WW1 life boat efforts remembered.

Posted on January 13, 2018 by bill

Littoral : la tragique odyssée des sauveteurs de l’Ile d’Yeu, les 100 ans du naufrage de l’Ymer.

The coast: tragic odyssey of the rescuers off l’Ile d’Yeu, 100 years after the sinking of the Ymer.

Le Ministre de Norvége, M. le baron de Wedel-Jarisberg, entouré des sauveteurs du bateau norvégien l'Ymer / © DR
Le Ministre de Norvége, M. le baron de Wedel-Jarisberg, entouré des sauveteurs du bateau norvégien l’Ymer / © DR. The Norwegian minister M. le baron de Wedel-Jarisberg, surrounded by the rescuers of the Norwegian ship Ymer.

Cette semaine, Laurent Marvyle nous embarque notamment pour un  homage au courage des sauveteurs,  celui du naufrage de l’Ymer il y a 100 ans. Le souvenir de ce drame est encore très présent sur l’île d’Yeu et l’île Raguenez.(22)

This week special events are taking place to honour the courage of the rescuers, 100 years ago of the ship wrecking of the Ymer.

Par Claude Bouchet

Janvier 1917 : les sauveteurs de l’ile d’Yeu partent au secours de l’équipage du bateau norvégien l’Ymer, torpillé par un sous-marin allemand. Ils récupèrent 9 marins et rentrent vers l’île mais le vent se lève, et se lève tellement qu’il les chasse de leur ancre et les emporte au loin.
January 1917: Rescue boats from the Ile d’Yeu left to assist the crew of the ship Ymer, torpedoed by a German Uboat. They picked up 9 sailors and headed for the island but the wind rose, and rose to the extent that the anchor wouldn’t hold them and they drifted a great distance.

Trois jours durant les marins vont affronter la tempête et le froid glacial. Le thermomètre chute de -5° à -15°. Le canot à rames et ses toutes petites voiles ne peuvent rien face aux éléments et tandis que certains meurent à leur poste, le bateau dérive jusqu’à la côte de Nevez, dans le Finistère. Finalement, le canot de sauvetage s’échoue à l’abri de l’ile de Raguénez, (22) une île accessible à pied à marée basse.

For three days the sailors faced a storm and glacial cold wind and sea, dropping from  -5° to -15°C. Rowing and the sails  proved useless against the elements and the crew thought they would die. The rescue boat drifted as far as the Nevez coast, in Finistere (29). Eventually, the life boat found cover on the Ile de Raguénez, (22) an island accessible by foot at low tide.

Les survivants sont accueillis dans un confort précaire, un des marins décède sur le seuil de la maison, et son frère décèdera douze heures plus tard. Au total, six des sauveteurs de l’ile et 5 marins du bateau torpillé perdront la vie dans cette fortune de mer. Les deux communautés, de l’ile d’Yeu et de Névez, ont été durablement et profondément marquées par ce drame.

Le centenaire de cet évènement dramatique est l’occasion de faire ressortir cette histoire qui retrace et rappelle la solidarité des gens de mer, celle des canotierssauveteurs et celle des gens de la côte qui se sont relayés au chevet des marins échoués.

About bill

Worked in the technical / engineering area as a Science Laboratory Technician and as an Aeronautics Engineer. The artistic side involves writing under the nom de plume of Billy Olsenn, his recently written play 'A Case of Wine' was staged by the players group Straight Make-Up at the 2012 Birr one act drama festival. It's next staging was in the one act circuit is in Cavan, at Maudebawn on Sat 10 Nov 2012. Then it was performed in the Bray, Co.Wicklow at the very popular one act festival in January 2013. Next play is FEAR. A dark tale about revenge on the cruel death of two pensioners by young thugs. Neighbours hatch a devious and dangerous plan to exact old-style revenge. Bill is a member of the Drama League of Ireland and his plays have been critically vetted and certified as original pieces of work by the DLI. Another literary project is that of commemoration of an aircraft crash on Djouce mountain in Wicklow in 1946. Bill wrote articles for the 50th, 60th and most recently the 70th anniversary, (12 Aug 2016) all were published in the Wicklow Times and ensured the survivors of the crash, all French Girl Guides, were not forgotten. Articles reproduced on this website. But mostly this site gives a more general European and specific French slant on popular and not so popular articles of French news, translated to English by the author. Each article is translated on a paragraph by paragraph basis so easy to read in either language and even possible to improve either language by comparison of the short English and French paragraphs. Amusez vous bien. The author is currently writing an easy to read technical aviation book centered around the Fokker 50. Another interest is that dealt with in another of Bill's websites www.realnamara.net, a Statue of the mother of God, Mary. It was erected in 1972 in Dublin, at the end of the Bull Wall near Clontarf, and my grandfather William Nelson, was the main instigator of that project. I give talks on the history of the statue and my grandfather's adventurous and dangerous life at sea. Technical assistance with each website is by J O'N.
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