Harry Eddom
{{Short description|English sailor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harry Eddom
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = c. 1941
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| nationality = British
| other_names =
| occupation = Sailor
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Harry Eddom (born {{circa|1941}}) is a former English trawlerman. He was the sole survivor of the Hull triple trawler tragedy which claimed the lives of 58 Hull sailors in January and February 1968.{{cite news |first=James |last=Campbell |title=The bittersweet story of the sole survivor of Hull's Triple Trawler Tragedy |url=https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/bittersweet-story-sole-survivor-hulls-1158313 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Hull Daily Mail |date=4 February 2018}}
The ''Ross Cleveland'' sinking
Eddom was the first mate on board the Ross Cleveland. In February 1968, the trawler was seeking shelter near Arnarnes in Ísafjarðardjúp from hurricane-force winds and blizzards, which were causing dangerous amounts of ice to form on the vessel's superstructure and radar. The Ross Cleveland's captain attempted to move her from a dangerous position to a safer one during the evening of 4 February, but the ship, overwhelmed by the wind and sea, capsized and sank. At the time, Eddom was in his waterproof gear clearing ice from the masts, radar and deck, in a constant battle. He was knocked overboard but managed to reach a raft, along with Barry Rogers, an 18-year-old deckhand, and the 30-year old bosun, Walter Hewitt. The raft drifted for several hours before reaching shore in Seyðisfjörður. By that time, both Rogers and Hewitt had died from exposure.{{cite news |title=Maðurinn sem reis upp frá dauðum |trans-title=The man who rose from the dead |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=6232540 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Bæjarins besta |date=31 January 2008 |page=16 |language=is}} Eddom walked ashore at the end of the fjord, where he found a summer house but was unable to break into it.{{cite news |first=Trevor |last=Gibbons |title=Triple trawler tragedy: The Hull fishermen who never came home |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-42253251 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=BBC |date=4 February 2018}} Instead he went behind the house, to shelter himself from the wind, and stood there until the morning, afraid that if he sat down he would fall asleep and die. In the morning he was discovered by the 14-year-old son of a farmer, Guðmann Guðmundsson,{{cite news |author=Orri Páll Ormarsson |title=Skilið ástarkveðju! |trans-title=Say goodbye! |url=https://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2018/02/04/skilid_astarkvedju/ |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Morgunblaðið |date=4 February 2018 |language=is}} who led him to his family farm.{{cite news |author=Högni Torfason |title=Ég vissi að ef ég settist mundi ég deyja |trans-title=I knew that if I sat down, I would die |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=1391823 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Morgunblaðið |date=7 February 1968 |pages=1, 3 |language=is}}
The news of his rescue caused a media frenzy as British newspapers scrambled for the exclusive account of his escape,{{cite news |title=Blaðamenn The Sun læstu frú Eddom inni á salerni! |trans-title=The Sun journalists locked Mrs. Eddom in the toilet! |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3995551 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Tíminn |date=10 December 1981 |page=12 |language=is}} with The Sun flying his wife, Rita Eddom, and family to Iceland. When they arrived in Keflavík Airport, a fight broke out between The Sun staff and other British reporters,{{cite news |title=Hún sagði eitt orð, — en fjandakornið að ég muni hvað það var |trans-title=She said one word, - but damn if I remember what it was |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=2395510 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Vísir |date=8 February 1968 |page=16 |language=is}} and again in Ísafjörður where the hospital staff had to fight off the reporters who tried to storm the main entrance to reach Eddom.{{cite news |title=Sjúkrahúslæknirinn varð að sparka og berja frá sér! |trans-title=The hospital doctor had to kick and beat him! |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3334074 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Tíminn |date=9 February 1968 |language=is}}
Later life
11 weeks after the sinking, Eddom was back at sea aboard the Ross Antares. He was the captain of the trawler Benella H 132 during the second Cod War and in December 1972, he had his fishing nets cut off by the ICGV Óðinn, the same coast guard ship that saved 18 British sailors from the trawler Notts. County, that wrecked in Ísafjarðardjúp the night the Ross Cleveland sank.{{cite news |title=Ég er af hjarta þakklátur |trans-title=I am grateful from the bottom of my heart |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=1438589 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Morgunblaðið |date=29 December 1972 |language=is}}{{cite news |title=Reynsla sem fylgir manni til grafar |trans-title=Experience that accompanies a person to the grave |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=1897743 |access-date=18 August 2019 |work=Morgunblaðið |date=5 February 1998 |page=5 |language=is}}
Eddom's story was featured in the 2001 book Útkall í djúpinu by Óttar Sveinsson.{{cite news |title=Barátta upp á líf og dauða |trans-title=Struggle for life and death |url=http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3427641 |access-date=26 July 2019 |work=Morgunblaðið |date=25 November 2001 |pages=24–26 |language=is}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lYQV8EHPJk Trawler Man Returns Home] on Youtube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddom, Harry}}