Results tagged “1938” from Southport Visiter - Look Back

THE weekend of August 2, 1938 was one of Southport's darkest.
Lookback reader Maureen Forward is a relative of one of the four swimmers swept out to sea at Ainsdale.
Her sister in law's grandfather, George Frederick Hollis, died in the disaster and Maureen approached the Southport Visiter as she tried to investigate what had happened.
She said, "We didn't know exactly what had happened but we are delighted to have found out. Her dad would never speak about it. It is obviously a shame that he never got to meet his grandchildren".
Four of the bathers were rescued, including George's son, George Frederick Louis Hollis.
While a crowd of hundreds was kept back, Lifeguards pulled all of the bathers to safety but Mr Hollis (senior) was in a critical condition.
Chief Lifeguard at the time of the incident, Pat Cullen, said, "From the look-out van I had seen the lifeguards' signals.
"I swam out to Mr Hollis and Mr Hargreaves with the assistance of other bathers.
"Mr Hargreaves appeared to be all right, but Mr Hollis was in a serious condition and although artificial respiration was tried and stimulants administered, he died".
Mr Hollis had been teaching his son to swim when he appeared to be struggling.
Two other bathers, Mr and Mrs Hargreaves went to help him out, when they began to struggle also.
The two lifeguards heard the cries for help and saw the group around 75 yards from the shore in water believed to be seven foot deep.

ALMOST 50 years ago, Helen Connolly discovered an old diary buried amongst items in preparation for a jumble sale.
What looked like an battered homework book for children was actually a journal, penned when 20 young girls fled from the Nazis in 1938.
Amongst the pages were accounts of fond memories that the girls had all shared while growing up together in Southport.

After years of apprehension about what to do with the diary, Helen decided to donate it to the Manchester Jewish Museum.
The remarkable story was then told in a Yorkshire TV documentary, in which she re-enacted the moment she recovered it, and also featured in the emotional reunion which saw nine of the girls meeting for the first time since going their separate ways.
It was that initial discovery by Helen that eventually led to the reunion.
Reminiscing of the shock at finding such a priceless memoir, Helen told LookBack: "I couldn't believe it when I found out what it was, it could've easily made it into the rubbish bin when it looked like such a tatty old thing.
"I was very concerned about doing anything with the diary at first, I wasn't sure if it should be publicised as it's such a sensitive and emotional issue."
Helen found herself wondering what happened to the girls after their stay in Southport.
She later discovered that a few of them moved on to a hostel in Manchester, while some moved to places such as Austria, Israel, Vancouver, New York and Brazil.
A couple of the girls who stayed in England ended up with high-flying careers for organisations such as the BBC and the Commonwealth of Nations.
But the thought of the girls being reunited again was the driving force behind Helen's decision to reveal the diary.
And the occasion dissolved any doubts that she originally had: "I have absolutely no regrets now as it was amazing to see all the girls together.
"It was the first time after so many years and they all really enjoyed being in the company of eachother again. They were very thankful to me and even bought me flowers and a card."

LOOKBACK is hoping that a Hesketh Bank history buff might be able to shed some light an event in the 1950s.
Pauline Trafford's father remembers seeing the Mauritania run into trouble and is keen to find out more.
She says: "It was around 1950, my Dad recollects he was about 12, when one morning on looking out of his bedroom window of McCloeds butchers, at the railway bridge in Hesketh Bank, a giant was in the fields over near the river. He said it looked like a huge hotel jutting out in to the sky.
"With the great excitement of a young boy he raced over the fields to have a look, it was a ship, a huge ship, it was also a huge stuck ship, grounded in the small, narrow River Douglas." 
The Mauritania was built by Camell Lairds in Birkenhead and was launched in 1938 as a successor to the RMS Mauretania.
During the war she was called into service as a troop carrier, ferrying soldiers across the globe and dodging U-boats.

Reports generally agree that the ship was scrapped in 1965 - but was refitted in Liverpool in the 1950s, which could explain why she was sailing the Fylde coast when Mr Trafford McCloed saw her.
Pauline adds: "The Mauritania, the story went, was being towed to the breakers yard, when they took a wrong turn up the Douglas and the large liner got stuck.
"My dad Peter Trafford McCloed is interested to know if anyone else has memories of this happening, or if there are any photos. What happened to the ship?"