Posted by TRUE. Oceanic House was the London headquarters of the White Star Line and was also a ticket office for Titanic’s maiden voyage:
Today the impressive building can still be seen near Trafalgar Square, at the back of what is presently the Canadian Embassy in London, at the bottom of the Haymarket, where this meets Cockspur Street.
For the coronation of King George V in June 1911 the whole building was decked out with illuminations, as well as a giant model of the 45,000 tons RMS Olympic, Titanic’s sister ship:
Olympic’s maiden voyage arrival in New York was successfully completed the day before the 22nd June coronation, in some neat publicity timing for the White Star Line:
But her sister was not so lucky. After the Titanic disaster in April 1912 passengers’ relatives gathered outside the ticket office anxiously waiting for news:
The newsboy is Ned Parfitt, who was tragically killed only six years later, just two months before the end of the First World War.
The line of the curb on which Ned stands can still be seen in the repaved street today. A reminder that the past is still with us.
If you’d like to read the full book of101 Things You Thought You Knew About The Titanic…But Didn’t!, or any of my other books on Titanic, please visit my Author Page on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/tim-maltin/e/B005LNHYEQ/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1