“Most of the homesick children felt better once the excitement took over. Not Joyce Keeley. She did not have fantasies about this kind of adventure, and she was too young to understand why she had to leave her mother. But Jack understood. He’d seen the newsreels before the cartoons at the tuppenny rush, the children’s matinee movie on Saturdays. And he’d noticed the signs of war everywhere: lorries (trucks) with soldiers in the back, their guns pointed skyward, ready to fire on German planes; neighborhood playgrounds dug up and made into air raid shelters.”

The youngest children accepted into the CORB program were five years old, and the eldest were 15. This span of ages meant that leaving home was a very different experience for each child. Some, like little Joyce Keeley, didn’t understand the dangers of war and didn’t want to leave their mothers behind. Older children, like Joyce’s brother Jack, knew more about what was happening; they knew they were in danger at home and that their parents were sending them away for their own safety.

“It wasn’t an easy choice for any of the parents to make: Keep their children at home, a place that was now dangerous, or send them away for nobody knew how long? When war was first declared, many city parents had sent their children to villages in the countryside to be safer. That was a big step, but this, sending a child across the ocean, was more heart-wrenching.”

This passage describes the complexity parents faced and illustrates The Illusion of Safety in Wartime. Children were in danger at home in Britain, but evacuation was also dangerous, and families would be separated, maybe permanently. There was no clear right answer when it came to whether to send children away, and parents did not take the decision lightly.

“Two children who had been on the Volendam were now in line to board the Benares. Their parents were confident that their children would be safe (though neither child would survive this journey).”

The Volendam was a ship carrying CORB children that was torpedoed the week before the City of Benares set sail. Since the Volendam did not sink, and all the children aboard were safely rescued, the incident was more likely to reinforce The Illusion of Safety than puncture it. However, the tragedy that struck the Benares illustrates the impossibility of predicting safety and danger in wartime.

“Since the liner looked like a passenger ship but wasn’t painted like one and had guns, the enemy wouldn’t know what kind of ship it was or who it was carrying. There was no real way to indicate that children were on board. The ship couldn’t fly a Red Cross flag because the Benares wasn’t a hospital or Red Cross ship. It wasn’t entirely on a humanitarian mission, either. Since so many of the passengers were part of a government program, the ship was officially on war business.”

This passage describes some of the safety precautions undertaken to protect the City of Benares. Part of the controversy of evacuation came from the fact that the journey was dangerous for the children aboard. There was no way to eliminate all risk, and potential enemies would have no idea that there were children on board.

“At fourteen Barbara was embarrassed to be leaving. That summer the whole country—the Bechs included—had heard Winston Churchill’s rallying cry after British forces were evacuated from Dunkirk when the Nazis invaded France: ‘We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.’”

Some of the older children on the City of Benares were being evacuated against their will. The CORB program was controversial because it was seen as a defeatist, and older children like Barbara sometimes felt—however unreasonably—that they were failing in a duty to their country.

“In setting up the program, government officials had another motive: if most of the children who stayed in England died during the war, those who had spent the war in faraway countries could repopulate the land once England and its allies were victorious.”

This passage speaks to the seriousness of the threat World War II posed. There was a genuine fear that Britain would be invaded and occupied just as France and Poland had been. Sending children away, therefore, was also a way of ensuring the continuation of British culture and society.

“Ailsa had been so brave, Bess thought, had fought to survive, but now she slipped from unconsciousness into death. Bess watched as the escort lowered Ailsa into the sea and said a prayer. It was the first death Bess had ever witnessed. It would not be the last.”

As soon as the torpedo hit the City of Benares, tragedy and courage could be seen all over the ship. Bess Walden’s roommate, Ailsa, was injured in the strike, but she didn’t succumb to fear or panic. Instead, she fought to live and then faced death with courage.

“According to Rolf Hilse, it wasn’t until a year and a half later that the U-boat crew found out there had been children on board the Benares. He said that they were shocked and dismayed, that Ajax Bleichrodt was never the same again.”

