DEATH OF KITCHENER.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5439, 24 June 1929, Page 3

DEATH OF KITCHENER.

A SURVIVOR'S NARRATIVE. DRAMATIC INCIDENTS RETOLD. Few men have had a more adventurous career in the .British Navy than ex-Stoker Walter, Charles Farnden, of Lake Lane, Barnham, nov employed as a porter by the Southern Railway Company. Farnden joined the navy in 1913, has scoured the seas in search of the notorious commerce-raider Emden, taken part in the battle of Jutland, was one of the twelve survivors of the ill-fated cruiser Hampshire, on ’.-hich Lord Kitchener met his death, and was afterwards blown u pin the Nentian during mine-sweeping operations in the Baltic in 1919. After the Battle of Jutland the Hampshire, in which Farnden was serving, returned to Scapa Flow. On Monday, June 5, 1916, Lord Kitchener and his staff came on board, and orders were given to leave harbour at 5.30 atht evening. The ship was under sealed orders, but a rumour soon spread to the effect that the destination was Archangel. Promptly at 5.30 p.m. the Hampshire slipped her moorings and proceeded out of harbour, accompanied by her escort, the destroyers Unity and Victor. By this time a gale, which had prevailed all day, had shifted from the north-east to the north, and was rapidly increasing in violence.

The destroyers almost as soon as they were in the open found it difficult to keep up with the cruiser in the teeth of the gale, and consequently they were ordered to return to port as they only delayed the ship. The dramatic incidents which followed are best described in Farnden’s own words

“At 7.30 p.m. I was on watch in the port engine-room, when a terrific explosion occurred, and immediately the ship was plunged into darkness. There was no panic, and we all remained at our posts until the order was given to abandon ship. By this time the vessel was down at the bows and was sinking rapidly. ■ “When I got on deck, officers and men were standing by their appointed stations. Tremendous seas were running at the time, and one boat that I saw lowered from the davits was immediately smashed to pieces against the ship’s side. My' station was the No. 3 Caley float, and after we had assisted in getting the othpr two floats away we launched our own. There were 15 or 20 men in the float, including myself, and by the time we had picked up one or two from the water we were overcrowded. Fortunately for us the current set towards the shore, but it was a terrible ordeal being adrift in those surging seas at the mercy of the. wind and waves. “About midnight, after four of the most dreadful hours I have ever spent in my life, our float was dashed against the rocks, near Stromness, and a large wave washed me over the side,. “In the ordinary course of events I cannot swim, but I swam that night, and eventually dragged myself ashore, I saw the float again hurled towards the rocks, and three of my companions made a jump for it, and succeeded in rearing the shore. The remainder were too exhausted to save themselves and perished in the waves when the float overturned. Dazed and shaken, I rested awhile, hut when I attempted to stand I found that I had lost the use of my legs, and I had to crawl until I regained sufficient strength to walk to the nearest cottage. I knocked them up and explained what had happened, and they gave me some warm clothing and put me to bed. They afterwards searched the. coast and discovered the other survivors. It transpired that si?; mon had been saved from the first, making 12 of us in all.” After returning to barracks Farnden was given 14 days’ survivors’ leave, and in December, 1916, he joined the mine-sweeper Pansy, and served with the Grand Fleet in the North of Scotland until the termination of the war.

One would expect that after such alarming experiences he would have been ore of the first to apply for demobil’sation. but instea-1 he volunteered to assist in clearing the seas of the minefields, and served in the Genian until July 5, 1919, when that vessel struck a rr-ine amidships. Farnden was on deck at the time and escaped uninjured, but six of the crew were killed. He returned to the Portsmouth Naval Barracks and was eventually discharged in January, 1820.