1916 The Sinking of HMS Britannic

The exact number of scouts on board is unclear but most reports say there were either 16 or 17. They had various jobs on board such as signallers, messengers and lift boys.

The voyage set off from Southampton on November 12th and completed a short stop in Gibraltar and a refuel in Naples. On the morning of November 21st, the ship passed through the Kea Channel (off the coast of Athens).

At 8:12am the boat was rocked by an explosion; a mine had collided with the ship and ‘blew in’ the Scouts’ quarters. Luckily, they were already at their posts at the time. Here are 2 accounts of what happened next from George Perman (Scout) and J. Vickers (PL)

Extract from George Perman’s Obituary. – Source titanic-model.com

“As a boy scout with the Southampton 2nd Freemantle Troop, one of George’s more important tasks, once war had been declared, was to guide the soldiers around Southampton and to the dock area, but when he heard that Captain Bartlett wished to include a troop of scouts in Britannic’s crew, he duly applied for the position.

As a fifteen-year-old boy scout, George’s duties aboard Britannic, when not being instructed in signalling or PE, ranged from acting as a messenger to operating one of the ship’s lifts, a task which he was performing on the morning of 21st November 1916, when the ship was suddenly rocked by a mysterious explosion. He immediately went up on deck, where, fortunately, he was handed a spare life belt by a passing member of the ship’s crew; his own life belt was still in his quarters near the bow of the ship, which had been completely obliterated in the explosion. George’s greatest misfortune that day was that he happened to be in one of the lifeboats which was pulled into the turning port propeller, but luckily he was able to grab hold of a hanging davit line and hold on until the propellers had stopped, before lowering himself into the water. Aside from a few rope burns to his hands, George was uninjured physically, although the memories of the blood-red water and the ship’s white flanks splattered with blood probably left unseen emotional scars for years to come. Some members of his family even believed that the experience shocked him so much that it [affected] his growth, for although George came from a reasonably tall family, he remained on the short side for the rest of his life.

Once in Athens he and other scouts were royally entertained by the Greek branch of the boy scout movement, [before returning back to Southampton].”

Press Cutting: Southampton Echo, 25 Nov 1916

“Coolness of the Scouts on the Liner.

The Boy Scouts on the Britannic came chiefly from Liverpool and Southampton and were employed as signallers, officers and captains servants. and lift boys. The local Scouts who were engaged on the liner were six in number.

Mr J. N. Jefferies, the “Mail” correspondent at Athens says that after the explosion each lad went calmly to their allotted post to assist a ship‘s officer.

A thirteen year old boy named Pope not only remained on the ship for half an hour after she had been struck but also collected many small articles belonging to passengers. Scout Perman of Southampton worked the lift, bringing many passengers to the upper deck. Victor Mackenzie, when ordered to sound certain steam whistles, knew exactly which handles to pull. Scout Percy Dickson remained so long at his post that he had to let himself down from the ship, which then had a heavy list, hand—over—hand on a rope to the lifeboat.

The boys, whose ages vary from 12 to 16 years, have since visited Athens where they were warmly praised by the British Minister and entertained by some Greek Scout

Patrol Leader Edward Ireland was singled out by the captain of the ship, Charles Bartlett, for his courage during the disaster:

I have specially to commend Scout E. Ireland of the Liverpool Scouts. He was attached to the Bridge at the time of the explosion, and he remained at his post until I sent him away finally with the Quartermaster (who left the wheel to save his life), although on several occasions I told him to go to the boats. He was of great service in telephoning my orders, and I have great admiration for the pluck that he showed in standing by with a prospect In front of him of going down with the Ship.•

Despite surviving the Britannic disaster, Edward Ireland’s story ends sadly. He joined the RAF and served as an observer with the Airship Training Wing at RAF Cranwell but he was killed in a flying accident in July 19