Name Differences : Arthur George Thornton ( Robert ?) . Edwin Gibbson ( Edwin Gibbins 26 ? ) Cyril Townsend ( T Townsend ? )

On the 9th Jan 1935 the Edgar Wallace entered the Humber after her 21 day trip to Bear Island, the crew were preparing to leave the vessel and would probably be getting their suits on and packing their bags below decks. It was a dark night and a very strong spring tide was running the Edgar Wallace had passed St Andrews dock while awaiting her turn to enter the dock as the river was extremely busy, she had steamed up to Hessle Sands. On making her way back to St Andrews Dock she nudged a sand bank with the stem of the vessel, the engines were kept running ahead hoping she would clear the bank, the strong flowing tide pushed the stern of the vessel around leaving her broadside on to the flowing tide, in a matter of moments before any further action could be taken the Edgar Wallace keeled over. As water rushed into the vessel she was unable to right herself the boiler fires were extinguished leaving the vessel in complete darkness with no power or generator.

Events occured so quickly there was little or no chance of the crew saving themselves, only those in a position to get away from the vessel did so, one climbing through a port hole, some were washed away by the strong flowing tide. 15 men lost their lives that night, a tradgedy that would occur again more than once, such is the severity of the River Humber. Clarry Wilcoxson after escaping the vessel and fighting for his life, was washed down stream, he was miraculously picked up unconscious after his faint cries were heared, his next recollection was waking up in the Bartholemhew Hospital Goole, He recalled the events as he felt the small bump as the vessel nudged the sandback, she then moved back into the channel and righted herself in the deep water, again she hit the sand bank and immediately started to keel over to an acute angle, an angle she would never revover from due to the amount of water rushing in from the strong tide and the fact that her fish hold was full, will have all played against the vessel righting herself. Clarry knew immediatley that the vessels situation was severe, he made his move and scrambled onto the top of the galley, he then took one of the lifebelts and climbed the mizzen mast. In the darkness you could hear the panick and screams of the crewmen trapped below as water swept into the vessel. Like other members of the crew Clarry was swept away by the strong tide but having the lifebelt and his faint screams for help saved his life that day. The Steamer Goole and the Angularity were both to pick up a survivor each, one man had been in the freezing waters of the Humber for 2 hours and another found clinging to a pound board was barely conscious from exhaustion and the cold. This would not be the end of the tragic loss of life, days later while a salvage team were working on the vessel aboard the tug Boatman she capsized the engineer died and became another Edgar Wallace fatality.