Published 30 November 2000
ON THE bridge of the turbine steamer Onward, the master, Captain King who
is also in the centre of the group picture below, left, with other members
of the remarkable steamer's crew.
Amazing ship!
THIS fading photograph, below, of the crew of a South Eastern & Chatham
Railway steamer - a forerunner of our modern car ferries - recalls a
remarkable incident in Folkestone harbour, involving fire, a capsized
steamer and an amazing come-back.
The photograph was shown to me by a reader of my Memories page in our sister
paper, the Dover Express, who is well versed in shipping lore. The father
and grandfather of Mrs Jeanette Bianchi (nee Turmaine), both served on the
Channel ferries. Mrs Bianchi lives in Elvington, near Dover.
Her grandfather, Ernest Turmaine, served on the Onward and died in the
Second World War while serving on the ferry Maid of Kent.
The ferry was dive-bombed and destroyed while In dock at Dieppe, in May
1940, during service as a hospital ship. The day before, the railway-owned
ferry Brighton, serving In a similar role, had been lost, again in similar
circumstances.
It was in 1918 that the Onward was set on fire at her Folkestone berth by an
incendiary device planted on the ship by an enemy spy, probably during the
confusion while the vessel was bringing home troops on leave, after she had
ferried thousands of soldiers to the battlefields of Flanders.
The authorities acted swiftly, ordering that the sea-cocks be opened so that
the inrush of water would douse the fire and the ship would sink to the
bottom at her berth. But the weight of water turned her slowly on to her
port side.
A serious obstacle in the port, she was righted and re-floated with
considerable ingenuity in an operation performed with some degree of
secrecy. The breach In her hull was patched, funnels and deckhouses removed
and compressed air was pumped in for buoyancy. Huge timber tripods were
constructed on the promenade, pulleys and chains were placed in position and
attached to five railway locomotives which proceeded to pull the ship
upright.
The deputy borough surveyor of Folkestone took photographs but they were not
published at the time because of wartime security.
The damaged ship played no further part in the war but In 1920 she was
bought and refitted by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and renamed
Mona’s Isle.
The seamen in the picture (left) are standing in front of the Onward’s
lifeboat with a lifebelt bearing the initials SE&CR and they surround the
master who, says Folkestone historian Alan Taylor, is Capt King.
Some of the men, but not the bearded skipper in the centre and an officer
next to him, wear a “Royal Mail” SE&CR sweater, each with a different number
under the words “Royal Mail.” These may have been so that they could be
identified if necessary.
A similar picture appears in Charles Whitney's book Folkestone, A Pictorial
History published 1986. The steamer Onward sailed from both Dover and
Folkestone.
Completed for the Folkestone -Boulogne and Dover - Calais services in March
1905, by William Denny & Bros, of Dumbarton, the Onward was blessed with
five lives.
Prior to the fire she had been involved in a serious accident during a
normal cross-Channel service run to France in 1908, colliding almost
head-on, in fog, with her sister turbine steamer the Queen, which was
travelling in the opposite direction.
Sadly the bow look-out, Able Seaman Holdstock, was fatally
LOCAL historian Alan Taylor showed me this fine picture of the handsome
turbine steamer Onward in the
injured as he dashed for safety.
Both vessels were damaged and put into Folkestone. The Onward was holed but
watertight bulkheads prevented her sinking and she was soon repaired, as was
her sister ship.
First cars
The Onward was then involved in the first passage of motor cars across the
Channel under protection of a ‘triptyque’ which avoided the need for a
costly deposit with the Customs. She carried across the Channel a 40hp
Crossley car owned by Charles Jarrott, a well known racing motorist who
later became chairman of the AA which supervised the operation, involving at
least two other cars,
which were also craned aboard.
Onward commenced her third ‘life’ in service as the Mona’s Isle, having been
bought and refitted by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. in 1920, to carry
thousands of holidaymakers between the UK and Isle of Man.
Her fourth role was as an armed boarding vessel during the Second World War
when she had the distinction of being the first such vessel to take part in
the epic evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk. Refitted, she became a
Guardship at Methil, Firth of Forth until the war’s end.
Finally she returned to the Isle of Man until the end of the 1947 season and
was broken up at Milford Haven, ending an amazing career.
• Mrs Bianchi’s late father Fred Turmaine, of Manor Road, Dover, a chief
cook, served on the Biarritz, the Autocarrier, which he likened to a tin
bath in the middle of the Channel, Invicta, Dinard and other ships including
traiii ferries.
THE SHIP WITH FIVE LIVES - A reader's photograph of the crew of the turbine
steamer Onward which operated from both Folkestone and Dover and saw service
in two World Wars.
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1900
Herald supports larger local tramways scheme.
