Eighty Scots-Italians who died when the SS Arandora was sunk by a German U-boat 70 years ago will today be commemorated in a cloister garden next to St Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow. The Arandora Star, a former luxury cruise liner, was sunk off the coast of Ireland en route to Canada. On board were 1600 passengers and crew, 720 of whom died.

Among the victims were 446 Italians who had been living in Britain and were arrested at the command of Winston Churchill and made prisoners of war when Mussolini threw his lot in with Hitler. It is believed that 80 Scots-Italians died and the commemorative garden will be opened formally today at a special ceremony. The inspiration for a memorial to the victims came from Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, who is himself of Italian descent.

A memorial garden featuring the largest monument dedicated to victims who died aboard a cruise liner which sunk in 1940 will be officially opened next week. First Minister Alex Salmond will join Archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti to open the Italian Cloister Garden next to St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow on Monday.

They will welcome 91-year-old Rando Bertoia, the only living survivor of the Arandora Star, which was torpedoed by a German submarine, killing 805 people. The British-registered Blue Star liner sunk off the west coast of Ireland while carrying German and Italian "enemy aliens" and prisoners of war.