EAST INDIAMAN ARNISTON

 

The Arniston was an East Indiaman

But had been requisitioned as a troopship

She was sailing from Ceylon to England

To repatriate soldiers wounded in the Kandyan Wars

When during a storm near Cape Agulhas, South Africa

She was wrecked at Waenhuiskrans on 30 May 1815

With only six surviving of the 378 aboard

HMS BIRKENHEAD

 

HMS Birkenhead began life

As a steam frigate

One of the first iron-hulled vessels

Built for the Royal Navy

But she was quickly converted

And was commissioned as a troopship

It was as such on 26 February 1852

While transporting troops to Algoa Bay,

She was wrecked at Danger Point

Near to Gansbaai

100 miles from Cape Town,

With insufficient serviceable lifeboats

For all the passengers.

This gave rise to the most disciplined

Act of self-sacrifice ever witnessed

Described in verse by Rudyard Kipling

As the "Birkenhead drill"

Where the soldiers famously stood firm,

In serried ranks and allowed

The women and children

To safely board the boats

The courage and chivalry

Of the noble soldiers

In the face of certain death

Gave rise to the now accepted practice

When abandoning ship

Of “Women and children first”

And 550 men perished in the sea

MISSING YOU

 

We want you home at Christmas

We want you to spend it with us

But we understand the reason why

And we promise to try not to cry

We will spend Christmas on our own

Until you come marching safely home

THE LITTLE CHRISTINGLE GIRL

 

Oh sweet little Christingle girl

Your daddy is so very far away

“Bring my daddy safely home”

These are the words you pray

 

Oh sweet little Christingle girl

Daddy is away at the war

“Bring my daddy safely home

Bring him safely to our door”

 

Oh sweet little Christingle girl

How she misses daddy far away

How sad she is, he won’t be home

To be with them on Christmas day

 

At Sunday school she made a christingle

She took an orange to represent the world.

And to symbolize the blood Christ shed

She took the red ribbon from her curls

 

Then she decorated four tooth picks

With fruits and sweets and marshmallows

These she placed in the four corners

To represented all the earthly souls

 

Then finally in the centre of the orange

She stood a single candle of purest white

And when lit, the candle represented

The world filled with Christ’s loving light

 

The sweet little Christingle girl

Took it home with her that day

And stood it in the window

So daddy would find his way

 

And the sweet little Christingle girl

With her daddy so very far away

Knew that when he did come home

That would be their Christmas day