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In 1927, on the grave of George Anderson, this sculpture and plinth was erected and unveiled to honour brave firemen who lost their lives during the course of their work.
At five minutes to eight, the night of 26 April 1924, the big Ellerman and Buchnall cargo steamer “City of Singapore”, berthed at No 2 Quay, Birkenhead, caught fire. She had on board 700 tons of petrol and other oils.
She incurred a fierce fire and explosion, resulting in loss of life with some men being severely injured.
She had on board 700 tons of petrol and other oils, the undischarged remains of a cargo she had brought from New York.
Firemen from the Port Station were assisted by a detachment of three engines from Adelaide Station, Wakefield Street. The fire float was brought into commission.
Huge streams of water was poured into the blazing holds.
Despite the fear of explosion the fire fighting continued for hours. Realising the danger neither the firemen nor the officers flinched. Nor did one of the crew.
Just before 11pm the explosion occurred: flying and burning debris was scattered over a wide area. Timbers and fittings of the ship were blown high into the air. The side of the Eastern No 2 Quay Shed was blown in.
Ambulances were called for.
Two of the Port Adelaide firemen were suddenly missed.
Fireman Barrington was working on the ship when the explosion occurred, and next to him was Station Officer Sayers. The first-named was thrown bodily to the wharf.
So violent was the explosion that pieces of the vessel struck the wharf shed 60 ft away from the scene and caused much damage. The noise was distinctly heard in the city. Shop windows in Port Adelaide were shattered.
Fireman Wood had a miraculous escape. He was working on the vessel when the explosion occurred, and was right in the centre of it, but he came through the ordeal with scarcely a scratch. He remarked:— "I jumped to the wharf like all the rest of the boys, and logs of wood, pieces of iron, and masses of debris were raining around me for what seemed like minutes. One of the boys was blown clean into the river, and I believe was rescued by a launch.”
By12.30 am eight men had been dispatched to the Adelaide Hospital suffering from burns and other injuries.
Four others were receiving attention at the Casualty Hospital.
One of the most valiant workers in the effort to subdue the flames was Chief Officer Jeffress, of the City of Singapore. He never left his post until his sufferings compelled him to. He was assisted from the ship with head swathed in bandages and covered in blood and taken to hospital for medical attention. The officer displayed extreme gallantry in collaborating with the working firemen.
When the doctor came to him he said, "I must go back to the ship. I promised Mr Bruce, Crosby's manager, to look after No 6 hatch. There is case oil in it, and they don't understand the ventilation."
After the explosion the chief officer helped in the work of rescue, and was instrumental in recovering the boatswain from a perilous position in the coal bunkers. When asked for a statement as to the explosion he answered, "I can't remember anything about it."
At 12.15 Chief Officer Jeffress was admitted to the Port Casualty Hospital with his head bandaged and spattered with blood. While receiving attention he declared his intention of going back to the ship, which, despite the doctor's orders, he insisted on doing.
He was instrumental in saving the ship's chronometers, and in the excitement and surrounded by perils he still found time to get somebody to ascertain the condition of the fifth engineer.
Fifth Engineer Mr Wylie had just been conveyed to the Adelaide Hospital, and was in a very critical condition. The boatswain was treated in the Casualty Hospital, suffering from burns and shock, and the chief officer was treated for minor injuries. These are the only three members of the crew who are known to be hurt.
Chief Officer Jeffress of the ship was accompanied by Plainclothes Constable Furber and Mr W McCawley, and Mr L W Tulloch and they heroically descended into the vessel next to the hold where the fire was burning fiercely. They recovered Fourth Engineer McLeod, who had been calling for help, and who was found lying in a semi-conscious condition partly under a steel plate which had been torn down by the explosion. He was carried up by the party and sent to the hospital.
Station Officer Whitehair, who was standing on the ship looking down the hold where the fire was, gave a description of the explosion. He said: — "We thought we had the fire finished, as it looked dead black below, when suddenly a terrific explosion occurred. I was hurled from the ship's deck on to the wharf, debris falling all around me. I picked myself up and found that I had landed on my helmet, which was badly dented. I went on board where the flames were leaping about 50 ft into the air. With the assistance of some other men I got ashore a couple of injured firemen who had been hosing into the hold.
At the time of the explosion the chief officer, Mr Jeffress, was standing near the blazing hold. The force hurled him to the wharf. His head was injured.
After treatment at the Casualty Hospital Mr Jeffress returned to the ship to see what he could do.
He was thankful for his escape. "I owe my life," he said, "to a fireman who was hurled from the deck at the same time, and who landed on top of my head and shoulder. He protected me from the debris."
Ready assistance was given by medical men in the district and prominent among the workers at the hospital depots were Drs Cherry, Betts, and Kennedy.
The crew of the vessel are being housed at the Sailors’ Home, and the South Australian agents have made provision for their comfort.
Officers and Crew of the Vessel
Captain W J Gorst, New York.
Chief Officer Jeffress.
Boatswain, Ben Mahomet.
Fourth Engineer McLeod.
Fifth Engineer Whylie.
Junior Engineer Jack Key.
The crew comprised 37 Lascars, 13 Malays, and 17 Europeans.
Captain W J Gorst of New York was in charge.
Outward loading agents - William Crosby & Co.
*Medals awarded from the Royal Humane Society of Australasia.
Nine bronze medals were won at Port Adelaide in one day in April 1924, when the ‘City of Singapore’ caught fire.
Three hours after the fire broke out, and at a time when the firemen appeared to be winning their battle with the flames, a terrific explosion rocked the neighbourhood and killed three firemen.
Jack Key, a junior engineer, was badly burned, and was trapped in the stokehold, wedged between a grating and a bent bulkhead.
Five Port Adelaide men, Lawrence Tulloch, C McCawley, Dennis Hogan, Robert Davis, and Constable W Furber clambered down the fiddley with an electric torch.
The flames were still blazing fiercely, and a second explosion might occur at any moment, but the men did not flinch.
Key, who was in terrible pain, was carried up steep ladders and through a ventilator. It was a year before he could leave the Adelaide Hospital and return to his home in England. Ref: The Mail 26-6-1937
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