men were lost, leaving behind an island of widows. A plaque at St. Mary's Church commemorates the lost men. 20th century Hard winter of 1906 After years of hardship since the 1880s and an especially difficult winter in 1906, the British government offered to evacuate the island in 1907. The Tristanians held a meeting and decided to refuse, despite the government's warning that it could not promise further help in the future. Occasional pre-war visits No ships called at the islands from 1909 until 1919, when HMS Yarmouth stopped to inform the islanders of the outcome of World War I. The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition stopped in Tristan for five days in May 1922, collecting geological and botanical samples before returning to Cape Town. Among the few ships that visited in the coming years were the RMS Asturias, a Royal Mail Steam Packet Company passenger liner, in 1927, and the ocean liners RMS Empress of France in 1928, in 1929, and RMS Empress of Australia in 1935. In 1936, The Daily Telegraph of London reported that the population of the island was 167 people, with 185 cattle and 42 horses. From December 1937 to March 1938, a Norwegian party made a dedicated scientific expedition to Tristan da Cunha, and sociologist Peter A. Munch extensively documented island culture; he visited the island again in 1964–1965. The island was also visited in 1938 by W. Robert Foran, reporting for the National Geographic Society. His account was published that same year. On 12 January 1938 by letters patent, Britain declared the islands a dependency of Saint Helena, creating the British Crown Colony of Saint Helena and Dependencies, which also included Ascension Island. WW-II military development During the Second World War, Tristan was commissioned by the Royal Navy as the so-called "stone frigate" and used as a secret signals intelligence station, to monitor German U-boats (which were required to maintain radio contact) and shipping in the South Atlantic Ocean. The weather and radio stations led to extensive new infrastructure being built on the island, including a school, a hospital, and a cash-based general store. The first colonial official sent to rule the island was Sir Hugh Elliott in the rank of Administrator (because the settlement was too small to merit a Governor) 1950–1953. Development continued as the island's first canning factory expanded paid employment in 1949. Rare post-war ship visits Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the