by Susan Hood
Dixon, Conrad. “Lascars: The Forgotten Seamen.” In The Working Men Who Got Wet. Edited by R. Ommer and G. Panting. Newfoundland: Memorial University Press, 1980.
Fethney, Michael. The Absurd and the Brave: CORB—The True Account of the British Government’s World War II Evacuation of Children Overseas. Sussex: The Book Guild Ltd., 1990.
Fisher, Michael H.; Lahiri, Shompa; and Thandi, Shinder. A South Asian History of Britain: Four Centuries of Peoples from the Indian Sub-Continent. Oxford: Greenwood World Publishing, 2007.
Ghosh, Amitav. A Sea of Poppies. London: Picador, 2009
Huxley, Elspeth. Atlantic Ordeal: The Story of Mary Cornish. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941.
Mann, Jessica. Out of Harm’s Way: The Wartime Evacuation of Children from Britain. London: Headline, 2006.
Menzies, Janet. Children of the Doomed Voyage. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2005.
Nagorski, Bohdan. “Eight Days in a Lifeboat.” In They Fight for Poland: The War in the First Person. Edited by F. B. Czarnomski. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1941.
Nagorski, Tom. Miracles on the Water: The Heroic Survivors of a World War II U-Boat Attack. New York: Hyperion, 2006.
Panter-Downes, Mollie. London War Notes 1939–1945. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971.
Sapper (a.k.a. H. C. McNeile). Bulldog Drummond: Premium 9 Book Collection. Business and Leadership Publishing, 2014.
Smith, Lyn in association with the Imperial War Museum. Young Voices: British Children Remember the Second World War. London: Penguin, 2008.
Summers, Julie. When the Children Came Home: Stories of Wartime Evacuees. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011.
Visram, Rozina. Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: Indians in Britain 1700–1947. London: Pluto Press, 1986.
Westall, Robert. Children of the Blitz: Memories of Wartime Childhood. New York: Viking, 1985.
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Lewis, Amanda West. September 17. Ontario: Red Deer Press, 2013.
UNPUBLISHED MEMOIRS
O’Sullivan, Rory. Join the Navy? Get Torpedoed First!
Silver, Dorothy Perkins. Rescued at Sea.
ORAL ACCOUNTS
Jack Keeley. June 28, 2000. Imperial War Museum
Ken Sparks. September 27, 2001. Imperial War Museum
Fred Steels. August 6, 2002. Imperial War Museum
SONG CREDITS
Asaf, George, and Powell, Felix. “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile.” Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group. London: 1915.
Parker, Ross, and Charles, Hughie. “There’ll Always Be an England.” 1939.
Thomson, James, and Mallet, David. “Rule, Britannia.” 1740.
Vejvoda, Jaomír and Ingris, Eduard. “Roll Out the Barrel.” 1927. English lyrics by Lew Brown and Wladimir Timm. Also known as the “Beer Barrel Polka.” Lyicist Vaclav Zeman.
PHOTO RESOURCES
SS City of Benares: Copyright Mersey Maritime Museum
Telegram: Courtesy of Kathleen Gill, Sunderland Volunteer Life Brigade
Photos of Ken and his family: Courtesy of Ken Sparks
Billy and Peter Short: Courtesy of Kathleen Gill, Sunderland Volunteer Life Brigade
Alan and Derek Capel: Courtesy of Ken Sparks
Cabin aboard the City of Benares: Courtesy of Kathleen Gill, Sunderland Volunteer Life Brigade
Children’s playroom aboard the Benares: Courtesy of Kathleen Gill, Sunderland Volunteer Life Brigade
HMS Hurricane: Courtesy of Ken Sparks
Lifeboat 12: Copyright Associated Press
Father Rory O’Sullivan: Courtesy of Sean and Rosemary Hollands
Mary Cornish: Courtesy of Ken Sparks
Bohdan Nagorski, reunited with his daughters Barbara and Christine after the rescue: Courtesy of Tom Nagorski
Rescued boys aboard HMS Anthony: Copyright Associated Press
Ken’s letter home: Copyright London Express News and Features
Ken’s homecoming: Courtesy of Ken Sparks
Ken gets a kiss from his sis as the crowds welcome him home: Courtesy of Ken Sparks
Silver watch: Courtesy of Ken Sparks
Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas poster: Copyright Getty Images
Eighty-eight-year-old Ken Sparks, 2015: Susan Hood
Note: The author has made every effort to secure permission to reprint photos and provide accurate copyright information. Other images were taken by the author or are believed to be in the public domain.
INTERESTING WEBSITES
Additional photos: www.liverpoolblitz70.co.uk/2011/02/14/the-sinking-of-the-benares/
Bomb Sight: An interactive map that shows every bomb dropped on London during the Blitz from October 7, 1940 to June 6, 1941. bombsight.org
SS City of Benares: the Children’s Ship. Merseyside Maritime Museum.
