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Remembered Today:

G.R.O. Marine Deaths


Northern Soul

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Please could somebody with access to the G.R.O. Marine Death Index (for 1915) look up a James Dawson. I believe he died on the SS Falaba as a civilian passenger and I'm keen to know his age so I can try and establish where he came from.

Many thanks.

Andy.

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Thanks for that. Unfortunately I am no wiser, as he does not appear to be listed. I couldn't find him in the England & Wales Index so assumed he would be in the Marine Deaths Index.

He definitely died, but it's all a bit of a puzzle at the moment

Andy.

Update: found his death listed in the Haverfordwest R.D. (body landed at Milford Haven) - only his initial is given, which is what threw me when searching the Index.

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Doesn't help your query, but according to the TIMES, there were 53 first class passengers, 34 second class passengers and 49 crew that survived, while 61 passengers and 43 crew were lost or missing. I cannot find your Marine though

Cheers Ron

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Is this your man :

Name: Mr J DAWSON

Date of departure: 1 April 1915

Port of departure: Liverpool

Passenger destination port: Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana (Gold Coast)

Passenger destination: Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana (Gold Coast)

Date of Birth: 1882 (calculated from age)

Age: 33

Marital status:

Sex: Male

Occupation: Miner

Passenger recorded on: Page 4 of 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ship: FALABA

Official Number: 124000

Master's name: Fred Davis

Steamship Line: African S/s Co

Where bound: West Coast of Africa, Africa

Square feet:

Registered tonnage: 3011

Passengers on voyage: 147

In a 2nd class cabin

Country of last perment residence is given as "British Possessions"

Grant

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I am also interested in a passenger on the boat - Miss J. Winchester. In the Times article the passengers are listed under their destination (I think). A group are listed under the heading SECONDEE. Can anyone explain what this means, please?

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Is this your man :

Name: Mr J DAWSON

Date of departure: 1 April 1915

---------------------------------------

Yes, that's him. He was a miner on his way back to Africa.

Thanks very much.

Andy.

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As Ron found, no Dawson listed in the list in The Times.

Thanks Martin. I'd actually found these from a search on the Forum. I guess he wasn't listed because he was neither a survivor nor missing. He died of exposure on one of the rescue vessels and fell into a third category.

Andy.

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I am also interested in a passenger on the boat - Miss J. Winchester. In the Times article the passengers are listed under their destination (I think). A group are listed under the heading SECONDEE. Can anyone explain what this means, please?

Jim - Secondee is or was a port on the West Coast of Africa - the intended destination!

Cheers, Terry

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Andy.

What nationality was he, or is that what you're trying to find out?

Martin

He was British (English), from Dalton-in-Furness. It's just that Dawson is rather a common name hereabouts and i was trying to pin down his family and needed his age (not mentioned in the newspaper).

Andy.

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I am also interested in a passenger on the boat - Miss J. Winchester. In the Times article the passengers are listed under their destination (I think). A group are listed under the heading SECONDEE. Can anyone explain what this means, please?

According to FMP's lists there are no Winchesters on the FALABA.

there are these three traveling in 1915:

WINCHESTER A M 1879 F 1915 Liverpool India Calcutta

WINCHESTER Child 1911 F 1915 Liverpool India Calcutta

WINCHESTER Isab 1880 F 1915 Glasgow USA New York

Grant

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Miss Winchester may not be indexed correctly - she certainly shows on the first page of the passenger list - a 36 year old nurse

Secondee is now known as Sekondi-Takoradi - it's in what is now Ghana

Cheers

Sue

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The following items held by the National Archives may (or may not) help:

Piece details ADM 137/3117

Report of Wreck Commissioners Courts into loss of s.s. FALABA (1915)

Item details T 1/11804 (Treasury)

F. Unwin et al. Claims to compensation for loss of life and property in the sinking of the S.S. Falaba by a German submarine. (1915)

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Thank you all for your help with what Secondee means. I had originally thought that it was a port but Google did not produce it on the first couple of pages that it brought up. Julia Winchester's name in on the York Minster panels under Colonial Nursing Service. She was a passenger on the Falaba returning to Africa after home leave.

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Yes, that's him. He was a miner on his way back to Africa.

Thanks very much.

Andy.

Hi Andy,

Are you aware that James is mentioned in the Dalston Press for April 3rd 1915? It is brief paragraph, at the end of information on three other Falaba passengers, but mentions that he was married with three children, and had a brother, Joseph.

Hope that helps

Craig

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I am also interested in a passenger on the boat - Miss J. Winchester. In the Times article the passengers are listed under their destination (I think). A group are listed under the heading SECONDEE. Can anyone explain what this means, please?

Hi,

You might be interested to know that Miss Winchester was mentioned at the inquiry into the loss of the Falaba. Steward John Ellams recalled that Miss Winchester was lying down in her cabin when the Falaba was stopped, and that he told Stewardess Gearle to find her and get her on deck.

This seems to have happened, as passenger, Alice Wait, met her on deck. Julia asked Miss Wait if she had collected her money, and both women went to their cabins, which were opposite each other. They collected money and lifebelts and returned on deck.

An article in the Portsmouth papers reports that Miss Winchester was shot as she entered the last boat, and that her body fell into the sea. However, this seems unlikely - I haven't found any other sources that say passengers. Possible she was hit by flying debris after the second torpedo hit the Falaba, and was injured that way instead of being shot.

