SAILOR FROM THE DEAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18629, 9 February 1924, Page 2 (Supplement)

SAILOR FROM THE DEAD.

STORY OF IMPRISONMENT. CAPTURED BY THE TURKS. A bedridden widow, Mrs. Batchelor, of West Croydon, welcomed a man who collapsed in ; a ;Croydon, street as her . son, Edwin Batchelor, a: stoker in the cruiser Cressy, when it was blown op in the North Sea nine years ago by a German submarine. ::";':%. ""' ■'::■'■-'■'■'■"";' ~f"'.'\~ His pale face and halting step caused a woman to look twice at him as he walked in the direction of the house where Mrs. Batchelor lived at the beginning of the war. The woman, who knew Mrs. Batchelor and had known her son, suddenly felt the thrill of recognition. She spoke to the man. He told her that ho was Edwin Batchelor, on his way home. She told him that, his mother had mourned him since September 22, 1914, .when, the. Cressy,.! the Hogue and . the Aboukir were sunk. His name appeared in the casualty list, and his mother was awarded a pension. "Yes," he said, "I* am First-class Stoker Edwin Batchelor. I cannot go home now. What you have told me makes me realise that the shock to my mother would -be too great. Let me write a note." He wrote a* note and went away. A little later a man collapsed in the street and was taken to the infirmary. When he recovered consciousness he said that ha was Edwin Batchelor. He was taken to the home of Mrs. Batchelor, who wept when she -saw his face, i The man stated next day that after the . sinking of the Creasy he lashed himself to a buoy with his lanyard,- and remained afloat for many' hongs, until he became unconscious. He awoke; he said, in an enemy ship.-. It was not a German, ship. He thought it was Turkish. Turkey entered the war on October 29, 1914, 37 days after the loss of the Cressy. " Frequent endeavours were made to extract information from me concerning .the British Fleet, but I persistently refused to enlighten them. . I told them that I'would rather die than betray my country. I refused to give my name, and they shut me up in a cabin. . . ';"''': I always remained in the same vessel. Later my mind became a blank, but I do remember being imprisoned on land, and I think it was in Turkey." I A few. weeks ■ previously,, according to. his story, he was put on a steamer by an {official, who he believed was " the British I Ambassador, and taken to Newcastle. He added that friends paid his fare from Newcastle to London. He wore three war medals which had been sent to his mother. On the following day there was a dramatic sequel to the case. Police officers visited the house in- West Croydon and arrested Batchelor upon a charge of obtaining money by Imm pretences..