Maurice Marichal was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on the 2nd October 1910, the only son of Rene Joseph Philibert and Jessie Irene Marichal (née Emerson). He had two sisters, Yvonne born in 1919 and Phyllis, born in 1913. His father was born in France and as a result, he, too, was accredited as a French national. His father was a school teacher, and at the time of his birth, the family resided at Surbiton Road, Southend-on-Sea.
His father had been Professor of Romance Languages at Queen’s University, in Kingston, for three years since 1913, but in April 1915, he had accepted an appointment at Birmingham University, in Warwickshire England. Consequently, he booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania, for the whole family, from New York to Liverpool, for the sailing which was due to leave the port on 1st May 1915.
As a result, Maurice Marichal, his parents, and his sisters, all boarded the vessel as second cabin passengers o
a.m. sailing, which was then delayed until just after mid-day, as she had to embark passengers crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which the British Admiralty had requisitioned as a troop ship, at the end of April.
Six days later, after she was torpedoed and sunk, by the German submarine U-20, in sight of the southern Irish coast and within hours of her Liverpool destination, all five members of the family were fortunate enough to be saved. This was probably because they were able to get into one of the few lifeboats which was successfully launched. Yvonne Marichal was later to state that her parents had insisted that all three of their children dine in the restaurant with them rather than in the nursery and that consequently they were all together when the liner was struck!
After being rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown they all managed to get to Birmingham. Maurice was 4 years old at the time, although the official manifest states that he was aged only 2 years!
Once in England, the family made a successful application to The Lusitania Relief Fund, administered by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and a specially selected committee to pay a doctor’s bill, and at that time, its address was shown to be 21, Hampstead Road, Handsworth, Warwickshire, which was almost certainly their new address.
His father was later killed in action on the 12th August 1916, on the Somme, whilst serving in the French Army as a private soldier, leaving his mother to raise the family alone.
Maurice Marichal married Lily Goodyear in Worcester, Worcestershire, in 1936, and in November of the same year, their son, and only child, John Edward was born. The family lived at 7. Lilac Avenue, Worcester.
In 1939, Maurice Marichal enlisted in the British Army and as 922515 Gunner Marichal, he was listed as “missing in action” in France, having failed to be evacuated at Dunkirk after the German invasion of France in 1940. He was in fact captured by the German Army and held as a prisoner-of-war. He was detained in Stalag 20a, Toruń, Poland, where his prisoner number was 10670. He was freed when the camp was liberated by units of the U.S. Army, toward the end of the war.
Nothing further is known about Maurice Marichal, except that he died in Worcester on the 29th March 1984, aged 73 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Cunard Records, Liverpool Record Office, Ministère de la Défense, République Française, The Times, Lusitania, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.