I was there...• A Narrow Escape for Ethel Mitchell.
(Adapted from an interview with Janet Kitz)
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Ethel Morash, formerly Ethel Mitchell, was a sociable
young lady with a love of music, friends, and social life. |
We were at a dinner party, my friend's boarders were young English Officers
of the H.M.S. Highflyer. These were all handsome young Englishmen. The officers,
were staying with her because she was a cousin of the Captain, and that's
how we got onboard a British Warship in wartime. The H.M.S. Highflyer was
just in for a few days. Battleships were always coming and going in the
harbour. Halifax was the North American port. It was the Canadian port for
British shipping and battleships.
While at dinner, it was Lieutenant Commander Ingram,
who asked if we would like to board the Highflyer. And of course, we young
girls were simply delighted, what a thrill during the war. But of course
back then we mustn’t tell anybody, we couldn't, and we didn't. And
so we had a dance in the Captain's quarters, and the officers brought in
wine and little cookies, and we danced. When it came late, Lieutenant Commander
Ingram got a launch and escorted me to the North End Ferry Wharf. Lieutenant
Ingram took me home. The launch waited for him and he went back to the ship.
I lived on Hester Street. The street was named after
my grandfather's mother. I was studying for graduation in music. I always
commenced practice at eight o'clock. I would do an hour's practice before
I had my breakfast, then I’d have a rest and come back and finish
practicing. My bed was corner-wise, and there were two windows to the right
and two windows to the left. That morning, my big white cat was on the bed.
His name was Buttons.
Mother came up, she said, "If I were you, I would rest
a little. You were so late getting in last night." I had arrived at
home after midnight, I was so tired that I hadn't put my evening dress away.
She said "I’d rest in for a little while this morning. Don’t
get up and start practicing until ten o’clock." And so we chatted.
I was telling her all about our experience.
When mother went down she was on the stairs when the explosion
occurred. The cellar stairs were below the stairs going up to our rooms.
The stairs, carpet and all went to the basement with mother on top of them.
She was horribly cut. All I know is that this deafening roar occurred and
the windows, both the windows went out towards the door on each side of
me, and my cat was at the foot of the bed, killed. And yet I was not touched.
I was totally unhurt. I was in that only corner of the house that was intact.
Now here is the amazing thing. The stairs were taken completely away. How
did I get down from that room to the next floor. I had glass in the soles
of my feet, from running across the room. If I had jumped I would have gone
right to the basement. And nobody knows yet how I got down. But I was found
later sitting on a biscuit box way over on a comer, at the grocery store.
Yes, and I had a man's overcoat on, it didn’t belong to us, I don't
know where I got it, and a man's boots on, and nobody knows where I got
them . Somebody recognized me, and took me back home.
I never saw Percy Ingram again. But he did come try to locate
me. I had been taken out to Woodlawn. He went to the Dartmouth police, and
told them who he was, and asked them to try to locate me, and to let him
know.
I talked to the police afterwards and during the war they wouldn’t
give out the area where the battleships were sent. But I knew that she [the
Highflyer] went down south because I had a card from him. He went back to
England and he was going to be hospitalized. He didn't say what for. He
said I'd be hearing later on, but I’ve never heard again, so he may
have died. I don’t know. He was a charming person. I have a photograph
of him.
"It was a ghastly experience at the time but when I look
back on it, I think that when we meet trouble, there must be an inner strength
that bears up, to bring us through a thing like that."
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