The next meeting of the Brigg Amateur Social Historians group (BASH) is coming up. So make a note of the date.
It will be held on Tuesday, November 1 at Brigg Servicemen's Club, on Coney Court (adjoining the town's main car park), starting at 8pm.
There will be an illustrated talk from Rod Fanthore called Titanic - The Lincolnshire Link.
Admission to BASH meetings is FREE and there's no need to book in advance. Just turn up on the night.
Refreshments will be served and a raffle held to help with costs.
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We had two Brigg Titanic connections some years ago....
1. The guy who owned Capps TV/Radio shop in Albert St had a great uncle who was one of the two crewman in Titanic's crows-nest looking out for icebergs.
They didn't have binoculars as the key to the binocular cupboard had been taken by the purser who disembarked in Ireland, before Titanic started to cross the Atlantic. They survived and gave evidence to the court of inquiry.
When they spotted the iceberg they informed the bridge after which Titanic swung to port....but too late.
2. My great uncle, James (John) Hesketh was the 2nd engineer...the senior engineer on the night.
He was in a forward coal-bunker with a stoker called Barrett investigating whether a fire in the bunker had been extinguished..after being first discovered as Titanic left Cherbourg.
During this time, the iceberg ripped through the hull spewing blocks of ice in the coal bunker.
It was Hesketh and Barrett who closed the hydraulic bulkhead doors as they rushed to the engine room.....films erroneously show the chief engineer and Barrett .
None of Titanic's engineers survived.....Barrett also gave evidence at the C of I at Southampton.
Hesketh's mum couldn't accept that her son had perished....she put his slippers near the fire (he was single and lived with his parents) in the false anticipation that he was surviving on an uncharted island and would return.
In the 1990's I came across a plaque in Godalming in Surrey.
It was dedicated to John (Jack) Phillips the senior radio operator. He and Harold Bride were not Titanic officers, but were Marconni wireless operators...they were paid on commission related to the number of passengers' telegrams they sent.
Shups' radio was very much a novelty.
On the night 11th/12th April, 1912 they ignored other ships' warnings about icebergs....even telling the Wop on Carpathia to 'shut up', because they were sending passenger telegrams.
When it became apparent there was an emergency...they intermingled telegrams
and distress calls.
At that time, there was no recognised distress signal...some countries used CQD..others used the comparatively recent SOS...but there was no overall system..ie all general radio transmissions cease when there is a distress call, etc.
Titanic was transmitting both CQD (some say it meant Come Quick Distress) and SOS.
In addition, there was no compulsion to man radios after 11pm/midnight time, so many ships that could have been in the area of Titanic may have switched off their radios.
The sinking of the Titanic prompted various action...
a Sufficient lifeboats for all
b International SOS and Distress procedures.
c. 24 hr listening on radio...not necessarily active, but radio switched on to Distress channel..
Phillips went down with the ship...Bride was swept off the roof of the radio cabin and crawled into a lifeboat....
In the 1990's I came across a plaque in Godalming in Surrey.
It was dedicated to John (Jack) Phillips the senior radio operator. He and Harold Bride were not Titanic officers, but were Marconni wireless operators...they were paid on commission related to the number of passengers' telegrams they sent.
Shups' radio was very much a novelty.
On the night 11th/12th April, 1912 they ignored other ships' warnings about icebergs....even telling the Wop on Carpathia to 'shut up', because they were sending passenger telegrams.
When it became apparent there was an emergency...they intermingled telegrams
and distress calls.
At that time, there was no recognised distress signal...some countries used CQD..others used the comparatively recent SOS...but there was no overall system..ie all general radio transmissions cease when there is a distress call, etc.
Titanic was transmitting both CQD (some say it meant Come Quick Distress) and SOS.
In addition, there was no compulsion to man radios after 11pm/midnight time, so many ships that could have been in the area of Titanic may have switched off their radios.
The sinking of the Titanic prompted various action...
a Sufficient lifeboats for all
b International SOS and Distress procedures.
c. 24 hr listening on radio...not necessarily active, but radio switched on to Distress channel..
Phillips went down with the ship...Bride was swept off the roof of the radio cabin and crawled into a lifeboat....
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