Alick John Scott was born in Shirley, Southampton, Hampshire, England, on the 17th July 1885, the son of Ralph Robert and Charlotte Mary Scott (née Mather). He was one of eleven known children in the family, and his father was a surgeon-major in the British Army.
After completing his education, he became a bank official, and his home address was at 9, Gracechurch Street, London.
In the spring of 1915, he had been working in Yokohama, Japan, and deciding to return to England to enlist in the British Army, began his journey to London via Manila, in the
Philippines, and then America. Arriving in San Francisco, California, on the 19th April, he then travelled by rail to New York. A saloon ticket (number17108) had been booked for him by the Chicago office of his bank for the Lusitania sailing, which was scheduled to leave New York on 1st May 1915, and as this ticket was a return ticket, it casts doubt on the account of him returning home to enlist.
He boarded the vessel at her berth - Pier 54 in New York harbour, on the morning of that day and was escorted to his accommodation, which was saloon room B8, and was the responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward William Williams who came from Wallasey in Cheshire, on the opposite bank of the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The liner’s departure from the Cunard berth in New York harbour was then delayed until just after mid-day, as she had to embark passengers, cargo and some crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia which had been requisitioned for war work by the British Admiralty. Six days later, with the vessel in sight of the southern Irish coast and only hours away from her Liverpool destination, Alick Scott was killed after she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. As his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 29 years.
In their book The Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Adolph and Mary Hoehling state that Alick Scott was a captain in the Indian Army who was on his way home to Britain via America. This conflicts with Cunard records, however and the fact that there was no officer of that name killed on active service in the British or Indian Armies, on 7th May 1915. It must, therefore, be an error.
In his book The Tragedy of the Lusitania, published just after the sinking, Captain Frederick D. Ellis told of the last minutes of Alick Scott’ life through the words of fellow saloon passenger Rita Jolivet, who survived the sinking: -
“When we rushed to the deck after the torpedo hit, Mr. Frohman, myself, my brother-in-law and Mr. Scott were standing together. Mr. Vanderbilt was also near. None of us had any fear.
Mr. Frohman was especially calm and magnificently courageous. He told all to keep still and when the second explosion came and the ship listed and everyone rushed to the deck when the first boat was being launched, he said to us: ' Stay where you are. This is going to be a close call. We shall have more chances here than by rushing for the boats.' And then he went on just as calmly as though he were discussing some small after-dinner question.
'You know I have never feared death,' Mr. Frohman continued. 'To my mind death is the most beautiful adventure which life can offer. The test for us at all times is to meet it as such.”
Miss Jolivet, Mr. Vanderbilt and Mr. Frohman, the three of them together with Q. D. S. Vernon, (sic) Miss Jolivet's brother-in-law, and Mr. Scott, who had come all the way from Japan to enlist, joined hands and stood waiting to face death together.
"We stood," said Miss Jolivet, "talking about the Germans and the rumour which had gained currency to the effect that a man obviously of German origin had been arrested for tampering with the wireless. We determined not to enter the boats.
Just a minute or two before the end, Mr. Frohman said with a smile: ‘Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure that life gives us.’
Mr. Scott fetched three lifebelts - one for Mr. Vanderbilt, one for Mr. Frohman and one for me. Mr. Scott said he was not going to wear one himself and my brother-in-law also refused to put one on. I hear that Mr. Vanderbilt gave his to a lady. Mr. Scott and I helped to put the lifebelt on Mr. Frohman.
He knew that his beautiful adventure was about to begin. He had hardly spoken when with a tremendous roar a great wave swept along the deck. We were all divided in a moment, and I have not seen any of those brave men alive since.”
Indeed, all of the men who were with Miss Jolivet on the deck of the doomed liner perished!
Alick Scott is commemorated on a memorial in Gaijin Boce Cemetery, Yokohama, Japan, to servicemen from Great Britain, France and America who had previously worked in Japan and had been killed as a result of the Great War. The memorial was unveiled by The Prince of Wales in April 1922 and although partially destroyed by an earthquake the following year, the two original memorial tablets which had been its main basis still remain, one of which contains Alick Scott’s details.
Administration of his estate was granted to a his father at London on 27th September 1915. His effects amounted to £1,713-18s-9d., (£1.713.93p.). He also left an estate of £21-0s.-4d. (£21.01p)..
Bedroom Steward William Williams, who had looked after Alick Scott in room B8, survived the sinking and eventually made it back to his home in Wallasey.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, California Passenger Lists 1882 – 1959, Cunard Records, Probate Records, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Tragedy of the Lusitania, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, James Brazier, Charles Fair, Geoff Whitfield, Stuart Williamson, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.