The Birkenhead Drill: Women & Children First
'Women and children first' is a phrase that has passed into the English vernacular, synonymous with self sacrifice and bravery in the face of death - it evokes imagery of men giving up places in lifeboats to save the vulnerable.
The phrase itself originates from the tragic sinking of HMS Birkenhead, an troopship bound for South Africa, on the 26th February 1852. The Birkenhead was transporting contingents and drafts from numerous regiments already in Africa taking part in what became known as the 8th Xhosa War with the amaXhosa. These regiments included of the 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment and the 73rd and 74th (Highland) Regiments along with their families. On the morning of the 26th February the Birkenhead struck an uncharted rock of the African coast. The ship's boats were ordered lowered but the damage below the waterline was severe and at least 100 soldier were drowned before they could get on deck. The remaining troops manned the pumps while others helped lower the Birkenhead's six boats. The remaining men were formed up on the poop deck in an effort to level the ship and lift the bow. Two of the boats were unable to be launched due to poor maintenance, leaving only the ship's cutter and 2 other boats. The women and children were placed in the cutter while the men remained mustered.
Within fifteen minutes the ship again struck the uncharted rock, this ripped open the Birkenhead's bottom drowning the engine room crew. This caused the ship to break in two amidships with the bow sinking in moments but the rear of the ship floating for several minutes (see images).
The troops remained on board until the ship sank when many of them swam for wreckage. Luckily the Birkenhead had been only two miles off the coast when she sank and many of the men attempted to swim for shore. Sadly the rough seas, the rocks and surf along the shore and the presence of sharks meant that out of approximately 650 men only 193 survived the ordeal.
The women and children in question are thought to have numbered seven women and thirteen children, luckily the majority of the families had been put ashore on the 25th February when the Birkenhead had collected food and horses for transport further along the coast.
The bravery of the soldiers became a point of national pride with the press widely covering the disaster. Decades later the sinking still captured the imagination with Thomas M. M. Hemy painting his 'Wreck of the Birkenhead' (see image two) in 1892.
The term 'Birkenhead Drill' became a memetic for an orderly embarkation and evacuation of a damaged ship, with it first appearing in 1860, in William Douglas O'Connor's novel 'Harrington: A Story of True Love' and even appearing in Rudyard Kipling's poem 'Soldier an' Sailor Too'.
Most famously the men of the Titanic followed the Birkenhead Drill allowing women and children passengers to escape in lifeboats while remaining behind. Over 100 years on the name 'Birkenhead Drill' is now less well known, the phrase 'women and children first' has retained its meaning and power.
'The Wreck of the Birkenhead' (1901) by Charles Dixon (Source)
'The Wreck of the Birkenhead' (1892) by Thomas M.M. Hemy (Source)
