In 1943, seventeen Goan seamen part of the British ship “Devon” crew , captured on 19 August 1941 by the German auxiliary cruiser "Komet" in the Galapagos region, were being held in Germany at Marlag und Milag – a prisoners camp for Allied merchant navy crews.

Goa, in India, was at that time a Portuguese colony.

The names of these prisoners were on a list of the International Red Cross, handed over to the Portuguese Ambassador in London by the British authorities. It also had the names of four other Goans imprisoned in Stalag VIII B camp after being captured on the Norwegian merchant ship “Sandjfiord”.

The British authorities warned the Portuguese that not all imprisoned seamen were receiving financial support. The British only distributed funds to the men who had been imprisoned on their ships. The note also stressed that the men or their families were entitled to receive the agreed wages while they were in captivity.

The documents were sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but it is not known whether measures were taken to alleviate the hardships of these Goan prisoners.

The "Devon" was carrying machinery, aircraft parts and used tires when it was intercepted near the Galapagos Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, by the "Komet", which detained the crew and sank it.

The German ship had entered the Pacific via the Bering Strait in September 1940. Its passage along the coast of the Soviet Union had begun several months earlier and had been authorised by Stalin, who had received around a thousand marks to allow the transit.

The "Komet" initially operated in conjunction with the German privateers "Orion" and "Kumerland", concentrating its activity on the routes linking New Zealand to Panama. During this period it sank or helped to sink eight Allied ships. It then moved further south and, after passing Cape Horn, managed to cross the Atlantic and reach Hamburg on 30 November 1941, in a raid that lasted 516 days and covered more than one hundred thousand nautical miles.

It was at this time that the Goans were admitted to the prison camp.

The list below shows their names. First is the prisoner number and their age is the one they had in 1941.

Carlos Guerreiro