Hope this is of interest

Craig

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Thank you. Craig. I have a report from a missionary's diary that states that "I shall never forget the sight of the “Falaba” being torpedoed. There was a terrific explosion, a great burst of black smoke right up through the centre of her. She instantly heeled over on her side and for five minutes gradually sank. She then turned right up on end and slowly went out of sight". It seems likely that Julia Winchester was hit by flying debris from the explosion as you suspected.

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Thank you. Craig. I have a report from a missionary's diary that states that "I shall never forget the sight of the "Falaba" being torpedoed. There was a terrific explosion, a great burst of black smoke right up through the centre of her. She instantly heeled over on her side and for five minutes gradually sank. She then turned right up on end and slowly went out of sight". It seems likely that Julia Winchester was hit by flying debris from the explosion as you suspected.

Glad to help. I am curious about Miss Winchester. There were so few women on the Falaba - only seven passengers, and it does seem odd that Julia should be lost. Of the other women, at least five left in the same lifeboat, and of the other, Miss Bell, I can find no account. There is a suggestion in an account by Miss Wait that the women did not realise the urgency of the situation, and may have delayed leaving the ship for fear that the lifeboats would capsize or disintegrate, as several of the first boats did. Mrs Hyde and Miss Palmer were late entering the lifeboat with the other women. The boat was being lowered and they were thrown into the boat. Perhaps Miss Winchester arrived too late to reach the boat with the other women and was left behind.

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Hi Andy,

Are you aware that James is mentioned in the Dalston Press for April 3rd 1915? It is brief paragraph, at the end of information on three other Falaba passengers, but mentions that he was married with three children, and had a brother, Joseph.

Hope that helps

Craig

No, I wasn't. Which "Dalston" is this?

I'm also having problems tracking down the fate of another passenger, a Harry Stringer, age approx. 23. He is neither listed amongst the dead nor the survivors in MArtin's extracts from "The Times" and, unlike James Dawson, his death does not appear to have been registered at Haverfordwest either (implying he was not one of the dead who was recovered by the other ships in the area). Local newspaper reports suggest he was killed -------------- and mention that an unidentified body at Milford Haven fitted his description --------- but I have not been able to confirm it yet. Have you come across him?

Andy.

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Name: Mr H W STRINGER

Date of departure: 1 April 1915

Port of departure: Liverpool

Passenger destination port: Calabar, Nigeria

Passenger destination: Calabar, Nigeria

Date of Birth:

Age:

Marital status:

Sex: Male

Occupation: Trades Acountant

Not much help

Grant

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No, I wasn't. Which "Dalston" is this?

I'm also having problems tracking down the fate of another passenger, a Harry Stringer, age approx. 23. He is neither listed amongst the dead nor the survivors in MArtin's extracts from "The Times" and, unlike James Dawson, his death does not appear to have been registered at Haverfordwest either (implying he was not one of the dead who was recovered by the other ships in the area). Local newspaper reports suggest he was killed -------------- and mention that an unidentified body at Milford Haven fitted his description --------- but I have not been able to confirm it yet. Have you come across him?

Andy.

Hi Andy,

The articles were sent to me by Barrow-in-Furness Library, and are from The News, April 1915. They relate to Dalston-in-Furness, Cumberland, and mention four local passengers, the Phizacklea brothers and James Dawson, and first class passenger, Harry Stringer.

Harry Stringer is described coming from 14, French Street, and had returned from the Gold Coast in October 1914. He was returning to Calabar to resume his position with Miller Bros. of Liverpool, and was in company with an man employed by the same firm. This man is not named. The article mentioned that Harry had relatives at Walney. According to the other man, who was saved, Harry managed to get in a lifeboat, but this then capsized.

Harry's death is listed with other deaths for the Falaba under BT99 / 3146 - deaths at sea for 1915. he is described as a clerk, age 25, from Barrow-in-Furness. His body was not, as far as I am aware, recovered after the sinking, and was not identified at Milford. However, victims of the wreck were washed ashore as far away from the Pembrokeshire Coast as Cornwall, Devon and Ireland.

Hope this helps

Craig

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You threw me with "Dalston" - it should be Dalton-in-Furness. Dalston is in north Cumbria, and I was puzzled as to why it should have been of interest up there.

The Barrow newspapers are the sources I am working from too (Barrow News and Barrow Guardian).

Thanks for the info about Harry Stringer. Why are you so interested in the Falaba?

Best wishes.

Andy.

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You threw me with "Dalston" - it should be Dalton-in-Furness. Dalston is in north Cumbria, and I was puzzled as to why it should have been of interest up there.

The Barrow newspapers are the sources I am working from too (Barrow News and Barrow Guardian).

Thanks for the info about Harry Stringer. Why are you so interested in the Falaba?

Best wishes.

Andy.

Hi,

Apols for the confusion -

Why the Falaba? - well, I have been researching lost ships for many years, including quite a few wrecks from WW1. The Falaba is a particular favourite - the passengers were a fairly interesting group, and the wreck occurred not far from where I live in Pembrokeshire. Also, the story of the sinking of the Falaba is a good one - it draws you in. I find shipwrecks act that way - sort of addictive!!

best wishes

Craig

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