christinebaranskiis:Charles Lightoller was in charge of lowering lifeboats on the port side of the R
christinebaranskiis:Charles Lightoller was in charge of lowering lifeboats on the port side of the RMS Titanic. Lightoller strictly enforced the “women and children first” evacuation policy, not allowing any male passengers to board the lifeboats besides auxiliary seamen. Lifeboats were lowered with empty seats with the intention of filling from the water, but sailed off under capacity. Lightoller ordered men occupying Lifeboat 2 off the boat, threatening them with an unloaded revolver. As the Titanic sank further, Lightoller made it to the overturned Collapsible B and took charge of the 30 survivors until rescued by another lifeboat. Lightoller was the last survivor taken aboard the RMS Carpathia and the most senior crew member to survive the sinking of the Titanic. He was portrayed by Jonathan Phillips in James Cameron’s Titanic.In 1940, Lightoller with his son Roger and a young Sea Scout named Gerald Ashcroft, sailed his private yacht, the Sundowner, across the English Channel to assist in the Dunkirk evacuation. Lightoller brought back 127 servicemen on the boat which was licensed for 21 passengers. On the return journey, Lightoller evaded gunfire from enemy aircraft, using a technique described to him by his youngest son, Herbert, who had joined the RAF and been killed earlier in the war. His actions inspired the character Mr. Dawson, played by Mark Rylance in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. -- source link
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