Blog No. 317 – Stanley Hankin and RMS Rangitane, Part 1 – 29 July 2025

My purpose is to give hope to those who have lost hope. Without hope, we remain lost in the Shadow Lands.

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Rangitane prisoners after their release on Emirau Island.  I think Stan is the 4th from the left in the back row.

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Rangitane prisoners on board SS Nellore on the way to Sydney after being rescued from Emirau Island.

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The Royal Mail Ship Rangitane was a large, fast, majestic, two-funnelled ocean liner.  It was sunk on the 27th of November 1940 by two small, slow, scruffy German raiders disguised as Japanese merchant traders, far from the main theatre of war.  The Rangitane was attacked by German raiders called Komet and Orion.

Stanley Hankin, brother of my father Cliff Hankin, was a crew member on Rangitane when it was sunk.  Stan was then aged 17 and his official crew member status was “Steward’s boy.  Stan had his 18th birthday when he was a prisoner of war on board the Orion.  

In total, 496 people were taken prisoner when the Rangitane was sunk.  

Rangitane was one of the largest passenger liners to be sunk in WW2.

Sixteen people died when the Rangitane was torpedoed and shelled by the Germans.  The 16 comprised eight passengers and eight crew and some of the dead died after the attack by the Germans. 

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On 20 December 1940, 346 of the 496 Rangitane prisoners were released on the island of Emirau; Emirau is now part of Papua New Guinea.  Stan Hankin was one of the released prisoners.

Before being released by the Germans, the prisoners were forced to sign this document.

We the undersigned do hereby give our word of honour and declare solemnly that on our release we will bear neither arms nor undertake military actions against Germany and her allies during the present hostilities. By breach of this promise we realise we are liable to capital punishment.

Stan had the choice - either sign the document or remain a prisoner of the Nazis.  Stan signed the document.

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The wording of the document was an attempt to use Convention XI of the 1907 Hague Convention.  Relevantly, the Convention said this.

REGULATIONS REGARDING THE CREWS OF ENEMY MERCHANT SHIPS CAPTURED BY A BELLIGERENT Article 5. When an enemy merchant ship is captured by a belligerent, such of its crew as are nationals of a neutral State are not made prisoners of war. The same rule applies in the case of the captain and officers likewise nationals of a neutral State, if they promise formally in writing not to serve on an enemy ship while the war lasts.  Article 6. The captain, officers, and members of the crew, when nationals of the enemy State, are not made prisoners of war, on condition that they make a formal promise in writing, not to undertake, while hostilities last, any service connected with the operations of the war.   Article 7. The names of the persons retaining their liberty under the conditions laid down in Article 5, paragraph 2, and in Article 6, are notified by the belligerent captor to the other belligerent. The latter is forbidden knowingly to employ the said persons.   Article 8. The provisions of the three preceding articles do not apply to ships taking part in the hostilities.

Stan was a British national and his country was at war with Germany.  Under Article 6 of the convention, the Germans could release him from captivity if he made a formal promise in writing not to undertake “any service connected with the operations of the war”.  

Stan gave the required promises and was released.  This created a significant problem for Stan because as far as the British government was concerned, the promise he made in writing to the Germans was not in any way binding on him.  

As far as the British government was concerned, there were no legal or ethical reasons why Stan should not provide services “connected with the operations of the war.”  

Stan should do whatever the British government ordered him to do and any orders from the British government would most certainly be “connected with the operations of the war.”

Stan would suffer a significant penalty if he simply did whatever he was ordered to do by the British government.  If Stan under orders performed services “connected with the operations of the war.”, and if the Germans recaptured him and found out he had broken the promises made before he was released onto Emirau Island, the Germans would simply murder him.

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Stan’s story does not get any better.  Terrible things kept happening to him.

Later, Stan served in the Arctic Convoys.  Somehow, his body lived, but his spirit died amidst the cold and the deaths he had to witness.

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By helping others to heal We help ourselves heal Remember those who preceded us. Give abundant Love Always Stan and Cliff always did.