| SS BAEPENDY (August 15, 1942)
Brazilian passenger and cargo ship (4,801 tons) now serving as a troop transport, sunk by the U-507 (Korvkpt. Harro Schacht) off the mouth of the Real River between Rio de Janeiro and Manaus. There were over 700 troops on board of which 270 died. Also sunk was the Annibal Benevolo, another Brazilian passenger ship, with a loss of 150 and the Araraquara with 131 passengers and crew lost, both sunk on the August 16, 1942. The U-507 was later sunk on January 13, 1943, by depth charges from a US Catalina flying boat in the South Atlantic. The entire crew of 54 perished. The sinking of these passenger ships caused Brazil to declare war on Germany on August 22nd.
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On weald of Kent I watched once more
Again I heard that grumbling roar
Of fighter planes; yet none were near
And all around the sky was clear
Borne on the wind a whisper came
'Though men grow old, they stay the same'
And then I knew, unseen to eye
The ageless Few were sweeping by
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