RMS TitanicOn 15 April 1912 at 2:20am the celebrated British ocean liner RMS Titanic broke-up and plunged violently beneath the icy North Atlantic on its ill-fated maiden voyage, a collision with an iceberg two and a half hours earlier compromising its crucial watertight compartments.The loss of life was horrendous, exceeding 1 500 men, woman and children from all corners of the Earth. It was the worlds first transnational disaster. In an era when long distance travel necessitated boarding ocean liners the loss of one so well built - it was claimed God himself couldn't sink it - shocked the world, a generation which had embraced industrialization and science and reveled in its mastery over nature. Arthur Gordon McCraeNo one was more shocked or devastated by the disaster then the survivors and families of those who lost relatives, amongst the later were the McCrae's of Sydney who lost a cherished member of its prominent family, 32 year old Arthur Gordon McCrae. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on the 7th January 1880 the youngest son of former Bank of Australasia inspector F.P.G. McCrae and his wife Emily. Educated at prestigious Sydney Grammar he went on to study engineering at St. Paul's College, the University of Sydney. After receiving a degree he decided to see a bit of the world before settling down, accepting a position with a South African gold mine. A bachelor his profession enabled him to see a good deal of the world and after working in Africa moved on to Tsarist Russia, where he worked at the Spasky Copper Mine, Akmolinsk, Siberia. He wrote to his family frequently telling them about his adventures, sending souvenirs and photos of exotic faraway places.
In 1912 he decided to resume his travels and visit friends in Canada. No one knows what his activities or thoughts were in the four days before Titanic's maiden voyage ended in a flurry of death, in all likelihood time passed pleasurably on a ship with every conceivable creature comfort and an interior modelled on the Palace of Versailles. Titanic was designed to carry enough life boats for everyone onboard but executives of the ships owner, The White Star Line, thought the decks looked cluttered and believing the ship unsinkable removed the seemingly useless accessories for aesthetics. When Titanic sank there were only enough life boats for half those onboard, woman and children were given preference to men and like others about to die, Arthur probably spent his last moments on the stern of the ship anxiously scanning the horizon in vain hope of a rescue ship only to be washed off as the ship disappeared beneath him, freezing or drowning in the icy water.
McCrae's parents were notified by telegram of their youngest son's death and were devastated, all the more when they discovered he had only recently become engaged and was about to settle down. His body was buried in Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 10. They raised a large Celtic cross to his memory, the largest in the cemetery, its inscription reads:
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Leaving Russia he made his way to England and across to Southampton, where he purchased a second class ticket and was undoubtedly thrilled to board Titanic on April 10, crowds of onlookers cramming the docks and foreshores to watch the most hyped ship in history leave on her maiden voyage to New York. After stopping briefly in France and Ireland to take on passengers she steamed out into the North Atlantic, to rendezvous with destiny.
His body (#209) was pulled from the water by the Mackay-Bennett ,a mortuary ship chartered by the White Star Line to recover its dead passengers and crew whose bloated corpses littered the busiest shipping lane in the world. His was described as wearing a blue suit, white canvas shoes and a flannel shirt. On his person were a diamond and emerald ring, gold cuff links, two watches, a key chain, keys, pencil case, foreign bills and a letter case.
