ORDEAL AT SEA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 March 1940, Page 5

ORDEAL AT SEA

ATTACK (IN THE DOMALA STORIES BY SURVIVORS. NAVY AND AIR FORCE SAVE MANY LIVES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, March 4. The daring and skill of the commander of a British warship and the cooperation of the Royal Air Force, saved many lives from the British India steamer Domala, which was bombed and machine-gunned by a German plane. Survivors gave gripping accounts of the heroism aboard the blazing ship amid the rain of bullets from the German bomber. Despite the raging sea the warship manoeuvred close enough to enable some of the Domain’s passenger to jump aboard. The chief officer, Mr W. Brawn, described the 20-year old junior engineer of the Domala. Mr J. Dunn, as the bravest man aboard. Mr Brawn said that Mr Dunn, with a broken leg and terrible burns to the face, was trapped in the engine room, but managed to crawl the length of the ship and clamber up a 40-foot perpendicular ladder to the poop. “His bravery and stamina were amazing,” Mr Brawn said. “We gave him water, and told him we were doing our best to save hifn. Our only chance of saving him was to lower him to the water. We fitted a lifebelt on him and also threw him a lifebuoy. He was conscious, but only just alive. He understood what we were doing, and was grateful. He was picked up, but died. Mr Brawn added that his most outstanding impression was the terrible fire and fumes, among which he saw the captain standing on the bridge coolly giving orders to abandon the ship. He did not see the captain again. Among the accounts given by survivors of the Domala is one. by a. 17-year-old cadet boy named Duval, who was making his first sea trip. He was clinging to a raft for six hours before being picked up, and had a terrible experience seeing his nine companions one by one release their hold on the ropes and disappear. The London steamer Pacific Reliance (6700 tons), has been sunk by enemy action off the west coast of England. The crew of 53 managed to get clear in four lifeboats, and were guided to land by signals from an R.A.F. plane. A New York report says that the Mackay radio intercepted a message from the British Tanker El Ciervo (5841 tons) stating that she was being chased by a submarine at a position 800 miles east of the point where the Southgate reported that it had been attacked.