A PLUCKY BOY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1941, 18 February 1919, Page 1

A PLUCKY BOY.

STORY OF A TORPEDOED SHIP

The story of the remarka bkj pluck of a ship’s butcher boy has been told in England by a commanding officer who picked up four officers and 17 hands, survivors from a British steamer torpedoed 500 miles from land. At the time of the explosion the lad, whose age is about 18, was three decks down. His boots and socks were blown off, his feet were burned, his right ankle sprained, and his left broken. All around him was chaos. Crawling on his hands and krrees he reached some deck planking, which he placed at an angle to reach the open bulkhead. Up this he intended to crawl.

Hearing moaning, jie searched on hands and knees, and found the pantry boy almost unconscious. He got him on to his back and managed to scramble up the improvised ladder to the deck. After being put into a boat the butcher hid lay still and behaved with wonderful pluck. Not until he had been in the boat for 20 hours was the state of his ankles discovered. When asked how he was getting on, he replied, “Champion!” “It has not been my good fortune to come across a finer display of courage and calm suffering,” says the C.O.’s report.