U-boat 48 had no idea that there were nearly 100 children aboard the City of Benares, and when commander Heinrich “Ajax” Bleichrodt learned of all the young people he had sentenced to death, he experienced a mental breakdown. This illustrates the damaging effects of war on all parties; it can destroy the perpetrators of violence as well as the victims.

“Also at play were the vicissitudes of fate, human error, accident, and bad luck. Or good luck.”

This passage describes the many factors that went into determining who survived the sinking of the City of Benares. The torpedo strike was only the first in a series of events that determined who survived the attack and who did not. Behind each survival story was a string of lucky breaks, heroic actions, and brave determination.

“He was one of the heroes that night. When he saw children tossed from lifeboats, he dove in to rescue them. He grabbed one boy and swam to a lifeboat. And then he dove from the boat to attempt another rescue. Laszlo Raskai did not resurface. The Hungarian journalist gave his life saving children.”

Laszlo Raskai was a young BBC reporter who died rescuing children. His is just one of the many stories of heroism that took place as the City of Benares went down. People survived the torpedo strike not because of one person or one heroic act, but because countless individuals like Laszlo showed incredible bravery and gave their lives to save others.

“Colin cradled her head in his arms and comforted her, while holding on to his seat so he wouldn’t fall into the ocean as the boat went up and down the large waves. The adults looked at him in wonder.”

Colin Ryder Richardson is another key example of Heroism and Resilience in the Face of Danger. Although he was just 11 years old, Colin showed courage and maturity beyond his years, helping push dead bodies out of his lifeboat and caring for the nurse seated next to him until she died in his arms.

“NO, Sonia said to her mother. She had survived two tumbles into the ocean. She was only eleven. NO! She summoned all her strength and yelled at her mother. NO! On no account. I don’t think it is a good idea. I don’t. That is a terrible idea. Of course we’re going to be picked up. Sonia was determined. She had hope, the will to live. What she didn’t know was that their raft was breaking apart.”

The long, cold night at sea tested many of the survivors. After hours of clinging to a life raft in the heavy waves, Marguerite Bech was exhausted and in terrible pain; she encouraged her children to take off their lifejackets and let the sea take them. Eleven-year-old Sonia, however, refused to let her mother give up, illustrating the bravery and determination many of the children portrayed throughout their ordeal, staying strong even when adults around them faltered.

“They hurt so much, they were beyond pain. How much longer could they last? How much longer could Jack Keeley last? Or Colin? Where was the rescue ship?”

In this passage, Heiligman describes the dire situation of many Benares survivors awaiting rescue. The passage highlights the author’s use of rhetorical questions. Heiligman asks questions to draw attention to various aspects of the narrative, in this case, to the danger that survivors are in if rescue does not arrive soon.

“He spoke of his fury at the Germans for torpedoing the ship, a ship with passengers from many different countries: Poland, Hungary, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Iran, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. People who represented ‘all that was free and hopeful in Europe,’ Eric Davis said. And of course, he spoke of the children.”

After his rescue, BBC reporter Eric Davis spoke about his experience on the radio. Following his description and fury, the attack on the City of Benares became a symbol of the global nature of the war. Innocent people from all over the world, including children, were targeted and killed even though they were only seeking peace and safety.

“He had lived through a horrific night and day, through things no eleven-year-old should have to. Colin Ryder Richardson—who just a day before had been a happy boy, on an adventure, playing ghosts, sailing deck chairs—had lived through it and would be forever changed. But at least he, unlike so many others, was alive.”

This passage describes how the trauma of the torpedo attack and ensuing evacuation forced children to grow up quickly and show a maturity beyond their years. Children like Colin had to shed their carefree childhood overnight, and once their innocence was lost, it could not be regained.

“Just as the U-boat was a contained community bound by fate, a small vessel that needed harmony to function well and avert danger, so too was a lifeboat. Trust in the leader—Cooper—was crucial. Keeping peace was vital for survival, too. They had to develop systems whereby nobody got angry and everyone helped.”

