George Caracitsos is believed to have been born in Greece around 1877.
It was reported that he was a merchant, and in the spring of 1915, had been in New York City, N.Y., in the United States of America. It is not known, however, whether or not he had lived there for long, or was merely passing through.
According to a report in the 8th May 1915 edition of the Atlantis, a Greek newspaper widely circulated and read by the Greek community in New York City, and which was printed in the Greek language, George Caracitsos had served as a reserve officer in the Greek army in the Macedonian Struggle (1904 – 1908), and the Balkan Wars (1912 – 1913). The report stated that George Caracitsos and fellow Greek, Marinos Andreatos, who had also served in the Greek army in the same conflicts, had decided to travel to Europe in the hope of enlisting as officers in the French Foreign Legion.
Having decided to return to Europe, both men chose to make the voyage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania, however, they discovered that second cabin passage had been sold out and therefore purchased third class tickets.
Having arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour, on the morning of 1st May in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing they had to wait until the afternoon for her to set sail. This was because she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Lines vessel the S.S. Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war service as a troop ship, at the end of April.
George Caracitsos was killed as a result of this action and as his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 38 years at the time of his death.
Altogether, there were six Greek nationals on board the Lusitania when she was sunk, four perished and only two survived. Marinos Andreatos was also killed and his body was never recovered or identified afterwards either.
George Caracitsos’ name was translated from the Greek language and it is possible that he entered the United States of America, and recorded whilst there under a number of anglicised versions of his name, such as
Caracitos, Karacitos, or Karacitsos. The version of his name used here is the one that appears in the official Cunard lists .
Cunard Records, PRO BT 100/345, Atlantis, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.