New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1918-03-13
king and QUEEN
LAUD BRAVE MAID
Girl Rescued Mother Of Mrs.
Ford, American POetess

! London, March 13.-The death of
| Mrs. Lena Guilbert Ford, the Ameri-
| can woman who wrote Keep the
| Home Fires Burning" one of the
most popular marching songs of the
! British army, and her crippled son
! Walter, was a pathetic incident of
| the German afraid on London. They
died under the wreckage of their
| home.
! An English maid Annie Coxall, by
a remarkable display Of courage
| saved the life of Mrs. Fords mother.
| Mrs. Brown, Sc years old, though the
| latter was quite seriously injured.
! the king and the queen sought her
out at the scene of the explosion on
| Saturday and expressed their warm
admiration for her "heroic behavior"
Mrs. Ford and her son were in bed
| at the time of the raid in adjoining
| roons of the second floor of a four
story house in a long block of SUBJ
stantiai brick structures. A bomb
appears to have hit the room close
to the partition wall dividing the
Ford house from the adjoining build
ing. 1T shattered the roof and up
per floors, which gradually collapsed
with part of the wall.
Mother and Son Suffocated.
The heavy beams and brick wall
fell through the building, enveloping
the chambers occupied by Mrs. Ford
ard her son. They we're thus impris-
oned for several minutes before the
Sc cond floor collapsed under the
weight of the Wreckage, carrying
them to the first floor, and then. aft
or another pause, to the basement.
They died probably from suffocation,
and are the first Am orleans to lose
their lives in an air raid on London.
The two upper floors of the house
were occupied by another family, all
of whom were killed. Mrs. F'ords
mother, Mrs. Brown, occupied q room
on the first floor, directly under Mrs.
Ford's chamber. while beneath her.
in a small basement bedroom. was
MIS-. Ford's maid. Annie Coxall.
First Thought for Mrs. Brown.
The maid, who is a strong English
country girl of %, amid the sound
Of splintering timbers and crashing
hrickWork ran up the narrow base
II .ent stairs, her first thought being
for the safety of the aged Mrs.
Frown, to whom she was deeply at
tached.
She found Mrs. Brown half out of
bed, bewildered in the midst of
cloud of falling plaster, and dragged
her through the collapsing walls
down the stone stairs and into the
basement bedroom.
1t was evident that the whole
weight OF the walls and upper floors
would soon crash into the cellar, and
the maid, with nimble wit, half car
ried her charge and laid her on the
floor close to the wall, pulling the
narrow cot bed over her as a protec-
ton, and placing upon this two heavy
oak doors in a slanting position which
she hoped would defect the falling
debris
Failing to reach the upper part Of
the house again in answer TO the J
cries Of Mrs. Ford and her son, which
she heard again and again, she had ,
barely time to crawl under the bed !,
beside Mrs. Brown when the final !,
collapse came The' little iron bed !!
and the oak doors served their pur- !!
pose. The aged woman and the maid !
were almost suffocated, but two hours :
later they were rescued by constablcs
and members Of the Red Cross.
Mrs, Brown suffered severely from
shock. Annie CoNaN was uninjurcd,
but badly dazed. She tried to re-en~ |