1939-10-01 — Page 4

TOLD BY ONE OF TWELVE SURVIVORS

THE KITCHENE

A WHISTLE BLEW, a flag waved, and a train slid import- antly out of King's Cross Station on the evening of June 4, 1916.

Seated. in one of the four saloon coaches of the train — a

DISASTE

special--was a khaki-clad figure, moustached and red- noon of June 5 awaited the coming tabbed. It was Lord Kitchener.

:

gale was blowing from the Others were wai of the pinnace from the Iron: Duke, north-east and tremendous seas the waves. the Admiral of the Fleet's flagship, were running as, greeted by Cap- aboard which the "distinguished tain Saville, the Hampshire's cap-- All: around th

Sir John Jellicoe.

gangway. But this did not deter of wreckage in

soldier from carrying out themselves.

With him were his secretary and personal friend; Lieut.- gerson had lunched with Admiral tain, Lord Kitchener came up the men could be s

Colonel O. A. Fitzgerald, General Ellershaw, Mr. O'Beirne, of the Foreign Office, Sir H. F. Donaldson, and

L. S. Robertson, of the Ministry of Munitions, and cognised the

2nd Lieutenant McPherson.

In another coach were a clerk a Hampshire was waiting to complete detective, and three servants.

the Journey.

Secret Mission

The party was on the first stage of Warship's its journey to Petrograd at the in- Emperor, vitation of the Russian who at this critical stage of the war urgently wished to confer with our Secretary of State for War."

only

one

The H mpshire was

of the of the fastest armoured cruisers British Navy and, with the rest of the Grand Fleet, which had re- turned only three days before from Jutland, was lying at anchor in the famous war-time naval base.

As it sped along at sixty miles, an hour on its 700 miles Journey to Thurso, from where the sea voyage

With the exception of the captain, to Archangel-the

port of

we aboard the Hampshire had no Russia in Europe open to our ships knowledge of the nature of the "spe- --was to begin, rain swept in great cial mission" that Admiralty orders gusts against the windows of the of the previous day had informed. coach and the wind howled in a us that the Hampshire was to un-

dertake. manner which foreboded a stormy passage for the mission.

Neither the officers nor the men

At Thurso Admiralty instructions had any idea of the identity of the whom it had been given for a destroyer to "distinguished person"

be in readiness to carry the distin- was rumoured was to be a passen- guished party across the Pentland ger. So it was with eagerness that Firth to Scapa Flow, where H.M.S. the 800 strong crew on that after-

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Presently it was seen racing across by Service to the nation the turbulent waters, and a thrill ever came first.

ran through the company as it re- tall military figure seated in the stern as that of Lord Kitchener, the personality: known to every man, woman, and child in the British Empire:

ALIVE

TO

TELL -THE TALE-

Third story in the Men - Who - Missed- Death-by-Inches Series

As he was.. Walter Charles Farndon was a stoker aboard H.M.8. Hamp- shira, the armoured cruiser; } which fad Admiral Sir John Jelilcoe's flagship Iron Duke into. battle at Jutland, and sank a

· German- light cruiser and two submarines without suffering a casualty.

Four days later, following her return to Scapa Flow with the rast of the "Grand Fleet, the Hampshire was detailed by the Admiralty to take Lord "Kit- chener to Rusala to confer with the Czar on the military situa- tion.

But, in a raging storm off the Orkneys on its way to Archangel, the Hampshire struck a mine and sank-in, lêss

than fifteen minutes. Eight: hundred, ofcers and men, In- cluding Lord – Kitchener and his staff, were drowned

There were only twelve sur. vivors of which Farnden, was onely? Helsɛnow a shunter: at Bogner,

Is to-day

,

Some were ba ́ed, for a boiler There was one slight change in the the force of the original plans, which had been for the Hampshire to take the route to

Now it was t Archangel Passing up the eastern to the Carley side of the Orkneys, following the hold-between f channel which was regularly kept reasonably safe by minesweepers. They resemble Their edges 10 aflo Instead, as the result of a sugges- They keep tion by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, seas. Round the

handles which in view of the heavy weather, “ last-minute decision to make use of seamen to hold the more sheltered route on the is fitted an iro western side was made, although this one stands wais would probably take slightly long-

· She Gave Fearful

er.

Accordingly, having embarked the passengers, we weighed anchor and I helped to steamed towards Hoy Sound, the floats away- and western exit from Scapa, Lord Kit-up my position chener and his staff retired to the A few minute us who had m captain's cabin.

Destroyers

Ordered Back

Soon we were rounding Strom- ness, and it was then that the Hamp- shire met the full force of the rag-

rain ing storm. Wind and

were lashing the sea into a fury and all hatches excepting one had to be bat tened down.

BY W CHA FAR

on to No. 34 frantically to g

of the Hampshir ful kind of lund

Two destroyers, Unity and Victor, following in our wake as escorts, down by the bou were ordered back by the Hamp- shire's Captain because of the heavy

seas.

It was a sight get. Many of th been found imp

We had perhaps been going for an boats, had remai hour and a half, keeping as close to hung from their the rocky coast as was safe when, as the ship wen above the roar of the storm, there the boats would. sounded a deeper more reverberat- ing roar--the roar of an explosion.

Instead, when

a final plunge an

forwards,

Soon afterwards the Hampshire sault

and listed alarmingly to starboard began to sink.

Orders: "Abandon- ship". were given, and as the hatches were opened men poured up from below on to the deck and took up their positions at the boat stations, I was among them,

There was no panic, but a great deal of confusion; shouted orders: were lost in the howling, wind, and the booming seas.

Boat Dashed

Against Ship

It was soon found impossible launch the boats; the derricks wer electrically controlled and the cur rent had falled.........

One boat which was got aWAT DV cutting its lashings was immedi ly caught by a tremendous wave. dashed, to pieces Inst the Hamp: "hire's side, Between fifty and mixty men were ffung into the water

Man now began jumping over- board from the quarter-decir in their lifebelts and

ving-wals