Peter Ilbery: Waratah connection lost

We are now the poorer for the passing of Peter, who had a unique and strong connection to one of the greatest sea mysteries of all time; the 108-year-old maritime intrigue surrounding the loss of the passenger steamer, SS Waratah, off the South African coast in 1909.  Commodore of the Blue Anchor Line and commanding the ship was Captain Josiah Edward Ilbery, described by Peter as a highly skilled mariner with an excellent reputation and a lovable man whom he referred to as Cousin Joe.

Peter possessed the only authentic photograph of Captain Josiah Ilbery, as well as the original sketch map detailing the associated ships and coastline sailed by the ill-fated ship. This intriguing relationship established his lifelong interest in the disappearance of the ship and the many attempts to establish her exact resting place.

Peter served in the Royal Australian Air Force during WWII as a bomber pilot and was fortunate to fly many missions and come back each time.  That fortune was not lost to his fallen colleagues or us and he wrote two books detailing the activities of those Beaufighters and their crews of the Empire Air Training Scheme.   He was also instrumental in organizing memorials to his colleagues lost from the Wagga flight schools and Australian Beaufighters in the UK.

Post-war, his academic strengths led to a medical degree and with an interest in nuclear radiation effects, became a specialist in researching, instituting changes and lecturing on the effects of radiation.  

Peter was held in very high regard for his pioneering work leading to significant changes in radiation therapy, becoming a sought-after practitioner for advice and holding numerous top roles in Hospitals and Organisations related to radiation medicine.

For those of us who had the pleasure to spend some time in the company of Peter and Marianne, we will hold his memory dear and fondly recall his dry wit, sharp mind, upright carriage, gentlemanly manner and for someone who achieved so much in the field of nuclear medicine, his humility.

During our lives, some unique people come into our sphere for but a few hours, yet, their presence and charisma permanently remains.  Years later, there is still that clear recollection in what they achieved, who they were and what they stood for.

So it is for Peter.

To Marianne and the families, our thoughts are with you.

Guest post by Suzanne Jo-Leff Patterson who also provided the photograph of Peter.

A Voice from the Waratah: James Conn

Despite the time which has elapsed since the strange disappearance of the SS Waratah in July 1909, her story continues to reverberate through memories, hearsay and public as well as private written records.

Not many Waratah enthusiasts are privileged to own letters written by someone who actually sailed on the Lund liner on that fateful voyage. One such fortunate person is Marilyn Greaves, whose great uncle James Conn was a greaser and fireman on the Waratah. 

Thanks are due to Marilyn and her family for permitting me to reproduce one of Conn's letters here and to Suzanne-Jo Leff Patterson for making this contact possible.

This letter carries an additional importance in that it refers to the incident which occurred off Kangaroo Island, about which there has been much controversy among historians.



James (Jim) Conn's letter to his sister Annie in London.

S.S. Waratah Port Adelaide, South Australia

January 19^th 1909 

I waited until today to see if a letter from you would arrive…. So I will drop you a few farewell lines while I am in Australia and hope to hear from you by tomorrow or next day. I am writing this now in case I have not time later on and if a letter from you does turn up I will answer it from Cape Town when we call there.

I must tell you that last Saturday night at 12.20 a.m. the Waratah was as nearly wrecked as ever she will be – the officer on the Bridge mistook his course and was within an ace of piling her up on a reef, it was only the quickness in reversing the engines that saved her. Even as it was, she touched the ground, but not hard enough to do any damage. The night was very dark, but the sea was not rough and I think we could have managed to get ashore is she had broken up. It caused quite a commotion for a time, but the majority of the passengers were asleep and knew nothing about it. When I came up on deck from the engine room after we had her under way again, there was land and rocks all round us, so we were lucky to get off as we did. It was Kangaroo Island where it happened.

Since I started writing this letter I have heard that we are not leaving here before Friday morning, but I can’t say how true it is. You will see however by the paper when we do sail….

We have not many passengers on board and what few there are is mostly for Durban, but we may pick up a few from there and Cape Town for London. 

Signed …. Your sailor brother Jim.

Note: James (Jim) always signed his letter ‘your sailor brother Jim’ but the last letter he ever wrote  he signed, your sailor brother Jim, a few personal lines and then, Goodbye and Good Luck. Spine chilling in the light of what was to befall the ship. ... 

