SURVIVOR ACCOUNTS - PROVIDED TO TILAWA1942.COM

As told by daughter, Roony Mangat:

"On November 23rd 1942 my mother and grandfather survived the torpedo attack on the SS Tilawa.  Her mother and 3 brothers perished. My grandfather was taking his family back to Kenya after visiting family in India. They were sleeping above the cargo hold on wood slats when the first torpedo hit. They fell into the hold and my grandfather managed to call out and locate my mum. He got her onto a lifeboat and went back to search for the rest of the family but to no avail. Meanwhile my mum remembers it being a full moon and she could see the ship when the second torpedo hit and a huge plume of smoke before it went down.

She recalls learning that there were passengers that had managed to get into the Iifeboats but we’re not able to lower them into the water and most likely perished. She was among the survivors that were picked up by the HMS Birmingham the following evening after being spotted by search planes. The ship continued to circle for a couple of days looking for more survivors. My grandfather went down with the ship after the second torpedo hit, he had been holding onto the railing and sank before able to release himself from it and floated to the surface.  He managed to get on a life raft.  He saw a young girl ( perhaps 6 or so) in the water and pulled her onto the raft. They drifted for 2 days.  The young girl was hungry and my grandfather managed to scoop a  couple of onions that were floating amongst the wreckage and fed her a slice at a time not knowing when they would be rescued.  He recalled seeing sharks circling the rafts. They were also rescued by the Birmingham and taken back to India."

Survived:

Father Pritam Singh

Daughter Tejparkash Kaur now age 90. Was 9 at the time 

Perished: 

Mother Ranjit Kaur

Jagdev Singh, Jasdev Singh & Sukhdev Singh

The last known survivor from a cargo liner sunk in 1942 dubbed the Indian Titanic has been found living in South London.

Arvindbhai Jani, 83, who lives in Thornton Heath, was aboard the S.S. Tilawa ship which sank in the middle of the Indian Ocean during the Second World War.Mr Jani was three years old during the Tilawa attack, and although he said he was too young to remember the event, he remembers his mother talking about how she “wrapped him in her sari and jumped into the lifeboat”.

His older sister, Chandraben Rawal, 86, who lives in Addiscombe, recalled how often her late mother, Vasantben Labshankar Jani, would speak of her survival account. 

In order to make the last lifeboat, she had to wrap Mr Jani in her sari and make the jump from the boat. 

In 1975, Mr Jani settled in Thornton Heath, along with other family members. He worked as a self-employed insurance broker.Mr Jani said he is “excited and grateful” to the Tilawa 1942 team for bringing this story to the world for the 80th anniversary. 

You may also read a recent article mentioning Mr. Jani from an article on Sunday October 23 2022 in THE TIMES OF INDIA (click here).  

As told by Mr. Pravin M. Jivan, son of the late Mr. Morar Jivan. 

On the fatal night of the 23rd November in 1942(during 2nd World War), my father Mr Morar Jivan was travelling on the ship called SS Tilawa, transporting mostly Indian nationals en route to Mombasa, Maputo and Durban. The ship was carrying silver and Gold to South Africa. The Japanese wanted to capture the ship for the valuable it was carrying.

The ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine near the Seychelles Islands. The first torpedo wrecked the ship in half. My father didn’t know how to swim. So, after securing the life jacket, he was trying to figure out how to save himself. The ship had multiple mini lifeboats for rescuing 50 passengers at a time. Unfortunately, my father noticed that people were rushing to get on them and some resulting in more than 50, which made it sink straightway.

There was confusion on the ship. My father started wandering from Deck to Deck, he noticed that passengers on upper Deck with cabins were locked in their cabins as the locks got jammed due to torpedo. My father took the fire axe and tried to smash the doors; it took him long time to open couple of cabins. In panic, he left to search for his escape. Then he saw a crew member pushing a raft in to the ship. My father saw the opportunity, and jumped into ocean, at first, he went straight in but floated back up again as he was wearing the life jacket. Luckily the raft was at his arm’s length, with great struggle he managed to climb on it.

There were passengers swimming in the water, my father pulled them one by one on to the raft. He saw a lady hanging on the rope and managed to rescue her as well. In total he pulled up about 20 passengers on to the raft. The raft had two tins, one with water and other with biscuits. Slowly the raft started to drift away from the ship. As they were about 400 meters from the ship, the second torpedo hit the ship and the ship S S Tilawa sank, leaving total darkness and just water all around.

