View
comments
An heroic father perished on the Titanic while his wife and children sang songs to drown out the screams of drowning passengers, it has been revealed.
New archives reveal how brave Arthur West helped wife Ada and daughters Constance and Barbara onto a lifeboat before dashing back to their cabin to grab a flask of hot milk for them.
When he returned the boat was being lowered into the sea so he shimmied down a rope and handed them the thermos flask before climbing back on board the doomed liner.
Ada West had to watch as her brave husband gave her this thermos flask of milk before returning to the sinking ship
In doing so he passed up the chance to join them and instead watched as two foreign men sneaked on board and hid under the skirts of women passengers.
Mr West's brave actions and the cowardly act of the two men have emerged 97 years on after an archive of artefacts belonging to his family were made public for the first time.
Among the items is the ancient flask, Mrs West's harrowing account of the sinking and a letter written on board Titanic four days before by Mr West.
In it he states how it had been a enjoyable voyage thus far with 'scarcely a movement felt' adding: 'I hope we have a calm trip....till we reach our journeys end.'
Mr West, a 36-year-old shopfloor walker, died on April 15, 1912, after the 'unsinkable' liner hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.
Afterwards, Ada and Constance, five, and Barbara, who was 10-months-old, returned to Britain but barely spoke about the disaster.
The archive was handed down to Barbara who was the last but one British survivor of the Titanic when she died aged 96 in 2007. It is now being auctioned.
Arthur West drowned when the Titanic sunk in 1912 after hitting an iceberg
Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge Auctioneers of Devizes, Wilts, said: 'This is a truly unique archive and its provenance is peerless.
'It has been owned by the same family since 1912 and has barely been seen by anyone before.
'The family hardly spoke about the disaster, except for the odd correspondence with family, and rejected offers from film-makers and alike.
'The whole collection catalogues the beginning, middle and end of the Titanic from their point of view.
'From the letters of hope and anticipation by Mr West, to his wife's hand-written account about the sinking to a heart-rending letter she wrote talking about her loss.
'And pinning it all together is this old flask that she kept all these years because it represents the last moment shared between her and her husband.
'He clearly had the opportunity to remain in the life boat but chose not to because it wasn't the done thing.'
The gravestone of Arthur West and his wife Ada who died in 1955
The West family from Truro, Cornwall, were emigrating to Florida and were second class passengers on Titanic.
After the liner struck the iceberg Mrs West and her two children were placed into lifeboat 10.
In her letters and account Mrs West said: 'My dear people, here's the end of my first awful week without my dear old boy.
'The experiences I have been through with all the other poor creatures have been enough for two life times.
'We were amongst the first to leave the ship. Arthur placed life belts upon the children then carried them onto the boat deck.
'After seeing us safely into the lifeboat Arthur returned to the cabin for a thermos of hot milk and finding the lifeboat let down he reached it by means of a rope, gave the flask to me, and, with a farewell returned to the deck of the ship.'
Unbeknown to the two crew members in charge of the lifeboat, Japanese passenger Masabumi Hosono, 41, and Turk Neshan Krekorian, 25, had crept on board Mrs West wrote: 'There were men in our boat who had concealed themselves under the ladies skirts and had to be asked to stop lighting cigarettes as there was a danger of the dresses becoming ignited.'
She added: 'It was only when I saw the ship sink and heard the awful cries and groans from the poor drowning creatures that I felt the least bit of fear as to his safety.
'There was no suggestion of going back to the ship when she sank and drowning people was heard.
'The steward who seemed to be in charge called out 'Pull up men - they're singing in the other boats. Give them a shout!'.
'The noise they made drowned all the cries and we gradually drew away from the scene of the wreck and did not turn back until some time after the Carpathia had appeared.
'I saw no signs of wreckage or bodies only icebergs.
'We were kindly treated on the 'C' and it was whilst on board that ship that I heard a survivor remark...that she did not think it right that officers should be feted by the passengers...and treated to champagne as had been done that evening in the 1st class dining salon.'
Mr Aldridge said: 'To the best of our knowledge, the drinking of champagne has never emerged before.
'It would seem inappropriate to drink champagne considering what had just happened. You could understand if it was brandy for the shock.'
Ada West died aged 74 in 1953. Constance West died in 1963 aged 56.
There is a memorial tablet at Truro Cathedral in honour of Edwy Arthur West, whose body was never recovered.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2BcoKTcGpqZ4Kaw6aty56bZoCfrHqpsdGoZJ%2BZpJ2ys3nDopydZYSewaK6yJxkpZ2Rq7avs4yloJ%2BdkqSutXnFnqucoF2buaK%2FymakoqSbYsSqssRmmqGhnJm%2FprqNoaumpA%3D%3D