SS Falaba and a lost crew member

[jay dubaya]

There's plenty written about the sinking of the SS Falaba on 28th March 1915, many newspapers around the country and beyond commented on the barbarity of the sinking. Of those lost only a handful would be identified, some being returned to their next of kin for burial in their home towns and some buried where their remains washed ashore.

Transcribed from:

Western Telegraph 31^st March 1915

LINERS SUNK OFF THE SMALLS. 136 MISSING.  Germans LAUGH AT DROWNING VICTIMS. INQUEST AT MILFORD.

Two Passengers with local connections Surely the crowning crime of the German pirates in pursuance of their policy of hate, was that perpetrated on Sunday almost at the entrance of the. Bristol Channel, when the outward bound Elder Dempster liner "Falaba," 4,800 tons, was torpedoed with but little chance of escape being afforded the 1260 passengers and crew. On Sunday night there were rumours at Milford Haven that something untoward had happened outside, and the local Red Cross nurses were summoned to prepare for an emergency. It was nearly 11 o'clock when the reality of the terrible catastrophe was brought home, by the arrival at the mackerel stage of the Government tug boat Atlanta," which had taken a cargo of survivors off a destroyer and landed them. There were but few people about except Dock and Naval officials, indeed the affair was comparatively unheard of till Monday morning and when it became known a sense of horror ran through the town. Immediately on arrival the survivors were escorted to the Bethel, when Mr Simpson and his staff had a busy time, and also at the Fishermen's Institute the rooms were thrown open to them, whilst in other places accommodation was found for the night. There were several injured in one way and another. Blankets were sent down from Fort Hubberston and when our representative looked in at the Bethel the floors were strewn with bedding and hot meals were still being prepared, 83 were lodged there during the night, the last lot arriving at 2 30 a m. The Red Cross detachment rendered splendid service to the injured and worn-out people. Six women survivors were taken to different houses. About 9 o'clock a sad sight was witnessed when the bodies of eight men were conveyed from the Docks to the mortuary in the ambulance van, these included the captain of the Falaba, Fred J. Davies, a Lieut. Blakeney and Corpl. Wallace, R.A.M.C. Never was a story more difficult to compose, but it appears that the "Falaba." left Liverpool at 6 p.m. on Saturday bound for the west coast of Africa, and at 1 15 on Sunday was torpedoed, sinking in a very short time. The chief officer was amongst the saved, but at the George and Dragon Hotel refused to see the reporters. Members of the crew and survivors were everywhere to be seen in the street, and spoke freely, if in a somewhat incoherent manner, of their experiences. They said that three whistles were given by the submarine as a signal for the liner to stop and get the boats out. Before this could be successfully done she let go her deadly missile, and in a short time the "Falaba" sank. The first boat was blown into the air by an explosion, some say from a second shot, the second and third boats were smashed, and the fourth got away. Several survivors say without reserve that the Germans actually laughed at them struggling against death in the waters. The story of the part played by the steam drifter, "Eileen Emma," of Lowestoft and her skipper, is worth telling. His name is George Wright, and our representative saw him in the Mackerel Market during the morning. He said that on Sunday about 12.15 he sighted a sub marine and realising that she was up to mischief, he followed her in the hope of running her down. An hour later the liner came along and realising her danger he made an effort to get closer to the enemy in order to save the steamship if possible. The Germans evidently also saw his object and when 200 or 300 yards away from the ship, tired. He saw the torpedo strike the liner, and he also was 200 yards from the submarine in another direction. The pirates stood by till the ship was about sinking, and then steamed off in a south-easterly direction, afterwards turning west. He at once commenced to rescue the people in the water and was so engaged for 2.5 hours, getting 116 aboard, 6 of these afterwards died, including the captain. He met a destroyer 30 miles away and transferred most of the people, and he himself came into Milford at 12.0 midnight. Other drifters also came on the scene and picked up others. Most of the survivors left by the morning train for their homes.

THE INQUEST.