In another letter to Annie dated 16 June 1909 SS Waratah Sydney, Jim says:

We do have some trouble in berthing the Waratah at Port Melbourne and again here and in fact in every port we touched. She is so high that the wind has great power with her. She can snap big hawsers like cotton strands.

Crew of SS Waratah. James (Jim)  Conn -
4th crewman from the RH side of the second back row 

New book on SS Waratah

South African author Andrew van Rensburg’s new volume Waratah Revisited: The True Story of a Ship's Mysterious Disappearance is now available online through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Waratah-Revisited-Andrew-Van-Rensburg/dp/3710319447

http://www.amazon.com/Waratah-Revisited-Andrew-Van-Rensburg/dp/3710319447/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418539335&sr=1-keywords=waratah+revisited&pebp=1418539352288

From the book jacket:

Waratah mystery solved!

'The crowds dispersed slowly as the new ship

disappeared around a bend in the river. For most,

this would be their last view of a ship destined to

vanish into history'.

'Sawyer’s ticket was booked through to Cape

Town, but nothing could induce him stay on the

Waratah a moment longer'.

'Late into the night and overwhelmed with

frustration McLaughlin ranted about setting fire

to the Waratah'.

'There was no other explanation for the

unyielding advance of the large steamer'.

'Something of great significance was unfolding

off the Wild Coast'.

'Circumstances on the Waratah had taken a turn

for the worse within the last few hours and the

great liner trembled and rolled’

'The Waratah and her souls were abandoned at

sea'.

The author gets right down to the nitty-gritty offering various theories - including his own - for the Waratah’s hitherto inexplicable disappearance. Contemporary material such as the Board of Trade Inquiry as well as more recent data are presented and compared.

If you are a Waratah Watcher you can’t do better than buy a copy for Christmas.

Copies will also be on sale soon at Adams bookstore, Durban..

Waratah: R.I.P.

‘That ship will be a coffin for somebody,’ W Sharpe, able seaman, was told when seeking employment on SS Waratah in April 1909. Nothing better offering, he took his chances, shipping on her for a voyage to Australia. Off Ushant he noticed the vessel would roll to leeward, stop, continue the roll and recover. That was unusual in any ship. 

[Source: http://dustyheaps.blogspot.com/2012/03/waratah-by-any-other-name.html]

The prediction came true only two months later: Waratah would indeed became a coffin for over 200 souls in July 1909. 

Their memorials are scattered worldwide, showing how their deaths impacted on numerous and diverse families. If you can add a photograph of a relevant memorial inscription – or are a descendant of one of those who travelled on the Waratah - you are welcome to contact me via the blog comment form. Some inscriptions are shown below:

Browne Memorial Inscription at Buckland Filleigh, Devon:

'To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Col Percival Browne CB of Fifehead Magdalen, Dorset, born July 27 1862. Third son of William James Browne of Buckland Filleigh Esq. Lost in the S.S. Waratah July 26 1909.'

[Photos by Gail Dixon-Smith]

Brass plaque at Buckland Filleigh 
Click on pic to zoom

Ebsworth Memorial Inscription at Bridgnorth, Shropshire:

‘Also of John, eldest son of the above, who was lost on the Waratah July 1909 aged 52 years: Until the Day Break and the Shadows Flee Away’

[Photo courtesy of Denise Roberts.]

http://waratahrevisited.blogspot.com/2014/04/waratah-colonel-percival-john-browne.html

Memorial Plaque, Trinity College Chapel, Parkville Victoria, Australia, to Howard Cecil Fulford, Surgeon of S.S. Waratah:

This tablet is dedicated as a tribute of affection and sorrow by his college comrades to the memory of Howard Cecil Fulford a resident student of this college from 1900 to 1905. He won high distinctions throughout his university course graduated with first class honours in medicine and was appointed resident physician of the Melbourne Hospital in 1906. He was a keen and public-spirited sportman and was thrice stroke of the college eight. He left Australia for England on July 1st 1909 as surgeon of the S. S. "Waratah" which on some unknown date after 26th July was lost in the Indian Ocean with all on board.

"Be ye therefore ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh."