No one talked to each other, just total silence. The waves were sometimes going over them. They were fully soaked with water. On the third morning they saw something like a bird on the sky. They thought the shore must be near. It was a rescue plane. The plane was in search of survivors. It signalled a rescue ship, which came to pick them up. No one could get up, as their legs were frozen. They were all lifted by the crane straight into the hot tub. They were brought back to Bombay. The lady whom my father pulled from the hanging rope, unfortunately passed away. She had a sea burial.

We used to hear this from our father. As a child, I could see fear, excitement, joy, and sorrow on his face whenever he narrated the incident. He was our HERO. 

Two things I learnt from my HERO, first never to give up and second to help others.

As told by Mr. Yoosuf Bobat, son of the late Mr. Ahmed Essop Bobat. 

My late father Ahmed Essop Bobat was a passenger on that ill fated ship. He urged me to write his story to the readers digest, but I never got down to it. ] will detail below what he told me. My father was about 25 years old when he was travelling from India to South Africa. He remembered that a Japanese sub marine wanted to search the ship but the captain would not allow it. After firing one warning a second shot was fired which hit the ship. Thereafter, it was chaos. My father could not swim but nevertheless jumped into the sea. He told me that he went down twice, and struggled up the third time managing {to get hold of a lifeguards belt. The guard tried to push him away. My father said if you don't help me I will pull you with me. Thereafter he was helped onto a huge piece of timber probably a part of the ship. There were about fourteen people on the timber. They were adrift from I think Monday until they were picked up by a British ship on Wednesday evening. He told me that the waves came in as high as three to four storey buildings, huge sharks circled the raft and their toes were nibbled at by fish. He did not know whose prayers were answered but they were ever thankful to God for saving them. The saddest moment for my father was when an old man who was on the raft with them dicd on deck out of sheer joy at being rescued. Thereafter, my father remained in Bombay for a few years. In the meanwhile he had applied to the Indian Government for compensation for loss of personal effects etc.

