Elizabeth Lambie was born in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland in 1906, the daughter of Daniel and Mary Lambie, (née Docherty).
In 1909, her father had emigrated to the United States of America and settled in Roslyn, Washington, where he continued his trade as a slater. In May 1911, Elizabeth and her mother travelled to Roslyn to join him. On the 27th June 1912, her mother gave birth to her sister, Mary Dorothy.
By 1915, however, her mother was experiencing poor health and had decided to return to Scotland. Taking her two girls with her, she booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania and at the end of April, the three of them travelled by rail from Roslyn to New York, where they boarded the vessel on the morning of 1st May in the harbour there, in time for her last ever sailing from America, which began just after mid-day.
When the ship was sunk, just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, by the German submarine U-20, within sight of the coast of Ireland and only 250 miles from her Liverpool destination, Elizabeth Lambie, her mother and sister were all killed. None of their bodies was ever recovered and identified afterwards. She was aged 10 years.
On 19th May 1915 a cable sent from Boston and no doubt instigated by Elizabeth‘s father Donald Lambie arrived at the Cunard offices in Queenstown which gave a description of Elizabeth‘s mother and concluded: -
DAUGHTER ELIZABETH AGE 10 MARY AGE 3 BOTH FAIR HAIR BROWN EYES.
Nevertheless, no sign of any of them was discovered!
Her father was also killed by Imperial Germany almost two years later. On 24th May 1915, having received the news of the death of his loved ones, he had boarded the liner Tuscania to return to Scotland in order to enlist. This he did, and whilst serving as 13802 Lance Sergeant D. Lambie of the 14th Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, he was killed in action in northern France on 24th April 1917. He is buried in Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery.
Massachusetts Passenger Lists 1820 – 1963, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, Kilmarnock Standard, San Francisco Chronicle, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/49, UniLiv PR13/6, Graham Maddocks, Nyle Monday, Steve McGreal, Roy Makinson, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.