First World War Poetry Digital Archive

Cost of Assistance

It may be of interest to our readers to give a few instances (out of a great many) of relief afforded by the Society with regard to particular vessels. In the case of the ss Falaba, sunk by a German submarine on March 28, £129 15s was expended, including temporary assistance to 13 widows, 24 orphans and 6 aged parents. The steam-trawler Horatio of Grimsby, was reported as missing and there is every reason to believe that she was a victim of an enemy submarine. 10 widows and 18 orphans were relieved by the distribution of £120 17s 6d. Of cases where the crews were saved and taken charge of by the Society’s Hon Agents, the following may serve as examples:- The ss Dumfries, 41 men were landed at Ilfracombe on May 19 and £87 11s 2d paid for board, clothing etc, of 53 men. The ss Iona was sunk on June 3, and the 54 men saved were relieved at Kirkwall, Wick and Inverness to the amount of £79. The ss Inkum’s crew of 41 men were landed at Falmouth on June 4, and the expenses incurred by the Society came to £93 13s 11d. It should be added that the cost of the men’s railway and steamboat fares will also be defrayed by the Society when the accounts from the companies are sent in. In not a few cases the Society’s expenses in connection with the men landed have been either repaid by the owners of the ships, or have been recognised by donations, the most notable of such payments being enumerated under ‘Special Contributions.’ But the fact remains that, at the close of the half-year, the Society’s overdraft at the bank stood at £2,744.

Citation

“Cost of Assistance,” by Unknown. The Great War Archive, University of Oxford / Primary Contributor via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed March 28, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/item/5685.

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