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/collections/city_of_benares
Burdette, J. G. “Destination Disaster: SS City of Benares.” Web blog post. Map of Time. Wordpress, May 24, 2012. https://jgburdette.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/destination-disaster-ss-city-of-benares/
Partial list of crew and passengers aboard the City of Benares when the ship was hit. http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship532.html
Info about Lascars and the East Indian Company in the Royal Museums Greenwich. http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/lascars-and-east-india-company
Report of interview with Fourth Officer, R. M. Cooper and crew casualty list. http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/City_of_Benares_(survivors_report)%29
City of Benares: newspaper clippings and photos of the rescue. http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?57989
VIDEOS
YouTube.com
The First Day of the Blitz
Amazing Archive footage and firsthand accounts
More City of Benares Survivors
Newsreel footage of the rescued boys, Mary Cornish, and Bohdan Nagorski. Paul Shearing, who suffered from trench foot, is taken off the ship on a stretcher.
Seavacuees Still Smiling
Footage of the children rescued by HMS Hurricane with remarks by Britain’s King George IV.
APPENDIX
SS City of Benares
A steam passenger ship built by Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd., Glasgow, in 1936 for the Ellerman Line. At the time, it was the largest ship Ellerman had ever built. Typically, it sailed between India and England and got its name from Benares, a city in India, also known as Varanasi.
Speed
15 knots recommended speed
17 knots maximum speed
Gross Tonnage
11,081
Net Tonnage
6,720
Length
486 feet, 1 inch
Beam
62 feet, 7½ inches
Depth
30 feet 8 inches
Official Number
164096
Code Letters
GZBW
Source: Lloyds Register, 1937/38 volume.
ABOARD LIFEBOAT 12
Children
Ken Sparks (13)
Derek Capel (12)
Howard Claytor (11)
Paul Shearing (11)
Fred Steels (11)
Billy Short (9)
Escorts
Mary Cornish (41)
Father Rory O’Sullivan (32)
Paying Passenger
Bohdan Nagorski (49)
British Sailors
Fourth Officer Ronnie Cooper (22)
Cadet Douglas Critchley (20)
Signalman Johnny Mayhew (19)
Gunner Harry Peard (38)
Assistant Steward George Purvis (23)
Lascars
Ramjam Buxoo
31 unnamed sailors
ABOUT THE LASCARS
For hundreds of years, Asian sailors called Lascars were hired to work on European ships. By World War II, they made up a third of the British s
hipping industry. They “had nothing in common, except the Indian Ocean,” according to author Amitav Ghosh. “Among them were Chinese and East Africans, Arabs and Malays, Bengalis and Goans, Tamils and Arakanese.” Some were Hindu, some Muslim, and some (Goans) were Roman Catholic. They had different ethnicities and politics but were acclaimed for their bravery and seamanship. Ships’ records offered little information about the Lascars. There was a language barrier to be sure. Also, Lascars were recruited in India by an agent called a Ghaut Serang and supervised onboard and in port by an Indian serang (boatswain). But the shocking lack of recordkeeping was also an indication of the racism of the time. The press was at fault, too. Newspaper accounts triumphantly detail the names, ages, and many life stories of the Europeans rescued. Yet after months of digging I was hard-pressed to uncover even a list of Lascars aboard Lifeboat 12. The only news item I could find was about the Hurricane rescue in the Daily Express. On September 23, 1940, it simply noted: “The saved include . . . thirty-six Lascar seamen.” Ken Sparks said the Europeans and Indians were separated on the rescue ship and he never saw them again. He didn’t know what happened to them.
Then one day, eureka! Hunting through documents in the British Library, I came across the Benares’ crew Injured List (dated October 7, 1940), which follows. I could find nothing to clarify whether these were men rescued by HMS Hurricane or picked up from Lifeboat 12 . . . or both. I was heartened to find Ramjan Buxoo [sic] , the man mentioned by several lifeboat survivors, listed here. Could the others be the men he cared for during those eight days?
INJURED LIST
Ebram Abdooramon
Second Tindal (Deck Storekeeper)
Essack Sk. Oomer
Lascar
Dawood Sk. Mahomad
Lascar
Ahmed Eusoof
Lascar
Kahomed Enoos
Lascar
Eusoofkhan Bapoo
Lascar
Hossein Ebrahim
Lascar
Sk. Esmail Sk. Adam
Lascar
Abdool Currim
Winchman
Sk. Allee Sk. Md.