[Source: http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/disaster/maritime/display/96805-howard-fulford]

Centenary Memorial Plaque, Queenscliffe Maritime Museum, Victoria, Australia

P&O was asked to make the above donation because the direct result of the loss of Waratah and the press publicity with searches and Court Inquiry, was that the Blue Anchor Line lost its reputation. P&O took over the fleet and dropped the Blue Anchor name, although the blue anchor painted onto the funnels was retained until 1912 and Lund’s flag continued to be flown at the foremast until 1914.

[Photo courtesy of Queenscliffe Maritime Museum]

The following announcement refers to Able Seaman T Newman of the Waratah: from The Times 18 December 1909: NEWMAN Lost in the SS Waratah, Thomas, eldest son of the late Richard & Mary Newman, formerly of Devon, England, late of the Civil Service, Tasmania, grandson of the late John Feneran of Kinsale, Ireland, and nephew of the late Revd. T H Newman, M.A. Cantab.

+++

Harris Archibald Gibbs was an apprentice on the SS Waratah which was lost with all hands off the east coast of South Africa on 27th/28th July 1909. He was born in Bognor late 1890/early 1891 and his parents were Harris Hornsby Gibbs (born in Littlehampton) and his wife Ella (née Plucknett). 

[Source: http://www.wilfrid.com/people/gibbs_waratah.htm]

+++

Comment from a blog reader finally sums it all up:

The truly sad thing in all of this is lack of closure for families/descendants of victims and for those who wished to make ship travel safer (learning from mistakes). The truly marvellous thing is we have a mystery that is as solid and unbreakable today as it was 100 years ago.

UPDATE Sept 2013: 
VISIT A NEW BLOG AT www.waratahrevisited.blogspot.com 

The Waratah Storm 27 July 1909

Disaster Strikes

On the 27^th July 1909, at 7.30 pm, the SS Harlow was steaming north-east for Durban under the command of Captain John Bryce, when he saw a large steamer coming up astern of his ship at about 10 miles away when off Cape Hermes. At that time, flashes of light were seen astern and suddenly the steamer’s lights were no longer visible.  Might this have been the Waratah on her way back to Durban, having come about due to the bad weather? Had she broached in the large swells and the flashes caused by the ship rolling and the boiler fires exploding out of the funnel? However, if this was not the case, the Waratah might still have been heading for Cape Town.

The Waratah was lost at sea with all hands!

All over the world, debate and argument, theories and a search for proof has persisted for the past 104 years to understand and locate the SS Waratah, but no substantiation of what really happened that fateful night has emerged.

On her final port departure from Durban Harbour on Monday 26^th July at 8.00 pm, she turned south past the Durban Bluff, headed for Cape Town. Captain Ilbery and his crew knew a heavy southerly storm was blowing up from the Cape and they would soon be confronted by enormous seas. This stretch of the South African coastline was notorious and treacherous, because it took ships close to the Continental Shelf, which generated gigantic swells, especially with strong winds opposing the south-running coastal current.

The Waratah had not been well-received by many passengers on the earlier Adelaide to Durban run, when moderate seas manifested her top-heavy promenade deck design being the cause of her insecure righting motion and large cracks opening up between the structural joints on the superstructure. Would Captain Ilbery and his more senior officers have felt apprehensive in anticipation of this wild storm ahead of them?

As they progressively headed into stronger winds, at around 6.30am on 27^th July the following morning, Waratah‘s last communication from Latitude 31.36 degrees South and Longitude 29.58 degrees East, positioned her due East of Cape Hermes near Port St. Johns, where abnormal waves are at their worst. Had she later tried to come about and broached, or had she continued a further 100 kilometers down the coast to a position due east of the Mbhashe (Bashee) River mouth (near the Xhora River mouth) where it is widely speculated that the Waratah disappeared?

As with many sea tragedies, there is a twist in the tale. One of Lund’s Masters, Captain Pidgeon had joined W. Lund’s service as a boy of just 15 years of age on the Catalina. He was given his first command before he was 30 and had remained in Lund’s service for 21 years. As fate would have it, before the Waratah left London for the last time, Captain Pidgeon almost had the misfortune to be in command of her on that fateful voyage.  Captain Ilbery had been ill and the company looked for another Master to relieve him for the voyage. Captain Pidgeon, who had been Captain Ilbery’s Chief Officer on the Narrung and Wakool when they were new ships, was the only Master available and held himself ready to take command. However, Captain Ilbery recovered and took command of his ship before she sailed.

