The wrecked hope of rescue destroyed morale aboard lifeboat 12. For the first time, the CORB boys “were inconsolable.” Instead of Mary’s story, Father Rory stepped in to tell the boys about a shrine in France with a bell that supposedly rang when someone was saved from drowning promised to visit the shrine. The boys made a vow to visit the shrine when they were rescued and derived hope from imagining the bell ringing at that moment. Once again, their “[t]ears turned to determination” (233).

For six days, Mary had been the boys’ primary caregiver and source of comfort through a terrible ordeal. Back home, where she was presumed dead, her friends, family, and former students mourned her loss and celebrated what a selfless, caring person she had been. Though “[h]er lips were crusted, her mouth dry, her tongue swollen” (235), Mary kept telling her stories, even though she was so tired she could barely follow the thread of her own thoughts. The boys were desperately thirsty, and water was running out. They drifted in and out of sleep, and the line between dream and reality became blurred. Mary was determined that none of the boys would die, and she did everything she could for them.

On the seventh day, lifeboat 12 was still just “[a] speck, a dot that no one could see” in the middle of the ocean (239). The boys were doing poorly and “getting weaker by the minute” (240). They would not survive much longer without help. Many of the lascars were also close to death. George Purvis knew they were running out of water, but he kept this knowledge to himself.

In the night, one of the boys, Paul, became delirious, screaming and crying, and there was nothing Mary could do to calm him. Father Rory gave him the last rites, in case he passed away, but there was little else to do. They managed to sneak him a few drops of water, but he needed much more. Eventually, Harry Peard stepped in with “the toughness he was famous for” (242) and urged Paul to be strong and stop complaining. On the morning of the eighth day, Paul was still alive.

On the morning of September 25, Mary let the boys soak their feet in the ocean, all except Paul, who remained “miserably sick.” At lunch time, Purvis passed around ship’s biscuit and canned salmon, but there was no water, and the passengers’ mouths were so dry they could barely eat. He told them only that there would be water later.

Just when “[r]escue seemed impossible” (245), Ken Sparks spotted a seaplane. Miraculously, the seaplane also saw the lifeboat, communicating through Morse code and semaphore signs, they identified themselves as survivors of the City of Benares, and the plane took off to alert its relief plane.

An hour later, another plane circled over. It dropped a parcel of food and a note letting lifeboat 12 know that a rescue ship was 40 miles away. The passengers devoured the food, but there was still no water. They begged Purvis for the little that remained, but he was determined to keep the small reserve for a true emergency. After their eight days at sea, they had come to trust Purvis and one another, so everyone obeyed him.

By 5 pm, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Anthony was approaching lifeboat 12. All the passengers were safely rescued. Mary Cornish had to be carried aboard; she had sacrificed so much to care for the boys, and now “she was a wreck” (248). Except for one of the lascars, everyone on lifeboat 12 survived, although it would take some time for them to get well and process the enormity of their experience. Telegrams were sent out to the survivors’ families, who had believed their loved ones to be dead. Father Rory’s obituary had even been published.

While Mary was celebrated as a hero, and she was overjoyed that the CORB boys from her boat were going home safely, “she was devastated by the enormity of the loss” (252). Out of 406 people aboard the City of Benares, only 148 had survived. 77 of the 90 CORB children had died, along with six of the program’s 10 escorts.

Although civilian deaths are expected during wars, the parents who put their children on board the City of Benares believed they were ensuring their children’s safety. Eddie Grimmond called the loss of his five children “sheer and cold-blooded murder” (253) and asked for a front-line fighting job. Before the news of the Benares tragedy was released, another CORB ship had already set sail. The convoy that it was traveling in was also torpedoed, but the children’s ship wasn’t struck and arrived safely in Canada. No more children would be evacuated in the CORB program.

Most of these children lived normal lives throughout the war, but there were also tragedies. One boy, Alan Francis, went to school with six children who had died on the City of Benares. He had wanted to go on the “adventure,” but after the tragedy, he was relieved to have stayed home. However, he wasn’t safe there either. A bomb struck his house, killing his mother and narrowly missing Alan and his father as they all hid under the dining table.

After the City of Benares’ tragic sinking, many people talked about what went wrong and what would have happened “if only” certain things had been different. However, these kinds of questions provided no comfort to grieving parents. Some of the parents wrote asking for photographs of the vessel, so they could see where their children spent their final days. Others, including Beryl Myatt’s parents, requested that a wreath be dropped near where the ship had gone down. Due to the ongoing conflict, this request couldn’t be fulfilled.

Elspeth Davis, a CORB official, wrote to Myatt’s parents expressing her regret and telling Mrs. Myatt that her daughter belonged “to a very gallant company of people whose grave is the sea” (258-59). After the war, Elspeth admitted that she believed sending the children away had been a mistake.

The boys who were rescued from lifeboat 12 lived long lives and stayed in touch with Mary Cornish. The beloved chaperone was considered a hero and awarded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire. Beth Cummings married Bess Walder’s brother, and the two remained close friends. Father Rory O’Sullivan lived to be nearly 99. He was a military chaplain for the rest of the war and settled in France afterward. Bohdan Nagorski, from lifeboat 12, also lived a long life and shared his experiences with his nephew, who wrote a book about the City of Benares.

Colin Ryder Richardson received a commendation for bravery, as did several members of the Benares’ crew, including Ramjam Buxoo, Ronnie Cooper, George Purvis, and Abdul Subhan. The Bech family spent the rest of the war at their seaside summer house, and the children lived long lives. Jack Keeley and John McGlashan, who shared a raft, met one another and spoke for the first time 50 years after their shared ordeal. John Baker, the youngest survivor, grew up to design Rolls-Royce airplane engines.

The commander of U-48, Heinrich “Ajax” Bleichrodt, reportedly suffered a mental health crisis when he learned how many children had been aboard the Benares. He was held for war crimes after the war, but was never prosecuted. His radio operator, Rolf Hilse, was a prisoner of war in England and married an English woman upon his release. Commander Hugh Crofton Simms, who came to the Benares’ rescue, was killed during the war when his ship was bombed. His son, a baby at the time, would grow up to help organize reunions between Benares survivors.

After the tragic sinking of the City of Benares, the Royal Navy assigned all convoys a “designated rescue ship” (267) to save any ships that were attacked. Now, the City of Benares lies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. As the ship is a grave, no effort will be made to retrieve any valuables, like gold, that the ship might have been carrying.