DIED FROM "SHEER FRIGHT”

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 11762, 24 February 1919, Page 7

DIED FROM "SHEER FRIGHT”

-WAR INCIDENT RECALLED

TRAWLER AND ZEPPELIN

Pathetic circumstances attended the Skipper,. Martin, of the Grimsby trawler King Stephen, who declined to rescue the crew of a Zeppelin in the North Sea. The adventure preyed on his mind, and he died after a nervous collapse caused by the mistaken belief that he had been poisoned. He had received a number of anonymous letters containing threats apparently from Germans in England, and when he became ill after sumoking acigarette from a packet which had been sent to him by post he was convinced that the cigarettes had contained poison. Analysis proved,that his fears were unfounded, but he never recovered from the shock. ‘‘He died from sheer fright,” was the verdict of his medical attendant.

The Zeppelin incident occurred on February Ist. 1916, and public opinion in this country held that Martin acted rightly. The trawler discovered the disabled airship in the sea, with its huge envelope |rising about 50ft out of the water. The commander offered to handsomely rswaid Martin and his crew if they would save them,but Martin declined on the ground that ha could not trust the Germans.

“I had,” said Martin, ‘‘talked it over with Denny (the mate), as we were drawing near, and after considering all the pros and cons, both of ns agreed that if we lowered a boat and sent some of tfae crew to the Zeppelin they would at once he secured and kept as prisoners until we did as the Gemans wished, which would prohanly be that in the end we should have them take charge of the ship if they came on board, or if we refused to fetch them off they would carry our boat and the crew of it down with them. I had all my own men safe and sound, and was defermined to take no risks. Even if the Huns had not proved barbarous there would still have been a big risk, because there were 18 Germans and only ten of us, and you could scarcely imagine their allowing ns to take them to Grimsby as prisoners. Nothing we could have done would have prevented their taking charge of the trawler seeing they weie two to one.”