The original memorial was destroyed by the
Luftwaffe's
bombing in 1940 together with the library. It is located on the side of the offices of Paris Smith, solicitors on the corner of Cumberland Place and London Road, in Southampton. After the
Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Hartley and his fellow band members assembled in the first class lounge and started playing music to help keep the passengers calm. They later moved to the forward half of the boat deck, where they continued to play as the crew loaded the
lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that the band continued to play until the very end. The inscription '
Nearer, My God, to Thee' has an association with the
RMS Titanic as it was reported by one passenger that the ship's band played the hymn as the
Titanic sank. However, the actual 'final' song played by the band is unclear; "Nearer, My God, to Thee" has gained popular acceptance. Former bandmates claimed that Hartley said he would either play "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or "
O God, Our Help in Ages Past" if he was ever on a sinking ship. This memorial is dedicated to these musicians:
Wallace Hartley (
bandmaster, violin),
Roger Marie Bricoux (cello),
William Theodore Brailey (piano), John Wesley Woodward (cello), John Frederick Preston Clarke (
string bass,
viola),
John Law Hume (violin), Percy Cornelius Taylor (piano) and
Georges Alexandré Krins (violin) who all lost their lives on the
Titanic. ==References==