Fireman
Sk. Allee Sk. Eusoof
Fireman
Hasson Mahomed
Fireman
Hasson Khan Alle Khan
Trimmer
Allum Terroo
Trimmer
Sultan Ali Hoosein
Trimmer
Abdul Rumjan
General Servant
Syfoo Mohamed Ali
Deck Steward
Abdul Ghafur Sk. Hiroo
Saloon Boy
Mohamdoo Futtey Khan
Saloon Boy
Shahzada Wahed Munshi
Bhandary’s Mate (crew cook)
Sadeck Allee
Smokeroom Steward
Saizuddin Ebadat Mandal
Saloon Boy
Abdur Razzaque
Saloon Boy
Sheik Mathoo Sk. Sulaman
Saloon Boy
Lulla Bij Lall
Topas (sweeper or cleaner)
Sk. Habib Sk. Nawabjan
General Servant
Ramjan Buxoo [sic]
General Servant
Antonio P. Borges
Butcher
Ebrahim Abdul Rahim*
General Servant
Ebrahim Sk. Abdul**
Saloon Boy
Note: These names were recorded phonetically by those in charge.
I checked Scotland’s hospital records. The archivist for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde “could find no mention of Indian seamen being admitted in September/October of 1940.” The records for the Greenock Royal Infirmary “are incomplete and the registers for 1940 have not been preserved.”
All we know is that the numbers roughly add up:
166
Asian crewmen aboard the Benares
-101
casualties (names included on Ronnie Cooper’s report)
=65
survivors (number issued in final government report—
November 28, 1940
36
rescued by HMS Hurricane
+31
rescued by HMS Anthony (One man leapt overboard before the rescue)
=67
survivors
*Originally reported on both the casualty list and the injured list, but was crossed off the injured list.
**Ebrahim SK Abdul “should have been included on the injured list.”—Superintendent, Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. March 31, 1941.
Author Thomas Nagorski discovered two men who died of their injuries in early October: Ibrahim Balla and Abbas Bekim. Subtracting those two from 67, the number adds up to the government’s final report of 65 Indian survivors issued on November 28, 1940.
Of these 65 lives, we know the names of 33 men. Sadly, even if the others had been listed on the Benares’ manifest, that record went down with the ship.
QUOTATION SOURCES
Documented quotes from interviews, oral accounts, and other sources are below.
p. 2
“. . . your preliminary application
has been considered
by the Board and
they have decided that
KENNETH J. SPARKS
is are suitable for being
sent to . . . CANADA.”
National Archives DO 131/91
p. 6
“And there will be a new overcoat . . .”
Sparks interview
National Archives DO 131/91
“‘penny cannon’ fireworks.”
“The Night We Were Torpedoed,”
Observer Series, January 23, 2003
p. 7
“a little so-and-so . . .”
Sparks interview
“she wasn’t supposed to have children.”
Sparks interview
p. 8
“a clout round the ear hole
or the cane at school.”
Sparks interview
p. 16
“If it’s going to hit us, it’s going to hit us.”
Sparks interview
p. 25
“German planes are diesel. They throb.
Ours hum.”
Sparks interview
p. 30
“She waves me good-bye,
and that’s it.”
Menzies, p.17
p. 37
“It’s just a bad habit.”
Sparks interview
p. 39
“We’re like seeds in a pod.”
Nagorski, T., p. 27
p. 51
“No diseases must be allowed . . .
to infiltrate the Dominion!”
O’Sullivan, p. 21
p. 53
“The biggest thing we’d seen till then
were the old paddle steamers in the Thames.”
Sparks interview
p. 54
“Out of this world!
And if it weren’t for this . . . ,
we’d never see anything like it.”
Steels, Imperial War Museum
p. 57
44 boys to port, 44 girls to starboard
Note: Sources disagree about this fact, but two eyewitnesses, Ken Sparks (later a Navy man) and Rory O’Sullivan, confirm this arrangement.
“The girls to starboard, the boys to port . . .”
O’Sullivan, p. 22
“boys on the port (left hand) side
and girls on the
starboard (right hand).”
Sparks account written as an adult
p. 60
“If you didn’t make your own toys,
you didn’t get any.”
Sparks interview
p. 62
“It’s a floating palace,
is what it is!”
Nagorski, T., p.35
“three different kinds
of knives and forks”
Barker, p. 28
p. 63
“Fish and chips is my favorite.”
Sparks interview
p. 66
“After the wartime food, . . .
there aren’t words to describe it.
. . . We’ve never
eaten so much in our lives.”
Menzies, p. 41
p. 86
. . . everything you could
think of for a kid.”
Smith, p. 138
p. 88
“. . . the most magnificent
long cigarette holder [I’ve] ever seen!”
Menzies, p. 50
p. 89
“. . . pay their respects to the sea,
a bit green round the gills,
but ready to take on more ballast!”
O’Sullivan, p. 23
“. . . it’s a Christmas dinner
every meal.”
Nagorski, T., p. 47
p. 90
“Here, on this route, the first two days
may contain an element of danger,
but afterwards we should be quite all right.”
Nagorski, B., p. 199
