What tree saved soldiers in the English Channel?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
December 24, 2002
Sponsored By: A&E/The History Channel—>Click here.
History Undercover: Cover-Up: The Sinking of the SS Leopoldville DVD
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading—>Click here.
It was Christmas Eve 1944. Nightfall came early. The water in the English Channel was 48 degrees; seas ranged eight to twelve feet. The 2,235 soldiers were exhausted from days of truck and train transport. The young men of the 262nd and 264th Regiments, 66th Infantry Division were reinforcements for the Allied troops in France. The men bedded down as best they could aboard the crowded troopship Leopoldville.
The S.S. Leopoldville, Belgium registry, was part of a convoy of ships under British command. Keith L. Simons was one of the young men aboard. In the early hours of the previous day, the men were ordered to dump the straw from their mattresses. The straw was burned. Simons wrote in his account, "I was sure the Jerries (German troops) in France could see those huge blazes and know another outfit was leaving England." (The Sinking of the Troopship Leopoldville and How I Survived, Simons)
The men had not slept in almost 24 hours. Simons told how he and his buddies gathered up the canvas lifevests "to make a good mattress on the deck under one of the tables". The canvas vests were called Mae Wests* by the infantry. They fell asleep on the soft padding. At 5:54 p.m., only five and a half miles off-shore their destination, Cherbourg, France, a torpedo hit the Leopoldville.
Orders were given to abandon ship, but only to the crew of the Leopoldville. The crew took lifeboats and left. The soldiers were in chaos, many of their officers had had a day of Christmas Eve partying. Noncommissioned officers took command of the situation.
Sergeant Miller of I Company stayed on, handing out lifevests and telling the men to abandon their 100 pounds of gear. Some didn't listen assuming the vest would support them and the gear, afraid the loss of gear would get them in trouble with the U.S. Army. In all, 763 drown in the frigid waters, 493 were never recovered. But those who took Sergeant Miller's advice and cinched tight the vests eventually were pulled from the sea. Sergeant Miller went down with the ship.
Kapok fibers filled those canvas Mae Wests. The fibers are hollow, water resistant, and support as much as 30 times their weight in water. They come from the seedpods of the massive Ceiba pentandra (Linnaeus) Gaertner. The trees are pan-tropical—a world away from the cold waters of the English Channel.
The Taino of Hispaniola called the trees ceiba [say' ba] and said the spirits of the dead dwelt there. The Maya believed the Yaaxché sacred for it was the only living thing that touched heaven.
"Survivors of the Leopoldville Disaster" has more information about the sinking of the ship which was covered-up by the U.S. and Britain for fifty years. To read personal accounts of the event, click on the link:
http://www.leopoldville.net
Peter v. Sengbusch has posted several great photographs of the kapok tree base. Kapoks grow to 150 feet (50 meters) tall. To view these great trees, click on the link:
http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/world/singapur/garten_ceiba.htm
Molecular Expressions Microscopy Primer has an excellent microphotograph of kapok fibers. To view the fibers, click on the link:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/techniques/fluorescence/gallery/kapokfiber.html
*Aviators' lifevests were inflatable and were also called Mae Wests.
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
How did the rubber tree change war? Plants that Changed History - September 24, 2002
What is Napalm? Plants that Changed History - October 8, 2002
What is Harry Lauder's walking stick? What's in a Name? - March 11, 2005
What is khaki? Herbal Folklore - May 26, 2003
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