A 'Titanic' Story

by Neal Hardin

When the liner the R.M.S Titanic sank in the early hours of the morning of Monday 15th April 1912, with the loss of over one thousand lifes, it was one of the most tragic events of the early twentieth century. This story not only records the events of that day in graphic detail, but recalls the memories of a survivor, a man called Harry Branch. Harry Branch was born in Miles Platting Manchester in 1883. Life in post Industrial Revolution Manchester was tough. Both his parents passed away before he was six years of age. Branch soon finds himself been cared for in a workhouse, where the strap, administered by a bully of a master, is the dominant form of discipline. He survives the harshness of the workhouse, then aged fifteen years, manages to escape and make his way to London. For the next few years he works as a cobbler's assistant, before he meets the man who takes him under his wing, changes the direction of his life and leads him down the road to a life of crime.Branch's life in crime proves to be successful, but when in 1909 an attempt to rob a bank fails he is caught and sent to prison for twenty-five years. Feigning illness he succeeds in hoodwinking the prison authorities into believing he is gravely ill. During a period of convalescence in a London hospital, he manages to escape. Then he is given the opportunity to escape from the country when he is offered a ticket for the maiden voyage of the Titanic. It is too good an opportunity to turn down so he buys the ticket and assumes the identity of another man. Harry Branch, now known as William Devitt, finds himself on the liner sailing to America. A new life in North America beckons. On board he meets a wealthy father and son travelling to Canada in first class accommodation. They are travelling to Canada to make a new life for themselves. But then disaster strikes when the vessel hits the iceberg. Branch helps to launch a collapsible life-raft from the vessel. In doing so he survives the disaster and makes onto the Carpathia, the vessel that came to rescue survivors. He seeks to take advantage of the disaster and exploit the death of the wealthy father and son in the tragedy to grasp an opportunity to make a new life for himself in Edmonton, Canada, and in doing so become a successful business magnate.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1729403816
• ISBN13: 9781729403815
• Release Date: October 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"