Medals awarded to the young telegraphist who picked up the Titanic’s distress call are to go under the hammer at auction. Harold Cottam, 21, a wireless operator aboard the passenger liner RMS Carpathia, was off duty when he picked up the call on the night of April 14, 1912.
For his actions, Mr Cottam, who grew up in Nottinghamshire, was hailed a hero and awarded a silver Carpathia medal and a Liverpool Humane Society medal for bravery. The medals are being sold by a private collector and the collection also includes photographs, his pocket watch and signed paperwork.
It is estimated to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000 when it is sold on April 22 at Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd in Devizes, Wiltshire. Mr Cottam was about to go to bed when he heard the radio station at Cape Cod trying to establish contact with the Titanic to transmit routine radio telegrams. In what he had hoped would be his last business of the day, Mr Cottam radioed the Titanic’s operator, reminding him of the waiting messages.
