BRITISH CHILDREN

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 265, 7 October 1940, Page 8

BRITISH CHILDREN

ANOTHER PARTY ARRIVES. INCIDENTS OF VOYAGE. Per Frees Association. WELLINGTON, Oct.. 4. “A very liappy welcome typical of New Zealand awaited the children,” stated the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. AV. E. Parry) referring to-night to the second party of British children to arrive in the Dominion under the Children’s Overseas Reception Scheme. “The children, who came ashore to their new homes to-day,” Mr Parry added, “resembled the young womanhood and manhood of the future 60 noticeably appreciated in the boys and girls from Scotland who formed the first party.” Of 113 children on the liner to berth to-night between 45 and 50 of them have as yet no specific allocation, but the remainder have come to New Zealand under allocation. All were evacuated from parts of England which had been heavily bombed. Most have come to friends or relatives by whom they were nominated. The party was in the charge of Miss P. M. Redmayne, assisted by Mr 6 Anne Best, of the Salvation Army. Rev. H. A. Hayden, vicar of St. Nicholas, Warwick, and Father J. P. Murphy, S.M., were chaplains to the party. Dr. Mary Jennings was medical officer. There were also two qualified nurses and eight other escorts. Miss Redmayne, who is a Quaker, said 6he had for a number of years taken a keen interest in child and peasant welfare work in many parts of the world. She lia6 worked in Russia and Greece where she and three others rented the little island of St. Nicholas for £4 a year as a holiday resort. At the time of the collapse of France she was occupied in refugee work there and escaped to England when the German invasion took place. She said with the exception of hectic days in the danger zone at the beginning the voyage had been uneventful. There was no serious illness of any kind and the children behaved excellently. TORPEDO NARROAVLY MISSED.

At the outset of their journey the convoy in which they were travelling was scattered by a submarine attack. A torpedo passed within a few yards of their vessel and struck another carrying 300 children bound for a sister Dominion. They saw the stricken liner going down and the passengers and crew abandoning her but had to hurry on and leave the rescue to the escort vessels. They did not rejoin the convoy but carried on alone. Afterwards they learned that of the 900 passengers on the torpedoed ship not a single life had been lost. The sole casualty was one of the ship’s officers who was killed,when he missed his footing climbing into a lifeboat. This was the liner reported, to have been torpedoed on the way to Canada several weeks ago and cabled accounts of the rescue of the children appeared in New Zealand- papers at the time. The children I behaved extremely well when the alarm took place. Most of them believed it to be only another of the frequent life boat practises carried out in the early days of the voyage. The attack took place late in the evening, stated the escorts travelling with the children. They were awakened by gunfire, but at first stayed in theii | beds thinking it to be an aeroplane at i tack. This opinion was strengthened 1 by the rattle of a machine-gun. Then the stewards came to send them to their muster stations wearing lifejackets and ready for any eventuality From on deck they could see the. ( torpedoed ship now brilliantly lit up and with lifeboats being lowered down the side. She appeared to be settling slowly on an even keel. Many passengers 6aid they had heard the sound of the torpedo which had passed within twenty yards of their own hull. “The children were really wonderful,” said Miss Redmayne. “They showed not a sign of fear or excitement and behaved just as if it were ordinary practice. For three nights while we were in the danger area they slept in the lounge in their clothes. “Captain Holland was most thoughtful and did everything he could for the children’s welfare. Even then it was touch and go and he must have been distracted with worry. He saw to it that the children were served with hot milk and biscuits.”