Nigel
An event described in the Commerorative Newsletter, was the loss of the ss"Bradboyne". I have now receieved some very interesting e-mail correspondence on the loss, from Nigel Parry, whose grandfather was Master of the ss"Oxonian",that was heavily involved in the rescue operation. The following is extracts from his messages:-
I have just come across the web page for the Reardon Smith shipping line for which you are a contact. I read the reproduction of the 1920 Newsletter describing the loss of the 'Bradboyne' and rescue of some of her crew. The original article contains an error which, of course, is repeated on the site. The Master of the Leyland liner 'Oxonian' was not John Wilkinson, as stated; this is due to a confusion with the surname of the first officer. The captain of the 'Oxonian' during the rescue was John Parry and he was my grandfather. I have his inscribed silver medal to prove it.
The Emile Robin's Award made to my grandfather in respect of this rescue was the second that he had received, the first was for the rescue of the crew of the 'British King' in 1906 when he was in command of another Leyland Line ship, the 'Bostonian'.
I am indeed proud of my grandfather's part in several rescues at sea, but he had a large family and his various award are now distributed between many grandchildren. As I mentioned, I have his silver medal from the Bradboyne rescue, but the leather pouch from the Emile Robin's award and a silver cup he was also awarded are in the possession of two cousins. Another cousin has his gold medal from the British King rescue. Somewhere there is another cup awarded for rescuing passengers from the wreck of the Scotsman on the Belle Isle rocks in the 1890s. He was also mentioned in despatches for taking off Anzac wounded, under fire, from the Gallipoli beaches in 1915 while in command of the Georgian (torpedoed and sunk by UB47 north of Crete in 1917) and subsequently awarded an OBE for war service - I have the medal and a cousin has the citation.
November 2011.