Miracles on the Water : The Heroic Survivors of a World War II U-Boat Attack
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Hardcover
Would you take the opportunity to send your child or children across an ocean to remove them from the threat of German bombing during World War II? How would you feel if, after waving goodbye, days later you received a telegram saying their ship was sunk and they are dead or missing? Too terrible to even think about? It happened, and in some cases two or more siblings perished.
But when only a few of the adults and children who were still alive were finally rescued, the British Navy was unaware an entire lifeboat was still unaccounted and the search was called off. But the forty-some adults and children in that 'lost' boat were determined to survive. Even though the leaders in that boat knew there wasn't enough water to last a week. One very small cup to each was issued once a day. It got so their throats were so dry they couldn't eat the food they were issued. But every one accepted what they were given, even though that small cup passed through many hands to the next recipient.
Unlike in some of the other boats, this boat was full of heroes, adults and children. The temperature during the day rose to the 50s, but at night it was much colder. And the boat was so crowded you could barely move. One woman, who often could barely talk, made up stories to tell the children.
Because they pulled together under extremely difficult circumstances, they survived. And their heroism was a tonic that filled the British people's hearts with pride in the early days of the war when all the news was bad. I won't spoil it by telling you how---by almost a miracle---they were rescued. Except to mention many of the tough British sailors who did rescue them were crying as they brought the survivors aboard the destroyer. And a number of the sailors dove into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic to help the survivors who were unable to climb the netting into the ship.
The author, whose relative was one of the men in the life boat, follows the stories of the survivors from before they sailed to the reunions they kept going to in their old age.
But when only a few of the adults and children who were still alive were finally rescued, the British Navy was unaware an entire lifeboat was still unaccounted and the search was called off. But the forty-some adults and children in that 'lost' boat were determined to survive. Even though the leaders in that boat knew there wasn't enough water to last a week. One very small cup to each was issued once a day. It got so their throats were so dry they couldn't eat the food they were issued. But every one accepted what they were given, even though that small cup passed through many hands to the next recipient.
Unlike in some of the other boats, this boat was full of heroes, adults and children. The temperature during the day rose to the 50s, but at night it was much colder. And the boat was so crowded you could barely move. One woman, who often could barely talk, made up stories to tell the children.
Because they pulled together under extremely difficult circumstances, they survived. And their heroism was a tonic that filled the British people's hearts with pride in the early days of the war when all the news was bad. I won't spoil it by telling you how---by almost a miracle---they were rescued. Except to mention many of the tough British sailors who did rescue them were crying as they brought the survivors aboard the destroyer. And a number of the sailors dove into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic to help the survivors who were unable to climb the netting into the ship.
The author, whose relative was one of the men in the life boat, follows the stories of the survivors from before they sailed to the reunions they kept going to in their old age.