On the 23rd November 1942 around midnight, British India Steam Navigation Co’s (BI) 10006 ton cargo passenger liner, TILAWA, which was positioned 07 36′ north 06/008′ east, about 500 miles east of the coast of Socorta, sunk into the cold Indian Ocean minutes after it was attacked by the Japanese submarine JP 1-29.  I was one of the passengers on the board Tilawa that night. It set sail from Bombay on the 20th November 1942, bound for Mombasa, East Coast Ports and Durban. On the night of the 19th November 1942, friends and relatives bid me bon voyage as I left my home in Navsari, India. Early the next morning my mother woke me up to get ready as the appointed taxi would be calling to take us to the station to board the train named, Flying Queen bound for Bombay. On that dark winter morning the station platform was packed with commuters and I could see the train’s bright engine lights miles away, near the plains of Gujarat, as it approached the station. At exactly 5.30am the train stopped at the station and we anxiously boarded. I managed to find a seat for my mother on this packed train, and I casually placed my suit case in the aisle and sat on it. At 8.30am the train pulled into the Bombay Central Station. There we were met by a relative who took us to his flat to freshen up. Later that morning I went to the ship’s chief agents, Messrs. Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co. at Ballard pier and collected my passage ticket.  Due to the war at sea, BI’s regular passenger sailing schedule was disrupted, and instead of a fortnightly Bombay-Africa service, there was one sailing only every 6 to 8 weeks. South African residents were becoming frantic as they had to return home within three years, or loose their rights to enter South Africa. There was a long waiting list and the demand for passage was so great, the sub-agents were bribed to secure passage tickets. Many people were stranded in Bombay hoping that their name would come up on the waiting list. Passengers embarking were due to return at the 14th hour. After going through customs and emigration clearance, I boarded the ship. By now the pier was overcrowded with people. The White and Indian police officers had a difficult task of controlling the huge crowd. There were so many passengers, friends and relatives trying to board the ship to say their good-byes, that police later had to stop them.  The ship carried 1st class, 2nd class and deck passengers. When I got on to the ship, I noticed there was hardly any room to move. I had a deck ticket and trying to find my bunk on the lower deck amongst all the confusion was a difficult task. My bunk quarter was next to a friendly newly married couple from my home town. My mother greeted and chit-chatted with them, asked them to take care of me and left the ship. After placing my trunk and bedding on the bunk, I went up to the upper deck to watch as the ship departed. At exactly the 17th hour, the ship set sail and left Bombay harbour. Once at sea, a boat drill was carried out and we were told not to light matches or torches on the upper deck. There was a blackout on the ship. The portholes were painted black and kept shut at night. There was a constant fear amongst passengers and crew of a enemy submarine attack. I made sure that I kept a life jacket close at hand. On board the ship, there were 958 people, consisting of 222 crew members and officers, 732 passengers and 4 gunners. All the passengers were bound for Eastern and Southern Africa.  The Tilawa also carried 64,752 tons of general cargo and mail. Its maximum speed was 12 knots. The Tilawa carried 9 life boats, one motor boat and many small and large rafts. The ship had three kitchen/dining facilities, viz. Hindu vegetarian and Muslim non-vegetarian on the lower deck and Western European dining facility on the first class saloon. On the morning of 21st November, another boat drill was carried out and Captain F. Robinson informed the passengers of the safety measures, in the event of emergency. The Tilawa was cruising at 12 knots, zig-zagging ever since it’s departure from Bombay. On the night of 23rd November, when I just about falling into a deep sleep, I heard a loud violent explosion. I awoke with a terrible fright. Expecting the worst I grabbed my life jacket and headed for the upper decks to reach the life boats. There was chaos and panic among the passengers and Indian Crews (Khalasis) as they all headed to the upper boat saloon decks.  Everyone was scrambling and stamping about as they tried to climb up the stairs, I was pushed and jolted from one end to the other. Before I knew it, I was hurling down the stairs and injured myself. The ship’s Indian crew and deck passengers were all panic strickened. The chaos, hysteria and panic was causing the rescue operation to be hampered. While the launching operation of life boats were in process, I grabbed the rope holding the life boat which was almost halfway down, and slid into the boat. I injured myself even further in the process. The boat was half filled already, mostly with crew and a few passengers. The crew unhooked the boat and we fell free and drifted away slowly.  The time now was 02H00 on that bright moonlit night. I could clearly see the Tilawa’s lights and flare signal. With tearful eyes, I watched as the other frantic passengers stampeded into life boats, trying to lower them and save themselves from a terrible fate. I could hear their panicked screams and mournful tragic cries.  The ship, though it’s head had already sunk, was still afloat. About half an hour later, while the frantic activities were still going on, a second torpedo exploded on the port side and within 5 minutes the Tilawa heelded over and sank. There was a loud noise and debris fell all around as the Tilawa was sinking. The remaining passengers and crew either jumped or were thrown overboard and hysterically made for rafts or boats. Others were too scared and shocked to move, and sank with the ship.  All this time, Mr. E.B. Duncan, the first radio officer, was at his post transmitting SOS messages. The last one broke off abruptly in the middle, as he went down with the ship, but his gallant sacrifice was not in vain. The distress call had been picked up, and the cruiser HMS Birmingham was on its way to our rescue. There was a barrel of drinking water and biscuits on the life boat, but this obviously did not last long. Arguments arose between the crew as to which direction to follow. The tension among all of us was rising. We drifted for an entire day and night. The sea was choppy and a cold wind was blowing. All I had to keep me warm was the pajamas I was wearing. During the day, rain came and the sea developed a considerable swell, tossing our life boat perilously.  On the morning of 25th November, we sighted a small plane (swordfish), that was approaching and signaling us. Later we saw a ship on the horizon, coming closer and closer. It was the HMS Birmingham that had come to rescue us. We were picked up and taken aboard, hospitalized, given blankets, coffee, tea, sandwiches etc. The medical staff of the HMS Birmingham worked extremely well. They successfully dealt with 5 major operations; 20 minor operations and 400 cases of burns, abrasions and shock, due to the immersion.  During the night of the 25th and 26th November, 2 survivors died and the next morning were buried at sea. The survivors were accommodated as follows: · White men – ward room, gun room · Warrant officers – mess and cabins · White women and children – Captain’s day and sleeping cabins · Tilawa crew – in the waist · Indian women and children – in admirals day and dining cabins · Deck passengers (men) – on hangar deck and starboard hangar Goanese stewards from Tilawa assisted in the pantries and were very helpful. As the Tilawa sank in the middle of the night, unsuspecting European passengers were either in night clothes or very lightly clad. In many cases, Indian survivors were very inadequately clad. The European men were kitted up with shirts and shorts, but towels and shoes were required. The Indian survivors were borrowed towels and blankets, while their clothes, if any, were being hung out to dry. Those without clothes, were given a few yards and cleaning cloth to cover themselves. They used this to make sarongs. Practically most of the survivors were unable to get on board without assistance and had to be lifted or carried. HMS Birmingham carried two small planes (swordfish) which helped in locating boats and rafts and rendered a most useful service.  The HMS Birmingham arrived in Bombay and berthed at Ballard pier at 17h00 on Friday, 27th November 1942. The quay side was packed with anxious relatives and friends inquiring of the safety of their loved ones. A massive reception awaited the survivors. Tables were laid out with food, refreshments and warm clean clothing. My mother spotted me in the crowd’s hustle and bustle and was so overjoyed she started telling everyone that because of her generosity in donating rice to the destitute and poor, she has been blessed with the survival and safe return of her son. 641 passengers were rescued by the HMS Birmingham and 4 by the HMS Cartage. 285 passengers and 28 crew members were lost at sea on that tragic night.  The young married couple in whose care I had been placed was not among the survivors.  

