Godalming in Surrey's Connection to Titanic

It's one hundred years this weekend since the mighty Titanic sank on her maiden voyage, with the loss of 1514 lives. Godalming in Surrey has a special connection with the disaster. It was the home town of Chief Radio Operator Jack Phillips who famously stayed at his post even after he was given permission to leave. He left the boat at the very last minute but died of hypothermia. While he heroically carried on sending SOS messages as the boat went down, Jack had earlier failed to pass on an ice warning from another boat to the bridge of the Titanic. That failure was blamed by some of the survivors as contributing to the disaster. His two actions on that fateful night have left a confused picture of the role Jack Phillips played in the Titanic story.

Nevertheless, in Godalming Jack is remembered fondly. There is a memorial to him, a pub is named after him, and the local museum has an exhibition detailing how he grew up in the town and worked as a telegraphist at the local post office (now a bank). Jack Phillips was just 25-years-old when he died. His body was found on or near collapsible lifeboat B and taken onto rescue boat the Carpathia, from where he was buried at sea, to become one of the hundreds whose lives were claimed in the early hours of April 15,1912, when the 'unsinkable' Titanic broke up and slipped beneath the waves.