This Channel’s definition of a Warrior of War is any man who in the face of extreme adversity and
risk, still chooses to put a cause, belief or the lives of others over his own self-interest.
These are the men who put their gifts of intelligence, perseverance and strength to
honourable use and today, one such man who fills that criteria is Charles Herbert Lightoller.
Born in Lancashire on March 30th 1874, the same year as churchill mind you,
Charles Lightoller was seemingly born to navigate the high seas. As soon as he turned 13,
the call of adventure was too much for lightoller to resist and he quickly picked up an apprentice
travelling as a part of a ship's crew for 4 years. On only his second voyage,
he was shipwrecked and stranded on an island, but luckily he was rescued
before death. He began to climb the ranks and was promoted to second mate on another
voyage after fighting a fire that broke out in a sailing ships cargo of coal.
Lightoller after this apprenticeship found himself experimenting with other lifestyles and avenues
that didn’t involve the Navy for a couple years, but time and time again he found himself craving
to be on deck and he therefore decided to ditch his other pursuits and eventually decided to join
the White Star Line, who were owner-operators of the titanic, and became a first officer.
Whilst serving his tenure with the company, the unthinkable happened and as many of us know,
on April 14th 1912, the titanic hit an iceberg. Although not thinking anything of the hit at
first, Lightholler and many of the crew quickly realised the gravity of the situation and he
took charge of loading many of the lifeboats, strictly enforcing the women and children policy,
even pulling his gun out at one point to remove a group of men from a lifeboat.
The titanic eventually sunk, and Lightholler had gone down with it,
however in a stroke of good fortune, when he was being sucked in by the ship he was
spat out when water hit the hot boilers and created a blast that blew him back
to a lifeboat. After surviving the night, a freshly arrived rescue liner arrived and
Lightholler’s lifeboat was the last to be reached and he was the last to leave it,
making him both the only surviving senior officer and last titanic survivor to achieve rescue.
Fast forward 2 years later, and despite the Titanic Lightoller hadn’t lost his love for
the Navy or rather couldn’t at the advent of World War one. He was initially drafted as an
armed merchantman, but after proving himself in battle and rescue operations throughout the war,
he was eventually given command of his own Royal Navy Destroyer. In a notable during his command,
Lightoller simply rammed into and sank a German U-boat. Obviously not learning from the Titanic,
Lightholler Lightholler thankfully had enough experience to realise this wouldn't sink their
whole ship although it was close and they had to limp back 100 miles to port for emergency repairs.
Surviving the titanic and WW1, Lightoller had had a lifetime and some full of Sea adventures,
and was just beginning to enjoy his retirement when the great drama of
Dunkirk gripped the nation. At the age of 66, he,
his son roger and 18 year old Gerald Ashcroft responded to the Navy’s desperate call for help.
Travelling on a ship capable of carrying only 21 people on his round trip and despite being strafed
multiple times by the Luftwaffe, Lightoller and his crew saved 2 men from a burning motor cruiser,
pulled 3 navy men from open seas in Dunkirk and then took on 122 men from a sinking Navy
ship that had been heavily hit by the Germans. A total of 130 men were saved by Lightoller,
with these men packed like sardines for hours on end before reaching the Port
of Ramsgate and nearly capsizing the ship as they began to shift.
After Dunkirk, Lightholler once again postponed his well deserved retirement and continued to
serve in England's home guard as the threat of an invasion began to loom. Eventually of course,
this passed, and Lightoller was proud to say he survived 2 wars and the titanic. By then sadly,
Lightoller and his wife had lost 2 sons in the war, the eldest Roger,
who was with him during Dunkirk, being killed in a commando raid,
and the youngest being shot down as part of the RAF. Charles Lightoller himself survived
until 1952, where he died of natural causes at the age of 78, and what a life he lived.
Well guys, I hope you enjoyed this one as I don’t usually cover the navy and feel like they’re a
bit under represented during the retelling of heroic war stories. Let me know if you have any
family who served in the Navy and tell me their stories. I for one have a huge Naval history in
my family, with my grandfather surviving a kamikaze attack in ww2 and my uncle ..