Description
Physical description
balaclava
black woolen open face balaclava
History note
Given to Mrs N F Barford by the crew of HMS Badger who rescued her and her son Peter after the sinking of SS Highland Corrie en route from Montevideo to Southampton by a German U Boat, 1916. Mrs Barford and her son were returning to England to rejoin her husband, a volunteer in Kitchener's Army who was recently invalided. Mrs Barford recounted the incident in a newspaper:
'I had just put Peter to sleep for his mid-day siesta at eleven o'clock and was on my way to the saloon when bang came the torpedo (came without warning), which blew off the bridge and almost the whole side of the [illegible] and it gave such a heavy list and suddenly that it was a "hill to climb" for me to get to my cabin where Peter was howling. I grabbed him, also the life belt the Captain gave me, and rushed to the life boat. I was the first one to get there. I jumped in and Peter was handed to me by a sailor, but I droped [sic] my life belt, which I had no time to put on.
Presently Edgar Dutton Jones and Dr. Russell came along. The latter handed me two life belts and I helped them into the boat; but as I had to hang on to Peter I could not put one on. Our boat was the unlucky one, since one of the ropes was suddenly loosened and the boat hung quite perpendicular. We all fell to the end of the boat and were all upside down. We had to hang on like grim death and we hung upside down for ten minutes. We were losing strength and Dutton Jones, seeing that I had not a life belt on, took his off, put it over me and, as he could not reach to tie it, he asked Dr. Russell, who was helping me to keep Peter up. Dr Russell never finished tying it! I heard a splash and me and Dutton Jones fell into the water together. When I looked back I saw Dr. Russell drowning.
I had no one to help me any longer and Peter was slipping from me. I was just thinking of ending my agony by slipping too, when I glanced up and from the deck the captain called out for me to hang on one minute longer which, after losing all hope, gave me greater courage than ever. By this time I only had strength with my teeth and that was the only way I could save Peter: by getting a firm grip through all his clothes, the Captain kept encouraging me until they slowly righted the boat.
The S.O.S. was sent off, and we were in the boat an hour, when presently we saw a destroyer making straight for us at full speed. Our first thought was that it might be a German boat coming to finish sinking us, but what a moment of happiness when we saw they were British and had to come to pick us up. But just as our boat was alongside they called out to keep clear. They had sighted the periscope, they made for it, but missed it and then came back and picked us up. Oh, I shall never forget the British sailors! I was pulled up on board the Badger and it was then that my strength gave way entirely. They carried me down to the First Lieutenant's room and we had every possible attention.
The Commander came and spoke to me and wanted me to lie down. He brought me some dry soft clothes for Peter and they all could not have been more thoughtful. We were landed at Portsmouth at 5 p.m. Peter had no shoes: he lost them, and what few clothes were in rags and I was a mass of bleeding bruises. We were taken to the Speedwell Hotel, where again every comfort was found for us and we were treated with every kindness by everybody. After staying the night there, we left for London about three o'clock the next afternoon. Of course I lost everything except Peter and my money.
I quite forgot to say that the destroyer that picked us up the very next morning caught the same submarine that sank us and got one German officer and two men as prisoners. How I would like to torture them. They must have seen how we were hanging in the boat.'
Peter Barford died in 1976.