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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Remembering the 'Lusitania.'


museumtom

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Remembering the poor souls lost on the Lusitania, 98 years ago;

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I remember reading an account, and I can't remember if it was the Lusitania or the Titanic, but it was of a woman clutching a baby to her chest with one arm and holding the hand of a toddler in the other. It described the instant, all-consuming terror that chilled her body when she gained the upper deck and stepped outside with her eyes taking in the scene.

In that terrifying, heart-stopping moment, she realised that 1, 2 or all 3 of them will soon die as she's going to have to swim holding 2 children!

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A relative, Ronald Denyer was aboard the Lusitania when she went down.

Ronald Denyer was born in early 1885, in the village of Hambledon, Surrey, England, to parents John Denyer and Mary. John who worked as a farm labourer, died when Ronald was aged 2.

Ronald was recorded in the 1891 UK Census (taken on 5 April, 1891), as living with his mother, William Denyer (19), Maggie (Margaret) Denyer (15), Robert Denyer (13) and Walter (8), in the village of Hambledon, Surrey, England.

By the age of 16, Ronald was working as a servant in the household of George Rowley Hadaway, in "Grenville Lodge", Shackleford, Godalming, Surrey, England. George Rowley Hadaway , was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Artillery, and was the only son of the Inspector-General S.M. Hadaway, of Dean Street, Park Lane, London, and married Anne Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nuget-Brydges Chandos Greville, the second daughter of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.

The 1901 UK Census (taken on 31 March, 1901) listed Ronald's occupation as page. His job description probably consisted of running errands for the household but specifically the head of the house.

By 1911, Ronald was working for Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt as his valet. In that capacity he was required to travel with him and subsequently set sail with Vanderbilt on the 1 May 1915 aboard the Lusitania.

Denyer was involved in saving a number of lives, and with Vanderbilt, gave up his life jacket to another who did not have one.

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Remembering them. I know that there have been many debates about the sinking of The Lusitania on the GWF and elsewhere but ultimately it was a tragic loss of human life.

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  • 11 months later...
  • 10 months later...

Thanks for posting NigelS but indeed seems full of errors. All this talk of 'The Lusitania' sinking 'drawing' the USA into war is unconvincing. The exact opposite conclusion could be reached.....that even the sinking of the ship in 1915 with all the loss of American lives couldn't get the US involved in the Great War.

In fact Wilson won the 1916 at least partly for being an advocate of neutrality. Regards

A similar article by Claire Duffin appears in today's Daily Telegraph, (1st May) 'Ghosts of the RMS Lusitania could have come back to haunt Britain' Sadly, I've spotted two errors in the reporting without really trying...

NigelS

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  • 1 month later...

Growing up I learned early on that the sinking of the RMS Lusitania was a emotive event on both sides of the Atlantic.

Then some 20 years ago I was hiking about 8 miles South West of Salisbury and I came upon an old beech tree on the side of a yet older byway.

Carved into the side was a crude outline of a ship and "Lusitania Sunk by Germans May 7 1915". Someone must have felt strongly about the sinking to take the trouble to carve that.

This carving must have been close to 80 years old when I found it. I wonder if it is still there today?

Harper

PS Apologies for the poor quality of my photo.

post-17542-0-50485300-1431004183_thumb.j

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