Lusitania survivor's silver bracelet sells at auction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32972758

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A silver bracelet that belonged to a survivor of the sinking of the liner Lusitania has sold at auction for £500.

About 1,200 people died when the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine on 7 May 1915 during World War One.

One of the largest ships in the world, it was sailing from New York to its home port of Liverpool when it was sunk off the coast of Ireland.

The bracelet belonged to May Maycock and was given to her as a thank you for helping a fellow passenger.

Miss Maycock, 23, worked in New York and was returning to Britain to get married.

Blasted into the sea by an explosion, she survived by clinging to a wooden plank for four hours before being rescued by a passing trawler.

Once ashore in Ireland, she used money carried in a neck belt to help an American named Bill, who had been travelling to England with his wife and daughter.

He lost everything in the disaster, including his family and was entirely dependent on Miss Maycock's generosity until he could arrange finance from America.

When funds arrived, the businessman rewarded her kindness with a silver bracelet inscribed "from Bill to May" on the inside and "Lusitania, May 1915".

It is inlaid with the word "aroon" in green agate - a reference to the Gaelic term of endearment, 'A rún'.

The bracelet was sold by May's 90-year-old daughter Barbara Thomas from Chester who said her mother had kept it secret and did not tell its story until after her husband's death.

"In those days, a personal gift like that [from another man] could have been taken in the wrong way and mother would not have wanted that for the world." she said.