Fifty years after the loss of the Waratah, in 1959, Captain S.A. Pidgeon, RNR, penned his account of what may have led to the loss of the Waratah, which provided an insight that centered on the ship in Durban. 

   ‘The Waratah had taken on a certain amount of frozen mutton to be discharged in Durban and whenever we had a cargo for Durban, it was the custom in Lund’s ships to stow it in the square of No. 1 hold, sometimes right from deck level, to the bottom of the hold. Any cargo for London was stowed in the wings and at both ends. After the Durban cargo left the ship, the remaining slippery cargo of frozen carcasses had to be well shored-up, to prevent them from sliding everywhere. We usually lowered big skids into the empty space and at both ends. These were kept in place by heavy beams, 6 x 6, which were placed across the empty space left by the Durban cargo and were jammed by wedges, which were placed and hammered home by carpenter and crew.

    If this operation was faithfully performed, the remaining cargo was quite secure and could not move into the empty space in the centre, no matter how great the pitching and rolling of the ship. Captain Ilbery trusted his executive officers implicitly and left daily inspection at sea to the Chief Officer, Surgeon and Purser, who did the rounds together.

     The Chief Officer of the Waratah had been my Chief in Warrigal and was a very fine seaman.  The Chief Officers in Lund’s ships were always entirely responsible for placing the skids in No. 1 hold and seeing that they were securely in position.  If they were forgotten, or if they were not made completely fast, the result in a tender ship like the Waratah would be disastrous.

     It seems quite possible that the skids were forgotten on this occasion, or that the work was not adequately supervised.  The weather was not good as the Waratah sailed, and on those coasts, there are seas and cross-seas which are a menace to a labouring ship.

     It would all have happened in a matter of seconds. The Waratah, caught in a heavy roll, would pause at the end of it.  If a cross-sea dumped a huge wave on her forehatch, smashing it in, thousands of tons of water would rush down into the lower hold and find its level in the side of the ship, held in the roll. With the cargo insecurely held back, thousands of carcasses would break loose from the wings and join the mass of water, adding to the enormous weight.  Another huge sea, breaking aboard, would finish the ship and she would roll right over, never having had a chance to right herself.’

We can only imagine what thoughts might have swirled around in Captain Pidgeon’s head when he was informed of the loss of the Waratah and the close circumstances that nearly led to his command.  Might he have acted differently in the face of the weather and the condition of the ship?  Might he have done something different that was possibly overlooked on that fateful voyage?

Speculation will persist. Questions will continue to be asked. Doubts will always be raised, but one of the most evocative questions remains: why did a number of Senior Officers, Engineers and the Chief Steward, hastily take out life insurance policies before the Waratah left Australian waters? Was it premonition, or were they genuinely concerned about the Waratah’s sea worthiness during their outbound voyage?

Most haunting of all, is how the passengers and crew would have faced their terrifying imminent doom. They would have been hurled about the ship as she hit the wave and rolled and we can only hope that their demise was quick, with perhaps no time to realise what was happening, before the thousands of tons of water poured in to drag them helplessly into the depths of the Continental Shelf

May those unfortunate souls forever rest in peace.


Guest post by
Suzanne-Jo Leff Patterson

Waratah Flower

Down on the vale of Death, with dismal cries,
The fated victims shuddering roll their eyes
In wild despair; while yet another stroke
With deep convulsion, rends the solid oak:
Till like the mine, in whose infernal cell
The lurking demons of destruction dwell,
At length asunder torn, her frame divides;
And crashing spreads in ruin o'er the tides. 

William Falconer

Waratah: The S.S. Waratah and Her Commander

An account of a new Australian steamer and her first passage.

(By A.G.H.)

S.S. Waratah at Adelaide

The idea of naming the steamships of the Blue Anchor line with names peculiar to Australia originated with the pioneer captain of that line, and although in the very earliest of the vessels the idea was not adopted, yet it soon became apparent to the owners that the suggestion was a wise and graceful one. We have now a list of steamers trading between England and the antipodes whose names, when mentioned, immediately remind the hearer of the different States in the great Australian continent. The latest addition to Messrs. Lund’s Blue Anchor line has been named after the gorgeous waratah, of New South Wales, a magnificent scarlet blossom indigenous to that State.

