CHILD VICTIMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 September 1940, Page 9

CHILD VICTIMS

OF NAZIS’ LATEST INFAMY (Continued from page 6.) A Londoner, Mr W. B. Forsyth, referring to the deaths in his boat, said: “I did my utmost as each body dropped overboard to give it Christian burial by conducting a short committal service over the water.” A lifeboat in which 32 occupants left ■ the ship had only eight alive when picked up. Another had only 14 survivors out of 38. Colonel J. Baldwin-Webb, M.P., who was going to Canada in connection with Red Cross ambulance services, went down with the ship. The commander of the ship was last seen on the bridge shouting to everybody to take to the lifeboats. He also went down with the ship. Roderick Maher, of Dublin, said he was on an upturned boat from 10.30 p.m. till he was picked up at about 4.30 p.m. the next day. The survivors included a New Zealander, Mrs Lillian Rose Towns, who was an official escort. She was a schoolmistress in New Zealand, where she married Mr F. G. Towns, of Clapham, an optician who came to England three years ago. They arranged to evacuate their daughter to New Zealand. Five of those who died were the children of London parents who recently found when they emerged from a public air-raid shelter after a raid that their home had been shattered by a bomb. The receiption board took over the children, fitted them out with clothing, and found accommodation for ’ them in the ship. Their father, 42 years of age, fought in the last war, and has now joined up again to get his revenge for what he calls “this

cold-blooded murder.” NO WARNING OF ATTACK Mr Forsyth said they had no warning of the attack. The ship was so badly holed that she lifted heavily and almost immediately began to sink. They had only 20 minutes to get away from the ship before she went down. There were casualties practically at the start and darkness added to their difficulties. He said that the passengers behaved magnificently, particularly the women and children. The little mites obeyed every instruction. They had an awful tossing about. Heavy waves nearly swamped them. How they managed to keep afloat he did not know. Hail and rain also made the conditions worse. Another passenger, a Mrs Hudson, said that she was with her husband, , and another woman when there was a terrific crash and the whole ship shuddered. They were told to muster in • the saloon till the evacuated children j had been got into the boats. When the . alarm was given the children behaved ■ wonderfully. Mrs Hudson said that ] she and a girl of 14 had to swim to- - ward a lifeboat. When they got into 1 the water the sea became much rough- , er. She was just about through when ; , she saw a warship circling around looking for the boats. For a time they thought the warship had not seen them, but someone hoisted a signal • ■ and the naval men came'and took 3 survivors on board. 1 Another woman survivor, who was 1 travelling to Australia, via Vancouver, 1 said that she with another woman, two children, and a young seaman, had to - lie on a raft gripping the planks with 1 their hands. One of the lads, an 11- 1 year-old schoolboy, had no fear for 1 himself, because he was sure boats 1 would come to the rescue. An 11-year- ' old girl and her nine-year-old 1 brother were among the rescued. J They showed little trace of their ter- 1 rible’ ordeal. The girl said that she 1 and her mother and brother were: on ' the same raft with another woman ' and an engineer from the ship. 1

A FORTUNATE PARTY They had been among the last to get away and were among the first to be rescued. They were the only party in which everyone was ,saved. For some hours they were tossed about on the water till they were soaked to the skin. When they tried to stand up they were blown down again by the wind. The said that they were all very worried about her sister Barbara and wondered what had happened to her. “Thank God,” she said, “Barbara turned up all right in the warship, so all of us were saved.” They had learned after being picked up that a warship was coming to the rescue and when it arrived they all stood up and gave cheers for “the good old British Navy.” Mr G. Shakespeare, chairman of the Children’s Overseas Reception Board, informing the bereaved, said: “The Children’s Overseas Reception Scheme wishes me to convey its deep sympathy in your bereavement. You courageously decided to send your children to the Dominions, believing that this course was better than the continuous raids. I, as a parent, realise the anguish this letter must cause you and the great sadness brought to your v home. I assure you that I deeply ; ' share your grief.” HORROR & INDIGNATION Mr Shakespeare in a statement said: “I am full of horror and indignation that any German submarine captain . „ could have torpedoed a ship more than 600 miles from land in a tempestuous sea. The conditions were such that there was little chance for the passen- 1 gers, whether adults or children. “This deed'will shock the world and is another example of the barbarous ( methods of warfare associated with Nazi Germany. It is only comparable ‘ with their present brutal indiscrimin- ( ate bombing of women and children in London.” ; In announcing the disaster the Child- c ren’s Overseas Reception Board said t that only two of the nine escorts who set out had survived. The communique said that the children had embark- q ed at a west coast port in the second week in September, and were well on their way to a new war-time home when the ship was struck. Every possible precaution had been taken. For every 15 children there ( was a skilled and experienced escort and for every child there was one jadult passenger on board. “The tragic v circumstances,” the communique add- r ed, “defeated all precautions. A number of the children are believed to n have been killed by the explosion, jj There was a terribly heavy sea, which n swamped many of the boats and de- jj feated gallant efforts at rescue.” c Mr Shakespeare was able to report c that the little handful of children who >2,

had been landed were well and in good heart. The “Daily Mail” says: “Even amid the carnage Hitler is trying to cause among London’s women and children, the story of the sinking of the evacuee liner stands out as a supreme instance of wanton horror. Nothing has given the world a more vivid and more awful example of the sort of warfare Hitler wages. Let the details never, be forgotten until the day of reckoning arrives. “We must ask, with the parents, whether the Government is absolutely satisfied with the arrangements for the transport of the children. Are ships convoyed far enough to sea? Many thousands have already crossed the Atlantic safely, but more must be done to prevent a repetition of this tragedy.” Up to the present 2714 children have been safely evacuated overseas under the Government’s scheme. WORLD REACTION MEWS RECEIVED WITH HORROR. LONDON, September 23. The world has learnt with horror :he news of the torpedoing of the wacuee ship. Senator T. Wilson, chairman of the Canadian Refugee Committee, declared: “This latest atrocity strengthens )ur determination to bring all the ihildren possible to safety.” The “Daily Telegraph’” says: “There s some consolation in the fact that to :end the children to Canada seemed n their best interests.” The “News Chronicle” says the tragedy must not be allowed to slow up the peed of evacuation overseas. RADIO ANNOUNCER SILENCED! SUDDENLY his voice choked . ... then ceased . . . people listened anxious, y. Behind the microphone someone /as hurriedly offering a tin of Pullonas. The first moment relief came . . then the voice cleared ... the anouncer proceeded. The strong, soothig, antiseptic vapours released by Pullonas act swiftly . . . healing, penetratig all breathing passages. Always arry Pulmonas with you for coughs, olds, sore throats, ’flu. 1/1, 1/7 and AH chemists and stores. 1