The inquest on the eight victims of the tragedy was opened at Milford Sessions House on Tuesday morning. Mr H. J. E. Price, Coroner for South Pembrokeshire, conducted the inquiry. Mr W. H. 0 M. Bryant, solr., Pembroke, acted on behalf of the Admiralty, who were also represented by Lieut Com. de Crespigny. Mr R. T. P. Williams, Haverfordwest, represented the Elder-Dempster Company. Chief Inspector Morgan, Metropolitan Police. Pembroke Dock was also present. Mr Charles Whicher was foreman of the jury. The names of the eight victims are :-Fred Davies, Liverpool, Captain of the Falaba, Thomas Evans, Liverpool, Steward, J. Dawson, Lieut. Leslie Blakeney, Corporal Walter Ernest Wallace, Frank Ellison, Liverpool, Steward, John Meyer, Trimmer,. and a man unknown. The coroner, addressing the jury said that the Falaba left Liverpool on Saturday afternoon, outward bound for West Africa. All appeared to have gone well until about mid-day on Sunday, when what ultimately proved to be a German submarine was sighted some 35 miles South West of the Smalls. Some sort of warning appeared to have been given, but before the people were able to get clear of the ship a torpedo was fired and the result was that these eight people, among a good many others, lost their lives. Mr R. T. P. Williams, on behalf of the owners, expressed their deep sympathy with those who lost their lives and also with the survivors, who had gone through a very trying and distressful time. Any assistance the owners could give was at the disposal of the court. Mr Bryant, on behalf of the Admiralty, associated himself with Mr Williams' remarks. Evidence of identification was then given. Chief officer Baxter identified Capt. Davies, and a steward identified two of the crew. Captain Harrison, Loyal Lanes. Regiment, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Gold Coast Colony, identified Lieutenant Blakeney, who he said, was about 27 years of age. He was a 1st Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers and attached to the West African Frontier Force.

THE CHIEF OFFICER'S STORY.

 Chief officer Baxter said they left Liverpool about (6 p.m. on Saturday. The Falaba was of 3,011 tonnage and outward bound for the West Coast of Africa. The crew numbered about 100. They carried 150 passengers, and a general cargo consisting of government stores, he thought. All went well till 11.40 on Sunday. The 3rd officer and witness were on the bridge. The 3rd officer said there was a submarine about 2 points abaft the starboard beam about 3 miles off. The captain was in the chartroom. They made out an English ensign flying from her, then this was pulled down. The 3rd officer called the captain who altered the course and put on full speed. He ordered the crew to stand by the boats. The submarine overhauled the Falaba in 10 minutes or a quarter of an hour. She was doing 18 or 19 knots, and the Falaba was only doing 13 knots. A German ensign was run up and the submarine signalled, Stop, abandon ship." It was quite close.

STOP OR I'LL FIRE.

The Falaba did not obey the signal at once, so the submarine hoisted another signal, Stop, or I'll fire into you." The captain asked witness's advice and he said that with so many passengers aboard they had better obey as they had no chance. They stopped and got out the boats. The Germans did not speak to them. Five boats were swung out. The first capsized, full of people, but they got the others away as fast they could and threw everything overboard they thought would float. The submarine then steamed over from the port to the starboard quarter and fired a torpedo.

 GAVE NO WARNING.

 She gave no warning whatever. She could not help but see that the boats were not all out, and that the Falaba was still full of people. The sub- marine bore no number and was hardly visible, being painted the same colour as the water. All the men came up from the submarine to have a look at the Falaba. The majority were dressed in khaki. They made no attempt to help and the submarine went off almost at once. Witness stopped aboard until the Falaba sank, which was in about 10 minutes. The last time he saw the captain was when he came along and brought a lady, who he said was the last lady on board, he put her in the gig. The torpedo struck the Falaba opposite the wireless room.

A TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION.

There was a tremendous explosion. Witness was about 2 hours in the water. Most of the crew were English. The torpedo was tired five minutes after the Falaba stopped. By Mr Bryant: The submarine was 150 yards off when she fired. They saw the torpedo travel from the submarine to the Falaba. He thought the torpedo killed several of the passengers. The sub- marine had a gun forward and one aft. He believed she submerged immediately after firing the torpedo. There were about 11 men on deck, and as they fired the torpedo they moved the forward gun off the deck. By the Coroner: The crew were in khaki, not in yellow oilskins. John Thomas, a negro, the chief fireman on the Falaba, then identified Meyer. The assistance of the Chief Officer had to be enlisted as interpreter.

AN UNKNOWN MAN.

P.S. Treharne gave evidence of having searched some of the bodies, and produced papers found on Dawson and Corporal Wallace, who was in the uniform of the R.A.M.C. The unknown man was about 25, 5ft. 7in. in height, brown hair, and bad no marks on him. He was dressed in a grey flannel suit and a grey overcoat. He had £ 10 18s 2d in money on him, a gold pin, horse-shoe shape, silver matchbox, and a silk handkerchief. None of the passengers or crew could identify him.

THE WORK OF RESCUE.

