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| Contributed by Robin Owen
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| | | | |  | Charles Edward Musham. Gunner
At age 38, one of the oldest men in the ship, he is remembered as a very tough, hard man, a firm disciplinarian and ruthlessly efficient. He needed to be. Having joined the navy as a boy seaman he rose to Chief Gunner's Mate and was promoted to Warrant rank in 1941. He was placed in charge of the boat that rowed to the edge of the flames to rescue the SS Waimarama survivors. After the SS Ohio's crew had been taken off the sinking ship, he reboarded her with a volunteer crew to man the pumps and the guns and take the towing hawsers. At the height of the action he appeared on the shattered bridge in the captain's uniform jacket and cap and ordered the bonded store to broken open and beer and cigarettes distributed to his exhausted men. In retirement he joined the Civil Service in Yorkshire and died in 1991. |
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