Survivors who spread lies?

[Arun Vajpey]

Eva Hart lied about many things.

Yes, she appears to have done so, unfortunately. I have met her just once, I think it was in 1993 (give or take a year) when she was a guest at the British Titanic Society annual convention in Southampton, which I attended. Edith Haisman and Millvina Dean were there too; by then Mrs Haisman was not saying much and of course Millvina Dean was too young in April 1912 to have remembered anything of the disaster. The only person interacting with delegates was Eva Hart and there was quite a few people wanting to have a word. The only thing I caught clearly was something about the lights of the Titanic looking quite bright from her position in the lifeboat; she said something like the scene looking like a great Christmas tree sinking. She might have said other things but I did not get to hear them at the time. But I have read about her statements about her mother sitting up all night in a state, convinced that something was going to happen to it; I admit that does sound rather far-fetched.

 

[Aurélien WOLFF]

Part of the problem is it can not be lies, it's just the person not remembering things right or forgetting/having a worng interpretation, mistakes made by whitnesses can happen, it does with plane crash too.

 

[Thomas Krom]

Part of the problem is it can not be lies, it's just the person not remembering things right or forgetting/having a worng interpretation, mistakes made by whitnesses can happen, it does with plane crash too.

Personally I always think the biggest worry isn't that the survivors themselves lie, but rather the journalists and editors at the newspaper offices. It happened a lot after all.

And there are the occasional survivor or two that embellish their stories a bit with sensationalism too.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Personally I always think the biggest worry isn't that the survivors themselves lie, but rather the journalists and editors at the newspaper offices

There is a LOT of truth in that, especially in the "survivor statements" that came in the first few months after the disaster. What very likely happened is that individual journalists interviewed a lot of people and if it was about an event or incident that could be sensationalized for better sales of their rags, they jumped at the chance. When first survivor reports of things like the "shooting incident" surfaced, the reporters would have had a field day with whoever they could question, often likely asking leading questions and supplying part of the answers themselves to boot. They probably latched on to what they could learn from the investigations and then asked other people about them to further confuse the picture later. I believe a lot of male survivors' reports of swimming for a "long time" to reach a lifeboat became "for hours" in many cases through reporters.

On the other hand, interviews given years later by survivors themselves are likely to have had embellishments and even concoctions for the interviewees' desire for publicity. Boxhall, Frank Prentice, Eva Hart and many others did that.

 

[Aurélien WOLFF]

Personally I always think the biggest worry isn't that the survivors themselves lie, but rather the journalists and editors at the newspaper offices. It happened a lot after all.

And there are the occasional survivor or two that embellish their stories a bit with sensationalism too.

I think it's what happened with captain smith fate per example, readin gon a sea of glass, there a lot of false things baout his fate.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

There were a lot of other survivors who embellished their stories over time. What I find disturbing is when some well respected researchers take what those people said as valid evidence in pushing their conclusions into articles and books, evidence that can be shown to be false or highly suspect. Survivors like May Futrelle and Margaret Brown are but two from the passenger population who immediately come to mind.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Survivors like May Futrelle and Margaret Brown are but two from the passenger population who immediately come to mind.

I think outside media seeking sensationalism, not many serious researchers would have taken Margaret Brown too seriously. I find more disturbing that people like Joseph Boxhall and Frank Prentice made up stories for newspapers and TV in later years. Smelling ice indeed!

 

[Samuel Halpern]

I think outside media seeking sensationalism, not many serious researchers would have taken Margaret Brown too seriously. I find more disturbing that people like Joseph Boxhall and Frank Prentice made up stories for newspapers and TV in later years. Smelling ice indeed!

I think the smelling of ice started with lookout George Symons if my memory is right?

Anyway Arun, regarding my statement about serious researchers taking the claims of the two people I cited seriously, I think you know who I was referring to.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Anyway Arun, regarding my statement about serious researchers taking the claims of the two people I cited seriously, I think you know who I was referring to.

Yes, but I think you know by now that I am a committed Pacifist .