Mr.
FRANCIS JOHN LUKER, Third Class Passenger
[No Picture Provided]
Francis Luker, 30, was a post office worker from Saskatoon area of Canada
going to Britain to enlist. He became friendly with the two men who
he shared a cabin with on the Lusitania.
On the last day his friends decided to take a nap around 1:30 while he
stayed in the covered alleyway on the third class deck. He claimed to have
seen the periscope and two torpedoes strike the ship. He made his way through
the ship to the second class and claimed to have passed the nursery forward
on C Deck. Luker was about to run in to rescue a baby he saw inside,
but just then the ship lurched and the door shut and jammed.
Outside, he found two babies "snuggled in the shelter of a deck house." Taking
action, Luker tucked each baby under his arms and took a "flying leap" into
lifeboat #11 (Preston, 233). Phyllis Wicking-Smith tossed her baby
Nancy to him and the boat rowed off. He was obliged to change boats (to lifeboat
#15) after the ship went down and helped Ian Holbourn aboard another
lifeboat.
Contributors:
Michael Poirier
References:
Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy. Berkeley
Books, 2002.
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