Special thanks to: The National Maritime Museum, London Imperial War Museum, London P & O Steam Navigation Co, London Professor Masanori Hattori (Department of Military History), Japan For supplying photographs of the MV Tilawa, HMS Birmingham, Submarine JP 1-29

Moulana Saheb qualified successfully in September / October 1942, at the age of twenty two. He then decided to return home to South Africa. A teaching post at Mia`s Farm already awaited him.  Unfortunately it was during the period of the Second World War, and Japanese forces were heading towards India, and as a result of which, no passenger boats were in operation.  Due to strong requests from passengers, a steamboat called the “Tilawa”, was allocated to transport passengers to various parts of Africa, including SouthAfrica.  On the 23 November 1942, the Tilawa left Bombay harbour with its crew consisting of the cabin crew, three hundred Goanese sailors and one thousand passengers. On departure the captain assured the passengers protection in the event of an attack or any other danger. While on the ship, Moulana Sema Saheb had flashbacks regarding advice that MoulanaYusuf Binnori Saheb hadgiven him, which proved useful on this trip. Moulana Sema Saheb`s ordeal on the”Tilawa”  It was to recite a five times after every Saldh. Also to read Salawdt Tunajjind three hundred and thirty-six times, if the steamer was caught in any dangerous situation. This could either berecited individually or in a group during times of distress and difficulty. Moulana Saheb shared this advice with two friends, one from KalaKacha, and the other from Dabhel, who were with him aboard the Together they recited these prayers.  After five days of relatively peaceful travelling, there was a sudden thud against the ship, causing it to rock violently. The crew members and passengers were in total disarray. There was absolute chaos and panic as they realised that a Japanese submarine had torpedoed the ship. At that moment everyone was concerned for his own safety and the promise by the captain to protect the passengers did not prove true. The crew members and sailors were first to abandon the ship in life jackets and life boats, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves.  Moulana Sema Saheb say that;  “Surah-al-Quraish “Whilst I was asleep, I was awakened by the whistle of the torpedo even before it struck. It was an eerie whistle sound like “weee “. I was so shaken that I completely forgot about my two travel companions and ran for my own safety “.  It was a prior arrangement and instruction that should the ship go into trouble the passengers were to proceed to the second class. Moulana Sema Saheb did so.  Moulana Sema Saheb says; “Then I spotted a lifeboat already being lowered with a few cabin members. I began to climb down in order to get into the boat via the aid of a rope. When I reached halfway down the rope, I saw the boat moving away with only these few cabin crew members on it. I had no alternative but to despondently climb up the rope into the second class which was situated on the deck of the steamer.  Thereafter, I saw another lifeboat being lowered down, so I thought of climbing down again. But unfortunately, it got stuck whilst being lowered down (about halfway down).  Then I saw a third lifeboat which was already down on the water, with just a few passengers and I, with the help of The Almighty and Merciful Allah, managed to climb down into this boat.  After my boarding the boat, more passengers climbed down into the boat until it was filled to capacity. The boat had a capacity of48 people and so did every other lifeboat on the Tilawa.  Once the lifeboat was full, it was decided that we should row away as far as possible from the sinking ship, fearing that the tiny lifeboat may be dragged into the depths of the sea together with the sinking ship.  About this time someone asked “What is the time “. The only person who had a wrist watch was one of my two companions. The time was 1:30 am and to my surprise I noticed that the other companion was on board as well. All this time I did not even think about my two companions “  Moulana Sema Saheb firmly believes that he being saved was due to the recitation of Suratul Al-Quraish five times after every salaat. Moulana Sema Saheb continues his narration saying;  A Chinese astronomer, who was one of the crew members of the Tilawa, gazing at the stars, recommended that we should try and direct our course easterly, in the hope of reaching dry land in a few days time.  Now, at least we had some direction and course of action. The seating positions were adjusted in such a manner that the weight of the passengers was distributed equally on both sides so that the lifeboat does not tilt nor topple. Thereafter it was decided that the passengers take turns in rowing the boat. In this manner we sailed amidst rough seas and mountain-high waves in the hope of survival and reaching dry land.  “After we rowed away a reasonable distance, a second torpedo was launched directly at the already sinking Tilawa. We, from a distance, saw black smoke coming out of the steamer and thereafter, in amatter of a few moments, the ship disappeared into the depths of the sea.  