September 16th | Robert Hichens (Birth) |
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Newlyn – born Robert Hichens (1882 – 1940) was at the wheel of the Titanic when warning of the looming iceberg came from the lookout. Hichens was ordered by First Officer Murdoch to turn the wheel to starboard to avoid the iceberg and everybody knows that attempt failed. He was later accused of drinking whisky and refusing to return to the Titanic to rescue others, all of which was disproved. In World War I, he served in the Royal Naval Reserve and, post-war, moved, with his family to Torquay to run a guesthouse and a boat charter company. He never, however, came to terms with the disaster and he became a heavy drinker whilst the boat charter company failed. |