George Wright, skipper of the trawler, Eileen Emma," of Lowestoft, said he was steaming over the fishing grounds on Sunday with nets up. He saw the Falaba and the submarine. They were 6 or 7 miles apart. He first saw the conning tower come up about half-a-mile ahead of him. She was about three quarters of an hour before she came up with the passenger boat. He saw the torpedo strike the steamboat. That was about an hour after he first sighted the submarine. The Falaba remained afloat about 10 minutes at the outside. Witness was about 300 yards away, and after firing the torpedo the submarine steamed south-east, and laid there while the steamer sank, when she made off south-west. Witness then made for the steamer and picked up about 50 people from the water, irrespective of those he got out of the boats. He picked up six of the deceased people. They were all alive but pretty far gone. Witness made for Milford as soon as he picked up all the people he could find, starting about 3.20. The torpedo was fired about one o'clock. There was a good sea running and it was fairly choppy. Among those he picked up was the captain and the chief officer. By M. Bryant: The submarine made no attempt whatever to pick up any of the people, but simply steamed away. Four more drifters came up about an hour after the accident. By a Juryman They did not see any patrol or Government boats at the time but met a destroyer about 25 miles out of Milford, to which they transferred some of the people. Dennis Randleton, skipper of the Wenlock, Lowestoft, said he did not see the submarine. Some of the crew heard a report and came on deck. He proceeded to the spot and saw the small boats and wreckage, and people floating in the water. He picked up about eight, two of whom were dead. One boat, which he understood had 12 or 11 people in it, was wrecked. Dr. Rice, Milford, said he saw the bodies that morning. All the bodies had scratches or slight injuries. None had sustained injuries that would cause their death. He should say that exhaustion following the exposure and immersion in the water caused their deaths. He should say the age of the unknown man was about 26.

PIRACY AND MURDER.

The coroner, summing up, said the jury were now in possession of all the facts of that distressing case. There could, he thought, be no question as to what the verdict should be. The ship was struck by the torpedo and as a result, from the cold and exposure, these unfortunate men met their death. As to how they framed their verdict would require some little consideration. If it were in ordinary circumstances lie did not think they would hesitate to say that this German submarine had committed what was clearly an unlawful act. Here was a boat, leaving England —not going to England—which they said was the object of their blockade. An enemy's boat appeared and, without any pretence at examination, without giving time to all on board to clear away, discharged a torpedo in the most cold-blooded fashion, and if that was not piracy and murder on the high seas, he was sure he did not know what constituted such an act. Still, he thought perhaps, in all the circumstances of the case if they brought in a verdict that the deceased men met with their death owing to being struck by a German torpedo, they could leave it there. The authorities might, if they were fortunate enough to capture the boat, although they had been unable to identify it, he hoped they would mete out such measures to them as would be commensurate with the dastardly deed committed by this ship. They all deplored the death of those unfortunate people and hoped it would be brought home us the end.

THE BEST TRADITIONS.

Mr H. T. P. Williams said he thought he was right in saying that the officers and crew of the Falaba seemed to have acted up to the best traditions of British seamanship and the services rendered by the Eileen and the other drifters were extremely valuable in saving the lives they did. Without doubt the loss of life would have been greater but for the service they rendered. The coroner said they all knew that the seamen fishing out of Milford were ready at all times to expose themselves to danger and to do all they could to assist their unfortunate fellows in distress. Mr Bryant, on behalf of the Admiralty, said he would also like to express very high appreciation of the conduct of the skipper of the Eileen and also the other steam trawlers. They all behaved in a most creditable manner. The jury found that the deceased had met their deaths from exposure consequent on the ship being torpedoed by a German submarine. They endorsed all that had been said with regard to the conduct of the rescuers.

MR. W. N. HYDE'S SISTER-IN-LAW ON BOARD.

Mrs J. Hyde, sister-in Jaw of Mr W. N. Hyde, of the London and Provincial Bank, was a first class passenger on board the ill-fated liner. She was going out to Calabar, West Africa, to join her husband and did not book her passage on the Falaba. The boat was changed, however, a.t the last moment, consequently Mr and Mrs Hyde were unaware that their sister-in-law was on the lost liner. Their suspicions were aroused by the fact that it was extremely unlikely that two Elder Dempster boats would be leaving for West Africa the same day. Considerably distressed they hurried to Milford to make inquiries, and here found that Mrs Hyde had travelled by the Falaba but was among the five women saved. She was too distressed and shocked to realize in what part of the country she was and did not understand how near Haverfordwest was until she was told at the station, after she had booked to Paddington. Mrs Hyde was entertained by Mrs Howell, who was able to assure her friends that apart from the terrible shock, she was none the worse for her trying ordeal.

