The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-10-21
HEROIC TALE OF
 RESCUE REVEALED
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 "Thank you," he said in good English. He seemed to have been worried about the fate of the Sur- vivors. The Coming tower was closed the submarine dived and that was the last seen of 1t.
 Within a short time, all the sur- vivors that could be found were aboard the Independence Hall. There were 227 from the Yorkshire linen, women, and children. There were 57 from the Mandalay.
 (The Yorkshire's owners had an- nounced in England that she car ried 278 persons, including her crew. If the Independence Halls figures are correct, the loss of 5l lives in the Yorkshire torpedoing is indicated).
 The Independence Hall had sailed from Bordeaux on Saturday with 75 passengers and her normal crew augmented by 50 to care for them. Thus, counting those she had pick ed up and her own complement she had 409 persons aboard a 5,050 ton freighter built with accommodations for only six passengers.
 Among the survivors, were num- Der who had been hurt, more or less seriously. In addition, there were two orphans - Hazel Armstrong, 6, and her brother, Kenneth, 2, of Wickham, England, whose father and mother had gone down in the Yorkshire. There was four months old baby, Margaret Cole, whose mo- ther had been lost. There was Mrs. J. A. Harris of Plymouth, England, who had lost her four children. Also there was Mrs. Henry Clements whose husband had been so gravely injured that he was dying.
 Thus Captain Mackenzie had hu- man problems, in addition to feed- ing and sheltering 409 persons in a ship designed for crew of 35 and six passengers, to treating wounded without a physician, to maintaining @ sanitation that would prevent the outbreak of disease. He wireleSsed a terse message to his superiors, the United States Marine Commission, then turned his ship around to make for Bordeaux, the nearest port.
 His first action was to investigate the skills of the survivors. He hoped to find a physician, or, at least, a medical student or a pharmacist. He didn't find one but he did find two women-Mrs. Karletti and Mrs. Littlejohn, both American-whose husbands were physicians. With the casual knowledge they had &C., quired from their husbands, they ac- quilted themselves heroically tend ing the wounded and the i'll. Clements grew weaker and died at last. His body was wrapped in can- vas. Captain Mackenzie, functioning now a5 spiritual consoler, read the burial service, and the body was dumped into the sea. Later, another of the survivors died and Mackenzie got out his prayer book again. A great crowd waited the 1nde- pendence Hall at her dock last night. Ambulances were drawn up for the wounded. As the ship was warped in, someone started to sing the Star Spangled Banner and in a few min- utes hundreds of French throatS were singing 1t. That finished, the crowd sang God Save the King.
 Those aboard didn't feel like sing ing. Those who were not hysterical were in tears and those who did not weep were glum. Captain Mackenzie sent everyone ashore-including his American passengers and his crew so his ship could be fumigated. He was reticent about the tragedy and his part in 1t. He displayed a letter the masters of the Mandalay and the Yorkshire-both were res- cued-had given him thanking him for his work. He said the survivors had been very brave and very cheer full. They were in lifeboats and the lifeboats were grouped together. When they saw the Independence Halls American flag, dozen of them began singing: "The Tanks Are Coming-the Tanks Are Coming"
 The Yorkshire and the City of Mandalay had left Rangoon on Aug. 28. At sea. they learned by radio that the war had started and kept within sight of one another, for whatever protection and comfort 1t gave. From time to time, they pick ed up other British ships and by the time they approached England, there were p British ships more or less together, though there was no naval vessel to protect them.
 Into this group, the German sub- marine appeared. Its first target was the Yorkshire. Apparently, all the ships fled, except the Mandalay when they heard the Yorkshire's sos. The Yorkshire went down 4i minutes after she was hit. The Mandalay survived her wound but nine minutes.
 American consulate officials and French authorities had warm cloth ing waiting for the survivors at the dock, in addition to the ambulances which quickly took the wounded, the i'll, and the aged among the pas sengers to hospitals.
 One hero revealed himself on the dock. He was Steward Turner oi the Yorkshire. He carried person after person from the Independence Hall to ambulances on his shoulders Finally he cOllapsed from exhails.