HEROIC SEAMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20914, 20 September 1939, Page 8

HEROIC SEAMEN

SINKING OF COURAGEOUS TALES OF GALLANTRY SOME DRAMATIC STORIES (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Sept. 20, 12.10 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 19 Survivors of the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Courageous brought home stories such as England expected of her seamen. Mr William Britten, of Glasgow, a stoker and pensioner, aged 45 years, said: “I saw a young able seaman go overboard twice and save shipmates. The officers in the boaLs carried on after the Courageous sank. There was no panic. “About 7.50 p.m. I was playing rummy in the mess-deck and others were yarning and writing letters when there was an explosion. In complete darkness I groped my way to the top of the but only twelve of fifty in the mess-deck thus escaped.” Mr Andrew Logue, a seaman, of Dumbarton, said he felt the suction of H.M.S. Courageous as she went down while lie was swimming. A whaler took him to a destroyer. 11c passed a float on whieh all the men were singing. Another lad of seventeen described how a boatful of thirty men sank, forcing the occupants to"swim as the stern of the Courageous went aloft and she plunged to the bottom. A gunner officer declared that the weather and everything else favoured the submarine. Many of those aboard the Courageous, owing to the vessel listing, failed to jump clear of the side and for this reason many were killed. Greatest Hero of All “I was torpedoed in the last war and have seen 25 years service,” he said, “but I have never seen anything finer than a sergeant of the Royal Marines swimming seemingly enormous distances from inan to man, exclaiming: ’Keep going, my lad. Keep your heart and head up.’ “There were heroes In plenty, but he was the greatest of them ail. Before that I saw two seamen lash a frightened little drummer hoy to a raft and heave the raft into the sea. 1 hope the poor little devil came through. “A man appealed for help while I was swimming. I grabbed his hair and kept him afloat. His long absence from a barber saved his life.” The Submarine Destroyed A IG-year-old Exeter lad told how the swimmers cheered when destroyers attacked the submarine. I don t think anyone aboard her survived,” lie said. “They dropped depth charges and blew her straight out of the water. Then she disappeared. When 1 last saw the captain he was standing on the bridge.” Another survivor said there was no doubt the submarine was blown up. The conning tower went one way and the stern another. Oil shot up from the water after the destroyer dropped depth charges. •Others told similar stories, which varied in individual particulars but were alike in establishing the absence of panic. A typical sentence was: “There was a number of men aboard as the ship went down, and it was amazing how composed they were.” GERMAN U-BOAT REPORT SINKING OF H.M.S. COURAGEOUS ESCAPED BRITISH BOMBS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Receded Sept. 20, 1 p.m.) BERLIN, Sept. 19 The High Command stales that a U-boat reported that it sank H.M.S. Courageous, thus showing that it escaped Britisli depth bombs.