As I sit on the promenade deck of the Waratah in the great dividing line between the two hemispheres, on this my seventeenth passage between England and Australia, the reality is borne in upon the mind of the advantage of size in the matter of transit through the ocean. Here we are steaming along in the large new Blue Anchor liner, with a head wind, and yet practically little or no motion is experienced. The reason of the steadiness is not only due to the 10, 000 tons burthen of the Waratah, but also to her construction. When I first saw the new steamer at Tilbury, the idea was that she would prove a great roller, owing to the height of her many decks above the water-level. The lowest of these, for first-class passengers, is one deck higher than the spar deck on the P. & O. steamers, and the promenade deck, which also has extensive cabin accommodation, is he same height as the boat deck on most of the ocean steamers. The Waratah’s boat deck towers above these, and the bridge looks unusually high. The funnel seems an enormous size round, but we are told that it is not so large in diameter as the Geelong’s, and considerably lower, it being constructed in a modern and improved style that does not require such great size. The apparent top-heaviness of the Waratah appears to have no effect on the easy passage of the steamer through the water, as it is counteracted by her breadth of beam. Having travelled three times in the Geelong one naturally compares the two steamers, and the conclusion arrived at is that the lofty build of the Waratah does not cause any access of motion, but that this is if anything less in her than in the Geelong.

With regard to the interior plan of Messrs. W. Lund & Son’s new liner it differs in many respects from the older vessel, and in some of these differences the advantage is with the older steamer – at least in the opinion of the writer. The first-class cabins are not quite so large as those of the Geelong, and I understand that the smaller steamers of the Blue Anchor line have even larger rooms than this last named steamer. Another difference in the plan of the Waratah is that no single cabin in the first-class has a porthole close to the water, owing to the fact that a gangway runs all round outside the cabins. This last mentioned difference causes less fresh air from the sea to come directly into them. In other respects the Waratah keeps up the record of the Blue Anchor line, and this fact is more noticeable as so many old faces are to be seen on board the new steamer. 

The aged quartermaster, who boasts of his 79 summers, but who looks so hale and fit that it is difficult to believe that he has lived so long, is one of them. Then there is the purser, whose face is so familiar to those who have travelled in the Geelong, and who is most obliging to all. 

It has been my privilege to travel four times across the ocean with the commander of the Waratah, and on each occasion I have been more struck than before with his unique personality, and with the extreme suitableness of that personality for the position that he is called upon to occupy. Simple and unpretentious in manner, he yet has a dignity about him that would at once forbid a liberty, and all who serve under him do so with the utmost respect, and, in most cases, with great love and veneration. Who that has heard Captain Ilbery read the Church of England service, which he does every Sunday morning when there is no clergyman among the passengers, will forget the impressive manner in which the service is conducted, and the observant listener will not fail to notice that only one who enters into and participates in the petitions could present them in the tone of genuine devotion in which they are uttered.

The Lutine Bell, Lloyd's of London: rung when a ship is lost.

Waratah: Passengers from Australia

On Business and Pleasure Bent

We can look at these names and can pass over them…. or … linger on names that have been lying in the dusty past for over one hundred years, so let us take a step back in time.

Sense their excitement as they boarded the ship, all with similar future plans, business dealings and sporting ambitions. Some passengers were immigrating, or simply returning to their land of birth. Imagine their anticipation of reunions, private arrangements and romance. A poignant situation involving a brief account of regular people who would soon be thrown together in an unthinkable tragedy on 27^th July 1909, off the Transkei Coast of Southern Africa, to become one of the greatest sea mysteries of all time.

After the loss of the Waratah, on Thursday 9 December 1909, the Sydney Morning Herald published this list of some of the passengers’ plans, hopes and dreams:

Bound for London

Mrs Allen, the wife of Captain A Allen, who held the position of Chief Officer of the Cargo Steamer Karori, belonging to the Union SS Company of New Zealand, employed in the produce trade between Devonport and other Tasmanian ports and Sydney. Mrs Allen, who resided at No 95 Campbell Street North Sydney, took an infant with her and was bound on a pleasure trip.

Miss Rose Allen, a little girl of 6 years of age, was the daughter of Captain A Allen of the Karori, by his first marriage and was accompanying her stepmother on the voyage.

Mr Niel Black, a well-known pastoralist of Noorat in the western district of Victoria, on his way to propose to a young lady in England and bring her back to his beautifully refurbished home.

