Today at 11 am the British War Graves Commission and the US Coast Guard will hold their annual memorial service at Ocracoke's British Cemetery.

Between January and July, 1942 nearly 400 ships, mostly merchant vessels, were sunk or damaged by German U-boats. About 5000 people were killed or injured.

The British Cemetery is the site of four graves of seamen whose bodies washed ashore on Ocracoke's beach in May of 1942 -- Lt Thomas Cunninglham, Stanley R. Craig, AB, and two unknown sailors. All were from the ill-fated British ship, HMS Bedfordshire.