TITANIC HERO REMEMBERED

Bid to create model of doomed liner in honour of north-east lifesaver

Armed only with coal sacks, John Cargill saved scores of lives as he rescued screaming babies from the most famous shipwreck of all time.

Mr Cargill, who was from Gourdon in Aberdeenshire and was a crewman on the RMS Carpathia at the time, rushed into action in the perishing North Atlantic as the Titanic went down in 1912.

He scooped up babies from the lifeboats, and was awarded a bronze Titanic medal for his part in the operation.

Mr Cargill was just 19 when he and his crewmates braved the icy water to save hundreds during the incident which claimed the lives of about 1,500 people.

But despite his heroics and the efforts of his descendants in the Highlands to preserve his memory, his story risks being forgotten about in the area he came from.

Now a community effort has been launched to shed new light on the links between the north-east and the infamous tragedy.

Gourdon resident Allan Hay approached Dave Ramsay, of Mearns Heritage Services, offering to donate a model kit set of the Titanic to the village’s Maggie Law Maritime Museum in recognition of the connection.

Mr Hay had purchased the weekly booklets and pieces of kit, which would have been worth more than £600, in the 1970s.

But his dream of building the model was never realised, and the Stonehaven Men’s Shed group has stepped in decades later to offer to build the model so it can go on display in all its glory.

Mr Ramsay said: “This was the perfect opportunity to bring together a number of social, community and heritage agendas, where the Men’s Shed could construct Allan’s model, providing focus and occupation for members.

“But we also have a future focus of gifting it back to the Maggie Law Maritime Museum in Gourdon, as a donation and a lasting piece of maritime heritage, and a recognition of the bravery of a local man,” he said.

From his home in Wick several years ago, Mr Cargill’s grandson John Henderson said his older relative “often told us stories about the Titanic”.

He added: “It was a horrendous experience, and one which stayed with him all his life.”

TEAM EFFORT: Allan Hay, rear left, Stonehaven Men’s Shed chairman Billy Allan, centre, and Dave Ramsay, right, with men’s shed members

John Cargill helped rescue Titanic survivors