Mr and Mrs Bowden and Mrs and the Misses Bowden and L D Schauman, all members of the same party, boarded the vessel at Sydney at the last moment; they had been engaged in Sydney in the hotel business.

Lieutenant Colonel Percival John Browne CB, who joined the Waratah at Adelaide, commanded the Dorset Yeomanry.   Born in the year 1862 he was the son of the late Mr W J Browne of Buckland Filleigh North Devon. In 1892 he married Bernarda Gracia, daughter of the late Mr T E Lees of Woodfield Oldham, Lancashire. Lieutenant Colonel Browne commanded the 7th Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry during the South African campaign and was twice mentioned in despatches. For his services he was created a Companion of the Bath In 1900. Lieutenant Colonel Browne was the Master of the Blackmore Vale Foxhounds and his address was Fifehead Magdalen, Gillingham, Dorset, England.

Messrs Calder, Clark and Page, who were booked from Melbourne in the Third Class and well-known in connection with wood chopping contests, were proceeding to England with the intention of giving exhibitions of wood chopping. 

Mr Page, in whose hands were the arrangements for the tour, was confident when the steamer left Melbourne, of the success of the speculation, as both Calder and Clarke were champion axemen. Calder, a Tasmanian, presented a striking appearance when standing with his axe in his hand beside the block which he was to cut through. He was 6ft 5in of height and broad in proportion with a fine head and shoulders. He appeared on two occasions at Fitzgerald’s circus building when he took part in the wood chopping carnivals organised by Mr E Erskine Scott and won several prizes. 

Mr William Cumming booked through Cooks Travel at Sydney.

Mr John Ebsworth was a prominent solicitor practising in Melbourne and was the holder of a Master Mariner's Certificate. Prior to engaging in the practice of law, he occupied the positions of Second and Chief Officer of Steamers trading between London and Australia for seven or eight years, and on account of his seafaring experience, his services were greatly sought for in the Marine Court of Victoria. Mr Ebsworth was a prominent Mason and was the son of Mr John Ebsworth, solicitor of London.

Mrs Govett, a resident of the western district, Victoria, and for some time before sailing, had been residing with Mrs Orr at Maclay Street, Potts Point.

Miss Henderson, a maid in the service of Mrs Smart of the Hotel Australia.

Mr J M S Hunter of Glasgow, returning to London from a visit to his son, was interested in pastoral pursuits in this State. 

Miss Lascelles of Geelong, the daughter of Mr Lascelles of the firm of Dennys, Lascelles and Company and one of the Geelong Harbour Trust Commissioners.

Mrs Starke and Miss Starke were the mother and sister of Mr H E Starke, barrister of Melbourne, who had been admitted to the New South Wales Bar on November 2nd. Mr Starke for whom much sympathy was felt, appeared in Sydney shortly after the event in the patents case.

Mr G H Tlckell, whose name appeared in the list of Third Class passengers from Melbourne, was the son of Captain Tickell, Victorian State Naval Commandant. Young Tickell, an only son, was in reality attached to the engineering staff of the Waratah and making the trip for the purpose of gaining practical experience in marine engineering.  

Mr J T Wilson and Miss Wilson, who also joined at Melbourne, resided at Malvern Road, Malvern.

Mrs and Miss Wilson, saloon passengers from Melbourne, the wife and daughter of the manager of the Royal Bank Victoria.

Calder the axeman

Bound for Cape Town

Mrs Harvey, Master Harvey and Silas Miller from Gisborne, New Zealand, who had joined the Waratah at Sydney for Cape Town.

Miss K Lees, a niece of Lieutenant Colonel Browne and was travelling with him. Miss Lees had been on a visit to Australia and was returning by the Waratah.

Miss L Cooke, Miss Lees lady’s maid returning to Cape Town with her.

Mr Charles Taylor and his wife and two small children returning to Kimberley, South Africa, from Australia. Mr Taylor lately worked in De Beers Mine at Kimberley and was an active member of the local North of England Association.

Let us also remember all those unmentioned passengers, the Captain and crew of the SS Waratah and the Durban passengers soon to board this ill-fated ship, which would vanish without trace on that fateful night of 27 July 1909.

Guest post by Suzanne-Jo Leff Patterson

July 2013