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Miss ALICE MAUD LINES, Saloon Class Passenger

[No Picture Provided]

Alice Lines, 18, was born December 1896 as the daughter of a Saxmundham cabinet maker.  She was trained at the Norland School of Nursing in London and was recruited by Warren and Amy Pearl to look after their children Stuart, Amy, and Susan in Folkestone in 1914. 

When war broke out in August, the Pearls were in Stockholm, Sweden and Warren secured passports for Petrograd, Russia (formerly St. Petersburg and later Leningrad) in hopes of applying his military experience there.  Their plans had to change in Helsingfors, Denmark under threats of bombardment.

When Warren was arrested in German territory, Amy had to leave the children with Alice to aid her husband.  In the absence of both parents, Alice hired Danish girl Greta Lorenson to help take care of the children.

Amy was expecting another child and wanted it born in the United States.  The Pearls arrived home on a German steamer, the Frederik VIII, in early December of that year.  The baby was born in New York and christened Audrey.

In the spring of 1915, Warren was instructed to report to the American Embassy in London, England.  He thus booked passage on the Lusitania with his wife, children, and nurses.  At the time, Amy was pregnant with a fifth child, a son that would be later named Vivian.  The night before sailing they had a farewell dinner party in a private room at the Plaza Hotel. 

Throughout the voyage Warren continuously instructed Amy, Alice, and Greta what to do in case the Lusitania was torpedoed.  On Wednesday, 5 May, she was given the night off.  Alice had not felt imminent danger throughout the trip, and the lifeboat drills did not bother her.  She described the food as "tip top," and her personal steward brought her tea every morning.

Alice and Greta divided their roles between them.  During the day she dined with the children in the saloon class nursery.  In the afternoon Greta took the older children to tea in the nursery, while Alice listened to the orchestra and had afternoon tea on deck.  At 6 p.m. Alice and Greta supervised the children's dinner and afterwards, with the children in bed, Alice joined Warren and Amy for dinner as Greta looked over the children.

On Thursday evening, Alice was feeding baby Audrey while Warren and Amy were at cocktails.  Alice was looking forward to the concert and the dancing there.  Then, a steward came in to draw the curtains, saying, "We're getting close to Ireland.  We must black out the ports."

On Friday, 7 May, Alice and Greta took Stuart, young Amy, and Susan to lunch in the nursery while Audrey stayed sleeping in Alice's room.  Just before 2 p.m., Alice returned downstairs to feed Audrey and took Stuart with her so that he could take a nap.  Stuart was lying down and Alice was feeding Audrey when the torpedo hit.  Alice wrapped Audrey in a shawl and took Stuart by the hand, saying, "Come along, we won't wait for anything."

Alice, Greta, and the Pearls met up, put on their lifejackets, and went up top to the Boat Deck. The ensuing crowd rushing out of the ship, however, separated them.  Alice had Stuart and Audrey with her and instructed Stuart to stay with her "no matter what happens[.]" 

She saw Greta with Susan, but young Amy was missing.  Alice alarmed, cried, "What have you done with my baby?"

"A stewardess took her to a lifeboat."  A visibly frightened Greta explained.  "Oh, what are we to do?"

"Don't bother with anybody else."  Alice answered.  "Just watch the children."

The following is from her 1915 testimony:

1781 (Solicitor-General):  What happened to you then? (Alice):  I had difficulty standing.  I was knocked towards the ship and had a hill to climb to get into the lifeboat. 1782 (Solicitor-General):  But you did it with the children, did you? (Alice):  Yes, I had the baby in my arms and a little boy of five hanging to my skirt. 1783 (Solicitor-General):  And you got them into the boat on the port side? (Alice):  Yes. 1784 (Solicitor General):  Did anyone help you? (Alice):  The passengers on board.  Two gentlemen helped me up the stairs.  One left me to get a lifebelt for me, but I saw him no more, and another passenger helped me into the boat. 1785 (Solicitor-General):  Were there any sailors there? (Alice):  I saw none. 1786 (Solicitor-General):  What happened next? (Alice):  We went down to the boat quite easily until we got to the bottom and the water splashed up.  It was rather difficult to get away. 1787 (Solicitor-General):  But you got away safely on the port side? (Alice):  Yes.* 1788 (Solicitor-General):  And you and both the children were all right? (Alice):  Quite all right, except a few bruises.

Alice's later recollections of the event were somewhat different.

Alice claimed that she was blocked entry into a lifeboat, but a sailor forcibly snatched Stuart from her and placed her into the boat.  Alice tried to follow, but she was held back.  The boat started to lower, and with Audrey still tied to her, Alice made her way through and jumped for the boat -- and missed.

Screaming, she and Audrey landed in the water, but are later pulled into the boat by Alice's long hair.

Admittedly, the latter account makes a better story, but in light of the previous testimony, it seems more likely that this was a later embellishment.

In Queenstown, Alice, Audrey, and Stuart were reunited Warren and his wife Amy, not a trace of Greta, young Amy, or Susan could be found.  Warren, Amy, and Alice attended the open sessions of the ensuing Mersey Inquiry.  Afterwards, Alice and the surviving Pearl family recuperated in Suffolk.

Alice married Francis Page of Yorkshire. When he passed away, she married John Drury, a retired hairdresser from Manchester.  She continued to keep close contact with Audrey Pearl throughout her life until her death in November 1997.  Alice Lines Drury was 100.

* Alice's testimony of leaving the ship by a port-side lifeboat does not match the description of any other survivors'.  Therefore it seems likely that she escaped in a starboard boat, #13, and her description of climbing a hill to get into a boat about her moving from the bow to the stern and not from starboard to port.

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Contributors:
Paul Latimer
Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd
Michael Poirier
Eric Sauder

References:
Deposition of Major F. Warren Pearl.

Minutes of Evidence as given at the Mersey Inquiry.

Ballard, Dr. Robert D. with Spencer Dunmore.  Exploring the Lusitania.   Warner Books, Inc.,  1995.

Hickey, Des and Gus Smith.  Seven Days to Disaster.  G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1981.

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