<4 Q/"k/"V WEEK after week a century ago the X«7l/Wtalk in the local
newspapers was of plans for public tramway services in the district and
one of the most recent headlines over a public notice read: “Cheriton
Urban District Tramways” which detailed the plans by Cheriton Council
for a series of tramway routes which was being submitted to the Board of
Trade for Parliamentary approval in December, Occupying two columns the
notice indicated the Council’s Intention to use animals or mechanical
power to haul its passengers and a variety of goods on four tramways.
Single track lines were: planned from the boundary of Hythe, along Horn
Street to Cheriton High Street; from this point along Cheriton High
Street to a junction with a third tramway, running to Sandgate along
Risborough Lane, while a fourth line would run to the Folkestone
boundary. On another page of the Herald the Sandgate & Hythe Electric Co
Ltd had a public notice detailing their scheme for six tram routes in
Folkestone, Sandgate and Cheriton. The Herald backed this pointing out
it would cost the town nothing. The longest line, of two miles, was to
be from Cheriton to Tontine St/Harbour St.
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1925
'Buy British Weeks’ plan by councils of district.
x| QOC WITH the backing of Folkestone’s Mayor the Chamber of Commerce
was planning a “Buy British Goods Shopping Week" leading up to
Christmas, an event that was commended by the Herald, along with a
similar event, known as Empire Shopping Week, being held in Hythe. The
Council was inviting tenders for the building of a cricket pavilion on
the sports ground at Cheriton Road, with a state preference being given
to firms employing ex-soldiers. The same week the Herald printed a large
picture of 30 members of staff of local firm Olbys, all of whom were
ex-servicemen - complete with all their names, which may be of interest
to those compiling “family trees" or have mislaid old family portraits.
Their names were Adams, Ansley, Barrett, Bones, Brenchley, Brigden,
Calcy, Clarke. Davcy, Day, Edwards. Ellender, Jenner. Johnson, Kiay,
Miller, Morecroft, Murphy, Newport, J. Olby, Oldfield, Pettit, Richards,
Smith, Capt Spencer, Stock, Taylor, Thompson, Webb, Woodbridge. Flags
were at half-mast on public buildings as a tribute to the much loved
Queen^Alexandra who died on Friday November 21. The :‘Mini’ of the
motoring world 75 years ago was without doubt the much loved Austin 7
which was advertised in the Herald at the “At works" price of £149.
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1950
‘Flying Saucer’ spotted by a highways official.
1 Q FRONT page story told of a reported sighting of a Flying Saucer over
the Channel by Mr WHB Edwards, of Bradstone Avenue, Highways
Superintendent to Folkestone Corporation, while driving along Lower
Sandgate Road, Folkestone, near the entrance to the cliff lift. Ain
overcast sky provided a perfect backdrop as it flashed by, 4 to 5 miles
out at 4,000 to 5,000ft, he said. It was too fast; he said, to have been
a jet aircraft. Curiously, the lead story on the Herald's front page 50
years ago was the arrival in Dover for a State visit of the popular
Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, accompanied by Prince Bernhard, aboard
the Dutch Navy cruiser Jacob van Heermskerk. After a civic welcome they
boarded a special train for London. The Revd Dan Aylett Taylor was
inducted as the new Vicar of Aikham with Capel, the congregation
including two coachloads of friends from All Souls, Cheriton, where he
was vicar from 1933-43. Hythe Cricket Club groundsman Mr R Munds, who
once scored two double centuries in a match for the MCC, was honoured
with a presentation on retiring. Barbara Le Maye, of Ashley Avenue,
Cheriton was one of the Tiller Girls who danced in a Royal Variety
Performance at the Palladium alongside legendary “Cheeky Chappy"
comedian Max Milter.
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1975
Minister urged to improve route to port from the M20.
>| Q7 {■ TWENTY-five years ago there were concerns J.91 w over traffic
and in particular the heavy vehicles making their way to then busy port
And the Minister of Transport, who was being urged to take action, went
on a fact-finding coach tour of the trouble spots and then had a meeting
at the town’s Civic Centre with MPs Albert Costain of Folkestone and
Peter Rees of Dover together with district and county officials and
local councillors. In particular he was urged to get on with extending
the M20 to Dover, but avoiding homes near Holywell, Hill Road and Dover
Hill, and to provide a better route to the port from the M20. A novel
model-making project taught Hythe schoolchildren a lot about their town
and won considerable praise for St Leonard's Primary School. Guided by
architect John Cresswell, they built an impressive model of Hythe High
Street as a contribution to European Architectural Heritage Year.
Afterwards he invited those pupils interested in carrying on this kind
of project to contact him with a view to recording measured drawings of
local historic buildings. He said the results of the work of 10 and
11-year-olds were amazing. They showed promise as future draughtsmen,
engineers or architects. Their model went on show at a Hythe Charter
Week exhibition at Oaklands, then a County Schools’ exhibition in
Maidstone and afterwards in local building society offices. |
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