• The holed Tyndareus on which Luton soldier Victor Whitcher was sailing east.

On February 6th, 1917, Admiralty transport ship Tyndareus struck a mine laid by a German raider off Cape Agulhas, South Africa. On board was Luton hairdresser Pte Victor Whitcher, serving with a battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.

Better ship construction techniques learnt as a result of the Titanic disaster meant the holed ship, built in 1915, was able to be kept afloat and was towed into port. So the 1,030 men on board were all able to be rescued by other ships.

In a letter from Cape Town to employer Mr H. W. Spratley, of 6 Wellington Street, Luton, Pte Whitcher (pictured right) wrote: "I am pleased to say I am quite well after our experience, and we are now stranded for the time being. I am not allowed to say too much or I would, but I can tell you the Colonials treat us as heroes and make a great fuss of us.

"We were on guard of honour at Cape Town for the opening of Parliament, and then we were entertained by the people of Cape Town.

"I lost nearly all my tools on board, so that if you will send me a pair of No 2 and No 1 clippers, I will send the money by return post, as we shall be staying here for a few months to recover from the shock."

Mr Spratley and his customers subscribed for the clippers and despatched them to Pte Whitcher within four days of receipt of his letter.

Oxfordshire-born Pte Whitcher, aged 36, joined up on October 1st, 1916. He had married Mary Ann Ruth Catlin in 1905 and they had a son and were living in Luton.

[Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: April 7th, 1917]