 COUSIN OF MR. H. E. H. JAMES.

Among the missing passengers is Mr Jack Thomas, sou of Mrs Thomas, Major House, Newport Pembs and the late Rev. Morris Thomas, L M.S. Missionary, South Africa, and first cousin to Mr H. E, H. James, clerk to the Pembrokeshire Education Committee, with whom he had been staying quite recently. He was 25 years of age and had been employed as assistant engineer on the Nigerian Railway, and this was his first furlough home from Nigeria. He had been in South Africa for some time and once had a very narrow escape from death through a bad explosion. Mr Thomas was returning to Nigeria on the Falaba as a saloon passenger, and left Newport last Thursday. He wrote home before leaving Liverpool, but nothing has been heard of him since. He was a keen athlete, played a good game of football and was a very strong swimmer.

 HOW THE Germans LAUGHED AND JEERED.

 One of the survivors of the steamship Falaba (named Blair, an Engineer) was interviewed in passing through Swansea from Milford and said that the Germans on board laughed and jeered at them as they launched the boats. Their wireless operator tried bard to get communication with Land's End and afterwards said he had done so, and that two destroyers were being despatched. When the boats were being lowered the submarine torpedoed the vessel. Some of the boats fell into the water. The captain was on the bridge at the time, and jumped into the water and was picked up, but died afterwards.

 

Western Telegraph 7^th April 1915

The Falaba Victims.

IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL SERVICE AT MILFORD HAVEN.

No more pathetic and touching scenes have been witnessed at Milford Haven than those on Wednesday last which attended the removal of some of the bodies of the unfortunate victims of the Falaba disaster and crime, and upon which the inquest bad been hole] the previous day. The body of Captain Frederick J. Davis was conveyed to Liverpool the previous evening and early on Thursday that of Lieut. Leslie Blakeney, of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and West African Frontier Force was placed in the train for Sheffield en route for his parents' home. his father is a retired clergyman, and was present at the inquest, and with his wife accompanied the body. They were the recipients of much sympathy. The body of J. Dawson was sent on the 4.30 afternoon train to Dalton-in-Farness, Lancashire. The most impressive of all, however, was the funeral procession accompanying the body of the late Corporal Walter Ernest Wallace of the R.A.M.C. There was a considerable attendance of soldiers, and the coffin, covered by the Union Jack, was carried from the mortuary by eight Corporals of the Brecknockshire (Reserve) Battalion, and the Drum and Fife Band, under Drum-Major Morgan, played the mournful strains of Chopin's funeral march, and half wav to the station the Regimental Band of the 11th Battalion the Welsh Regiment from Scoveston Fort, under Bandmaster K. Lowther, took up the refrain. Major W. S. Griffith, and Sergeant Coombes, R.A.M.C., followed the coffin, and at the railway station Major Pughe Morgan, Adjutant of the Brecknockshire (Reserve) Regiment, with other officers and clergymen wore present. The band of the 11th Welsh solemnly played The Rosary, whilst awaiting the arrival of the train. Crowds of spectators bad lined the streets and thronged the station yard. Many were visibly affected by the sad spectacle. The band again struck up a mournful strain as the train left the station. In the same train were conveyed the bodies of Thomas Evans, steward, and Frank Elliston, saloon steward, both of Liverpool. It was pleasing to know that the body of the man unknown was identified on Thursday by his brother as that of Leonard Ashby Brookes, 7a, Charlwood Road, Putney, London. The corpse was taken away on Thursday evening, accompanied to the station by the Boy Scouts, and the Vicar and Curate. The same afternoon the negro fireman, John Meyer, was interred at the cemetery, the Rev. F, T. Oswell officiating. Six of the coffins were made by Messrs Fred Lloyd A Co., and two by Mr H. Adams.

No one would claim the body of John Meyer (real name Myers), was his grave in Milford Haven Cemetery marked accordingly, perhaps a simple wooden cross bearing his details - the burial register does recorded these details and the grave number. 

The IWGC appear to have finalised the GRRFs for Milford Haven Cemetery on 4th November 1925, for some reason the burial of Trimmer John Myers, Mercantile Marine was omitted from the report and his name entered on the Tower Hill Memorial.

On 30th September 2020 a local historian set up a crowd funding page with the aim of gathering funds to erect a headstone over John Myers grave, for a 105 years the spot was marked by a simple depression in the ground. The CWGC were quick to act and nearly 2 years later on 7th September 2022 John Myers finally recieved a CWGC headstone.