This passage speaks to the importance of community and cooperation in extreme situations. To survive, all the individuals aboard Lifeboat 12 have to trust one another and work together. By comparing their situation to the crew aboard the U-boat that attacked the City of Benares, Heiligman illustrates the humanity on both sides of the war.

“Mary Cornish was a hero in her own story, and like any good hero, she had obstacles to overcome: the open sea, the threat of more storms, the cold and wind, the lack of water. Like any hero, she had adversaries.”

Mary Cornish is one of the text’s central heroic figures, and here, Heiligman alludes to ancient narrative traditions, including those found in epic poems like Homer’s Odyssey, in describing her story. She shows how Mary Cornish was a real-life hero, on a journey full of obstacles and adversaries, but she reached her destination and achieved her goal in the end thanks to perseverance, bravery, and tenacity.

“The human body is fragile when placed under dire stress. If they weren’t rescued soon enough, the boys’ organs would start to shut down. They were just boys, after all. Bill was nine; Fred, Paul, and Howard were eleven; Derek was twelve; and Ken, thirteen. They were only human.”

This passage describes the deteriorating state of the six CORB boys aboard Lifeboat 12. Throughout Torpedoed, Heiligman illustrates how determination and courage alone are not enough to guarantee survival. On Lifeboat 12, the survivors were smart and courageous, working together to stay alive. However, if they didn’t get lucky and find rescue, their bodies would eventually break down no matter how hard they tried to stay alive.

“Why were they here? It was like they had gone from a palace to a dungeon, not because they were bad, but because they were lucky.”

This passage, also referring to Lifeboat 12, addresses the randomness of luck and fate. The passengers aboard, starving and dying of thirst, had done nothing wrong to deserve their situation. Their fate was simply a combination of good and bad luck, first being in the right place at the right time to survive the torpedo strike and make it into a lifeboat safely, then the bad luck of missing the rescue boat.

“But the speck was a boat, and on that boat were forty-six people. Each person had a life, a story, a life worth living and a story worth telling. Would they get to tell it? Would they get to live out their lives? War was raging in other places, on land, on sea. By the time the Second World War was over, more than sixty million people would die. Would these six boys and the others be among them? Sixty million, a number as incomprehensible as the expanse of the ocean.”

This passage puts The Human Cost of War into perspective. The people aboard Lifeboat 12 survived their ordeal, but millions of people just like them were not so lucky. If it weren’t for just a few twists of fate, all 46 people on the lifeboat would have died as well.

“A fight could have broken out. But during these eight days at sea the people on lifeboat 12 had built a strongly knit community based on goodwill and shared experience. And success. Purvis had kept them alive this far.”

Here, Heiligman describes the community that the individuals aboard Lifeboat 12 built. Because they had established trust and cooperation, they were able to continue working together as supplies dwindled and times got tougher. Trusting and relying on one another helped keep everyone alive.

“After eight days of very little sleep, of so much sacrifice, she was a wreck. She had given everything she had to the boys. She had saved them with stories. Now her mind wasn’t working. She couldn’t even figure out how to get undressed or dressed. She could barely move. But she was alive.”

This passage describes the immense sacrifice Mary Cornish made to keep the CORB boys alive on the lifeboat. For eight days, she sacrificed her own well-being, forcing herself to tell stories and go without sleep to make sure the boys were cared for and kept their spirits up. She demonstrated remarkable determination, bravery, and commitment, and was rewarded with seeing all six boys safely rescued.

“Even as the British press rallied around Mary Cornish as a hero, which she certainly was, and even as she rejoiced that her boys—Ken, Fred, Paul, Howard, Derek, and Bill—would all go home to their parents, she was devastated by the enormity of the loss.”

Despite all the remarkable acts of bravery, heroic rescues, and miraculous incidents of survival, the sinking of the City of Benares was an overwhelming tragedy. Survivors and the public alike had to reconcile the celebration of those who lived with the intense mourning of all those who were lost.