Remember
Remembrance day came on November 9th for me this year. I know it’s actually today that we pause a moment to think of our veterans, those men and women who who served in our military, but by chance I had the experience a few days early.
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One of the things I particularly enjoy about the Internet, is the seemingly endless quantity and variety of 19th and 20th century film that’s available for viewing. Pick your subject, you shall find that someone, somewhere has made a short film of it.
Care to see a vintage film all about the Union Pacific Railroad and it’s World’s Largest Steam Locomotive? How about a silent film visit to the New York City of 1928? A streetcar ride in San Fransisco around 1900, before the earthquake and fire? If you find that a bit boring, how about a film in color from about 1950 all about Architecture and Design? These suggestions are just the bare beginning. There’s thousands of interesting subjects to look for, and it’s nice to be able to watch a film about technology and /or progress without the constant “Oh God we are destroying the planet” overtones we see in almost all documentary film making today.
An entire Internet archive can be found here.
London Bridge and a busy waterway.
On the evening of the 9th I found myself wandering the film library and I stumbled upon a film I found particularly interesting. Colour on the Thames was shot in 1935 and features all manner of boat activity on that English river. You see small tugs moving the lighter barges that were used for unloading larger ships, there are larger tugs moving and docking ocean going vessels and even a few sailing barges are working, weaving in and out of the traffic, which seems almost impossible at times. There’s even one shot of a graceful stone bridge under construction. All of this is presented in color and the color is quite good, making this a rare and particularly interesting film.
Dartford, London England based steamship
At one point, the scene before the camera is that of the ocean going steam freighter Dartford being docked by two steam tugs. It is one amongst dozens of big ships seen in the film, but the only one where the name is so clearly identified. I was curious about this ship. I imagined it had participated in the war that was about to come and I wondered if anything had happened to it.
Here is where the Internet shows itself to be such a powerful tool. First, I discovered a few tiny photos at a site you have to sign up with in order to see the larger versions. That wasn’t satisfying, but the place is called “The wreck site” and so I had my answer more or less. Looking further, I found a more complete reference at a site dedicated to preserving the history of the Atlantic war.
What I found there, was sobering.
Name: Dartford
Type: Steam merchant
Tonnage : 4,093 tons
Completed: 1930 – Smith´s Dock Co Ltd, South Bank, Middlesbrough
Owner: Watts, Watts & Co Ltd, London
Home port: London
Nationality: British
Fate: Sunk by U-124 (Johann Mohr)
Position: 49.19N, 41.33W – Grid BC 3419
Complement: 47 (30 dead and 17 survivors).
Convoy: ONS-100
Route: Tyne – Oban (2 Jun) – Sydney
Cargo: Ballast
Last reported position of Dartford, 1942.
At 06.12 hours on 12 Jun, 1942, the Dartford (Master Samuel Bulmer) in convoy ONS-100 was torpedoed and sunk by U-124 south of Cape Race. The master, 25 crew members and four gunners were lost. 14 crew members and three gunners were picked up by the British rescue ship Gothland (Master James Murray Hadden, OBE) and landed at Halifax on 17 June.
I looked a bit further and found the list of the crew. The youngest was 19, the oldest 59. I searched for Master Bulmer’s name but couldn’t find a reference to him again.
Dartford was one of several hundred ships sunk during the month of June in 1942. Just one amongst the many, As participant in the Battle of the Atlantic, she was returning to North America to load cargo for England, having made the trip several times already.
By reading this you have more or less taken a moment to remember the Captain and crew of Dartford.
The answer to the question posed in the title of this article then, is You.
