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| “ | In fact it was simply amazing that they should have had the infernal audacity to offer to surrender, in view of their ferocious and pitiless attacks on our merchant ships. Destroyer versus Destroyer, as in the Dover Patrol, was fair game and no favour. One could meet them and take them on as a decent antagonist. But towards the submarine men, one felt an utter disgust and loathing; they were nothing but an abomination, polluting the clean sea. | „ |
| ~ Lightoller on accusations of war crimes made against him |
Second Officer Charles Lightoller (March 30th, 1874 - December 8th, 1952) was the crewmember manning the lifeboats on the port side during The Sinking of RMS Titanic. He strictly enforced the protocol of allowing women and children to board the lifeboats first, denying male passengers access to the lifeboats unless auxiliary seamen were needed (though he did allow at least one male child to board). Several shots were allegedly fired by an officer on the Titanic, possibly Lightoller as he threatened a group of men who were in one of the lifeboats and told them he wanted to see them overboard. He was swept overboard, but survived along with 30 others by climbing onto an upturned boat and showed them how to adjust their weight to avoid sinking. He also went on to fight in World War I, during which he sank the U-boat UB-110. The captain later made an accusation that Lightoller had committed a war crime by ordering his men to kill the surrendering crew, but Lightoller was never brought to trial over this. In his memoir, he said that he "refused to accept the hands up business" along with the above quote. He died of heart disease on December 8th, 1952.
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Charles Lightoller on Real Life Heroes Wiki.