THE LUSITANIA TRAGEDY

About the Book

The RMS Lusitania passenger liner was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank 11 miles off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915. 1,198 civilian lives were lost and 761 lived. Some survivors never told their stories but others in various ways spoke of their experiences.

Daniel Taylor Brown was one of those who survived and openly spoke out. He boldly chronicles his story and the accounts of some who also lived, but continues to tell of others who helplessly died during the attack and aftermath.

The reader cannot help but be transported to that time and place of great terror, loss and heroism. You will not only hear of a man’s will to live and escape a rapidly sinking ship against extreme odds, but with many souls still on board he watched the doomed Lusitania sink. It goes on with the stabbing pain and helplessness of witnessing those in the water die. The overwhelming trauma continued for all in the life boats while they persevered defenselessly as a sea of death surrounded them. With passion Daniel Brown relates this shocking story to us.

In 1916 after his return to his residence at the National Soldiers Home in Southern California, Mr. Brown was invited to speak publically. His story is presented here with a style of writing that conveys not only his heart of grief for all who suffered and died, but of an accountability for those who were the perpetrators.

About the Author

Daniel Taylor Brown was born in 1872 in Blantyre, Scotland. He entered the United States in 1898 at the age of 26 and volunteered for the U. S. Army that same year. He served for 4 years and earned the rank of private 2nd class with tours of duty in the Philippine Islands and Cuba. During those years of military service he was wounded and permanently disabled. After recovering from his surgeries in London, Daniel Brown returned to Los Angeles in May of 1916. He resided at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Sawtelle, California. U. S. Naturalization records show he applied to become a citizen in 1917. His life was almost lost in military service in Cuba and the Philippines, in the sinking of the Lusitania and in the bombings of London. Against many threats he lived to the age of 64. He died on March 6, 1937 in Manhattan Beach, California and is buried at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Why did it take almost 100 years to publish this manuscript? When Daniel Brown returned to southern California in 1916 he had a passion to tell the story of the sinking of the Lusitania. He was invited to speak to the Merchants Association of Santa Monica, the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A. of Pasadena. An attendee of these addresses asked him if he would commit the address to paper to be published. Mr. Brown agreed and forwarded the handwritten manuscript to this man, Richard Allen. Intending to publish the manuscript, Mr. Allen stored it in a box with various photo albums and it was not discovered for over 90 years. In 2010 when Mr. Allen’s descendants were going through the old box, they discovered Daniel Brown’s manuscript and started the process of finally having it published.