After the steamer disappeared from sight, we lost all hope of going back to the steamer, for it was thought by some of the crew who were onboard our lifeboat that should the steamer not sink, we may be able to return and repair the damage. Then our perilous journey began!  At times, huge waves like mountains lifted the boat high and then flung it back to the surface of the sea. It was very frightening and nerve wrecking. In this manner we sailed for the rest of the night until dawn appeared. During the day the sea was comparatively calm. After sailing for a few hours into the day, we spotted a steamer at a distance which gave us hope in being rescued, but after a little while it disappeared from our sight. We began feeling hungry and thirsty. Some of the crew members of the Tilawa, who were on board broke open a survival box in which we found some thick biscuits, long aluminium containers containing fresh water, an axe and some other items. Small bits of biscuits were distributed amongst us and each was allowed to drink a few sips of fresh water as a life saving measure. I personally, because of my weakness and continuous vomiting, was completely exhausted and was unable to eat the thick biscuits. I was convinced within me, that even if we were to reach land in ten days time, I will not be able to survive. We continued sailing in this manner till sunset without seeing any other steamer nor were there any signs of land. At nightfall, which was our 2 nights on this perilous sea, the waves were even more dangerous & devastating than the  previous night. Most of us were convinced that we may not be able to survive this catastrophic ordeal and perish in the depths of the sea. But, Alhamdulillah, with the mercy of The Almighty Allah, our small boat kept on sailing through the night till the dawn of  Moulana Sema Saheb continues ” the second day appeared bringing us fresh hopes of survival with renewed hopes of being rescued.  Early that morning, well after sunrise, our hopes of survival rose even higher as we spotted another steamer. But unfortunately, a veil of heavy rain acted as a screen between us and the steamer. When the veil disappeared, we sighted the steamer again. It was then decided that we beckon the steamer by waving a cloth in the hope of attracting its attention towards us. We actually used a red shirt of one of the passengers as a flag. This proved successful and the steamer began sailing towards us. It took approximately one hour for the ship to reach us and by 11amor 12 pm, the steamer had reached us and it was the S. S. Birmingham which was a British battle ship returning to the British Isles after spending some time in the Indian Ocean. This Battle Ship lifted all the passengers from our lifeboat and entertained us with black coffee and biscuits.  When the Tilawa was torpedoed, the Captain immediately sent out an SOS message to all boats, battleships and steamers at sea. The S.S. Birmingham was the nearest battleship to the disaster area and it instantly changed its course and came to the rescue of the unfortunate Tilawa`spassengers. There were two seaplanes on this battleship which took turns to fly from the battleship in search of further survivors. Ours was the third boat that was rescued by the S.S. Birmingham. After extensive searches up until nightfall, the S.S. Birmingham was able to pick up a total of TO lifeboats and no more. It was then established that only one hundred and twenty five passengers had survived.  It was then decided to take the passengers hack to Bombay because it did not have sufficient rations for the surviving passengers. Otherwise it would have dropped the passengers at their desired destinations which were, East Africa as well as South Africa. The S.S. Birmingham then sailed on to Bombay.  Friday: We Boarded Tilawa Saturday to Tuesday: At Sea on board the Tilawa Tuesday night: Torpedoed Wednesday: At Sea onboard the lifeboat Thursday 11am: Rescued&searched for more passengers Thursday night: Began journey to Bombay Friday sunset: Reached Bombay In less than 24 hours the S. S. Birmingham touched the Bombay harbour. It was the 1st day of December 1942. This Ship was much faster than the Tilawa as it was a battleship and not a passenger liner. There the A.R.P. (Air Raid Protectors) servicemen entertained the survivors with coffee, tea & biscuits. Each one of the survivors was given a telegram form to fill in a brief message that, “We are safe “, to their dear ones at home and addressing the telegram to their home  address.The Muslim survivors who were but a handful were taken to the Sabu Siddiqui Musafir Khana whilst the Hindustani passengers were taken elsewhere for accommodation.  At the Musafir Khana, each one of us was given a vest and a white calico trouser and provided with meals by a charitable institution for the duration of our stay there. After a few days Moulana Sema Saheb decided to visit his former alma mater.  Recap  A colleague of Moulana Sema Saheb, Moulana Qassim Tayib Saheb of Lorenzo Marks (Maputo) who was studying at that time in his old Jami `ah came with some clothes, money & aided Moulana Sema Saheb to travel back to Jdmi `ah Islamiyyah – Dhabel. http://www.quranunion.co.za/