‘Such a slip of a lass she looked, this braver of submarine perils, as she came up to the table with the easy gait of one who knew naught of tight shoes or high heels, and the well-thrown back shoulders that come of rowing exercise. In her staple costume and cap of navy serge, she was the very ideal of an English fisher-girl.’
Ella Trout received an OBE in 1918 for rowing to the rescue of survivors of a torpedoed steamer ship in Hallsands Bay.
Out fishing with her 10-year-old cousin William on 8th September 1917, Grace witnessed an explosion on the Newham, a steamer which was now rapidly sinking amid clouds of thick, black smoke. Without pause for thought of the danger from enemy U-Boats potentially still in the area, Ella and William rowed with all their might for a half a mile out to the wreck to search for survivors. They found only one sailor still living, clinging to a piece of wreckage. Ella quickly pulled him into their small craft, wrapped him in a sail and revived him. For this act of heroism, Ella was awarded the Order of the British Empire. The ceremony took place on Plymouth Hoe, when Ella and another ten men also honoured for civilian bravery were presented their medals by Earl Fortescue, the Lord Lieutenant of Devon.
Ella was born in 1896, the second daughter of the Trout family in the small fishing community of Hallsands, Devon. Lively and forthright, Ella and her older sister Patience learned to fish alongside their father, despite the protests of their mother who was anxious for them to enter a more ‘suitable’ profession. After the illness and premature death of their father William in 1910, both Patience and Ella took up fishing full-time to support their mother and two younger sisters, an extraordinary feat at the tender ages of just 13 and 14. Working alongside the men of the village, they soon earned the respect of the other fishermen; ‘the maidens’ proved they were able to hold their own in strength and endurance.
Throughout the rest of her life, Ella and Patience were involved with many maritime incidents, often being the first to raise the alarm when a ship floundered on the rocks around Hallsands bay. In the 1920’s they built their own ‘Trout’s Hotel’ which they operated together, with friends and family until their deaths. Ella died in 1952 and was laid to rest with Patience and their parents.
Poem
The following poem was published in the January 1918 edition of the Devon and Exeter Gazette, by an author ‘B.R.C.’.
A Ballad of Hallsands Bay
Calm is the sea and clear the air,
The dimpling wavelets landward stray,
A little boat that takes no share
In war’s implacable array;
A child and maiden all her crew,
Puts forth on such a peaceful day,
When Londoners express their view
There is no war down Devon way.
Athwart their course the waters bear
A wreck that staggered rent and grey,
With one yet clinging in despair,
Survivor of the treach-rous fray.
He gazed upon the open blue,
Tasted the bitter salted spray,
Nor any hope of succour knew –
There is no war down Devon way.
To snatch the victim from the snare
She plied her oar with even sway,
Unfaltering, although aware
Of grim occasion for dismay:
A lurking monster might pursue,
Speeding in search of further prey,
And all the sea with blood imbrue –
There is no war down Devon way.
Envoi
This verse is but a tribute due
To Ella Trout, of Hallsands Bay,
Since it is thanks to yours and you
There is no war down Devon way.
January, 1918 B R C
References
Milton, R. and Milton F., 2005. Sisters against the Sea. Tiverton: Halsgrove.
Western Morning News, 1918. Civilian Bravery: Earl Fortescue Presents Medals on the Hoe. Western Morning News, 18th Apr. p.4e. Available at: < https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000329/19180418/083/0004> [Accessed on 11th October 2017]
Northern Daily Mail, 1917. Saved by a Girl: A Grace Darling of the Westcountry. Northern Daily Mail, 24th Oct. p.4g. Available at: < https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000377/19171024/085/0004> [Accessed on 11th October 2017]
B.R.C., 1918. A Ballad of Hallsands Bay. Devon and Exeter Gazette, 18th Jan. p.5e. Available at: < https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000511/19180118/083/0005?browse=true> [Accessed on 11th October 2017]
The People, 1918. Splendid Acts of Bravery by Workers on Land and Sea: Devon Fisher Girl Who Went to Aid of Torpedoed Steamer. The People, 13th Jan. p.4b. Available at: < https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000729/19180113/046/0004> [Accessed on 11th October 2017]
The Liverpool Echo, 1917. Girl Rescuer: Boat Rowed to Germans in Channel. The Liverpool Echo, 24th October. P.4d. Available at: < https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000271/19171024/029/0004> [Accessed on 11th October 2017]
The Western Times, 1917. Hallsands “Grace Darling”. The Western Times, 21st December. P.11c. Available at: < https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000265/19171221/106/0011> [Accessed on 11th October 2017]
Images
[Miss Ella Trout MOBE] n.d. [image online] Available at: < http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205381354> [Accessed 11th October 2017]
[Ella Trout: Who braved enemy submarines and rescued a drowning sailor] 1918 [image online] Available at:< https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000729/19180113/046/0004> [Accessed on 11th October 2017]
