" and one of the sailors on their lifeboats "took pity" on her sister, who was wearing a sleeveless dress.

"[He] gave my sister his sweater with TSMS Lakonia written on it. She still has that."

The siblings say they want to remember those who lost their lives in the disaster, and their family and friends

The "most difficult part" for the siblings was saying goodbye to their father as women and children were first on the lifeboats.

Their mother spotted his name on a list of survivors a few days later.

He had been picked up after being in the sea for four hours and taken to Casablanca.

"She couldn't speak, she just pointed and we all burst into tears. It's very vivid," Ms Tovey said.

"The reunion when we got back to England was very tearful," she added.

"We were so grateful that we were all okay."

Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]