The Life and Mystery of First Officer William Murdoch
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William Thornton II Carter
First Class passenger


“Once a lot of men got through and there was some shooting, and some of the men fell on the deck, while everyone cried out very loudly. One of the men stood still for some time, and all his jaw was shot away. I was watching him, holding on to mother's skirts, when it came our turn to get into the boat.”

According to Encyclopedia Titanica "Master William Thornton Carter II, 11, from Bryn Mawr, PA, boarded the Titanic at Southampton with his father William Ernest Carter, his mother Lucile and sister Lucile. They occupied cabins B-96 and 98." (8.)

The account of the shooting and being shot in the jaw was discovered in Elizabeth Gibbon's "To the Bitter End". She explains:

"One lurid story had Murdoch firing directly into the jaw of some unfortunate, purportedly one of the stewards, who was jerked back on deck and rejoined the crowd. It is too persistent a story not to have some element of truth about it. Journalist Philip Gibbs, compiling his Deathless Story, quoted a New York interview with an eyewitness First Class passenger William T. Carter, only ten years old. Master Carter was quoted as follows: 'Once a lot of men got through and there was some shooting, and some of the men fell on the deck, while everyone cried out very loudly. One of the men stood still for some time, and all his jaw was shot away. I was watching him, holding on to mother's skirts, when it came our turn to get into the boat.'"(55.)

William Carter joined his mother and sister aboard lifeboat no.4, which was not lowered by Murdoch, but was launched by Lightoller. We do know that Lightoller fired his gun into the air so it is possible that Carter was referring to this. Also the account does not necessarily seem logical for a boy aged 11. In fact the only reason Carter wa able to enter no.4 was becase his mother put a hat on him to disguise his age. Gibbon's also picks up on this discrepancy:

An intelligent child staring fixedly at something dramatic is a fine witness, but unfortunately Master Carter cannot be here counted as one; he left with his mother in No. 4, lowered from the port side after No. C, and from A Deck and not the boatdeck. No. 4 held most of the famous millionaire names, and those who would leave in it had been waiting to board for a long time indeed. Young William Carter could have seen nothing of the shooting above him. (Even assuming that Mrs. Carter permitted her son to grant interviews, this one seems to have been written by someone with little knowledge of real children, and contains a glaring solecism: no ten year old American boy is going to admit clinging to his mother's skirts.)

However Carter's account is not unique. There are several other accounts that involve a jaw.

In correspondence with Richard Edkins of the Murdoch Dalbeattie web-site, he writes about an "uncertain and poorly-reported incident in which it was claimed a steward was shot in the jaw by Murdoch." (1.)

Second Officer Lightoller: "Murdoch
had been forced to shoot a crewman
who led a rush on one of the lifeboats,
pushing aside women and children.
The bullet struck the man's jaw
."

Edkins is likely referring to an account found in the 1912 book Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters (edited by Logan Marshall):

"'Stand back,' shouted the officers who were manning the boat. 'The women come first.' Shouting curses in various foreign languages, the immigrant men continued their pushing and tugging to climb into the boats. Shots rang out. One big fellow fell over the railing into the water. Another dropped to the deck, moaning. His jaw had been shot away. This was the story told by the bystanders afterwards on the pier. One husky Italian told the writer on the pier that the way in which the men were shot down was horrible. His sympathy was with the men who were shot. 'They were only trying to save their lives,' he said." (Sinking of the Titanic, p.55 (32.))

According to Earl J Chapman's article Gunshots on the Titanic this account is "similar to a story related by Titanic author Diana Bristow in two of her books (Titanic: R.I.P., and Titanic: Sinking the Myths) which also mentions a gunshot wound to the jaw" but goes even further and names the officer who did it. He explains:

"During her research into the disaster, Bristow received a letter from James O. McGiffin in which he related details of a shooting incident involving First Officer William Murdoch which was told to him by his father, Captain James McGiffin. Captain McGiffin was a close personal friend to Murdoch, and served with both Murdoch and Charles Lightoller (Second Officer on the Titanic) on White Star's Medic around 1900. Captain McGiffin ended up as White Star's Marine Superintendent in Queenstown during the period 1903-1912. After Titanic sank, Lightoller saw Captain McGiffin and naturally told him all about the disaster, including the Murdoch shooting incident." (27.)

The references by Diana Bristow are as follows:

"Lightoller told my father in Queenstown that Mr. Bruce Ismay kept pressure on Captain Smith to keep the Titanic to her maximum speed of 22-23 knots in order to create a new record time for the souther track crossing of the Atlantic. This Captain Smith did in spite of ice warnings from other ships in the area...Murdoch shot one crewman in the jaw as he tried to rush the lifeboats... (Titanic: R.I.P. Diana Bristow, p.172 (35.)):

"After Titanic sank, Lightoller saw McGiffin and naturally told him all about the disaster, including the fact that Murdoch had been forced to shoot a crewman who led a rush on one of the lifeboats, pushing aside women and children. The bullet struck the man's jaw." (Titanic: Sinking the Myths, Diana Bristow p.49 (36.))

Nevertheless, Edkins doubts the validity of this stating that a shot to the jaw "would blast the man's head off, - cosh in the jaw is more probable." (1.). I wrote back requesting more information regarding this and Mr. Edkins responded: "Murdoch using a gun as a cosh was first suggested in Elizabeth Gibbons's To the Bitter End, a monograph I am trying to make available. Her source is evidence from Mr. Hugh Woolner on page 886 of the Senator Smith report."