Frederick Tootal, 39, a British national from London, England, was waiting for the elevator with Albert Byington, Lady Margaret Mackworth, and David Alfred Thomas when the torpedo hit. They all survived the Lusitania sinking.
His ticket for Lusitania was number 46091, and he stayed in cabin B-22.
Here is what Tootal says about what he and Byington did during the Lusitania sinking in his 1915 testimony:
| 1160 (Q): What did you then do? (A): I was talking to a lady who was waiting for the lift when it happened, also to another gentleman [Byington] who was travelling with me, and we both took her by the arm and started going up the stairs, and we got on to the next deck, the “C” deck, on the portside. We then went aft with her to the companionway leading up to the boat deck, where there was a big crowd, and they were taking women and children first, and we put her on to that. |
Tootal and Byington entered lifeboat 17, but the seamen lost control and the boat spilled. Both men survived.
Frederick Edward Owen Tootal enlisted in the British Army on 21 October 1915 and served briefly with MI5 from 07 January 1916 to 31 May 1916. He later served with the British Mission to the Portuguese and was made Chevalier of the Portuguese Military Order of Avis on 21 August 1919.
Contributors:
Michael Poirier, USA
Phil Tomaselli
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