On Friday in Grimsby,
The Newcastle steamer Eppleton,
Moored up and conveyed
Nine survivors to the shore.
The Swedish Steamship ‘Alice,’
Of Gothenburg, had been
Bound to Gothenburg
From London, loaded with coke.
The survivors included two women
Stewardesses and the mate
Mr Anderson – who, in an interview,
Said the master of the ship
Was his brother - along with a crew
Of seventeen hands.
The event happened at 3.30pm.
As the explosion
Rocked them, they thought
They had been torpedoed,
But later learned they had hit a mine.
Being struck on the bows,
The steamer started to go down.
In awareness of the danger
About the North Sea,
Both lifeboats had been ready
For any emergency –
To be launched in moment’s notice,
Which saved their lives.
The ship quickly went down as a stone,
As the lifeboats left the chocks.
In those moments a cabin boy
Struck on the head
By a timber to be stunned
And drowned
Before they could reach him.
Another seaman,
Was also killed, by flying debris.
Under Captain Anderson’s
Orders, the crew
Divided between the two boats.
The captain and seven men,
Took one boat.
Six men, two women and the mate
Were in the other boat;
That had a sail, saving much rowing.
In firing flares, these were observed
By the Eppleton.
Taken on boar at 8.15pm, noting
That after both
Boats had launched, the captain’s
Party was not seen again.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1914. Mined Swedish Steamer – Survivors Landed. The Daily
Telegraph, [online] 24 Oct. p.7. Col.1. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11183483/Daily-Telegraph-October-24-1914.html
[Accessed: 25 October 2014].
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 25 October
2014).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered
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