“Women and children first”

"Women and children first", this has become commonly known as the “Birkenhead Drill”. A phrase made famous in Rudyard Kipling and has come to describe courage in the face of a hopeless situation.

On the 26^th February 1852 at 02:00 in the morning the 1918 tonne ship struck rocks just off Danger Point and the wheels were set in motion for what would become the legend of the Birkenhead and the courage of the soldiers on board.

Captain Salmond gave the order for the ship to back off the rocks and in so doing ripped the bulkheads open and the ship began to sink.

The order to deploy the life boats was given and of the five only three could be deployed, one of which immediately sank. The instructions for “women and children first” was called for the first time in maritime history. These words hold fast to this day.

The soldiers of the 74^th regiment of foot and the Queens royal regiment who were on their way to fight in their 8^th cause of war were called to the decks and were ordered into rank and file. Colonel Seton of the 74^th foot dispatched men to deploy the life boats and chain the pumps, the others were to remain in rank and file. 

Within the next 10 minutes the ship had been torn in two and the aft section sank within seconds. The men were crowded now on the stern of the boat as she sank. Captain Salmond called for all the men to jump overboard and make for the boats; however Colonel Seton recognized that the men would swamp the boats causing them to sink with the women and children and ordered the men to stand fast. This they did. Seton ordered the horses to be set free in the hope that they would swim for shore and the soldiers remained calm as the ship sank beneath their feet.

Within 20 minutes of striking the rock the Birkenhead sunk. Some men made it to the shore approximately 3.2km’s while others drowned or died of exposure. As day broke the schooner lioness discovered one of the cutters and after saving the occupants of the second boat as well made their way to the scene of the disaster. Arriving the afternoon she rescued 40 more people that were still clinging to the rigging and the final tally was of the approximately 643 people on board. Only 193 survived including all the women and children. A number of surviving sailors were later court martialed as a result of the accident, but nobody was found guilty for the disaster as none of the senior officers survived.

Every year on the 26^th of February a small ceremony takes place at Danger Point Light House in which this tragic and heroic event is remembered. And a wreath is laid down in remembrance for those who lost their lives. So when next you visit Gansbaai for a shark cage dive pop past the light house and view the little memorial that still stands.