Postal Workers on the Titanic

I learned something new about the Titanic today, thanks to Stamps of Distinction blog. The ship was a Royal Mail Ship (RMS) and commissioned to carry over 3,000 mailbags across the Atlantic. And when it sank, five postal workers tried in vain to save sacks of registered mails rather than saving their own lives:

The postal workers rushed to the mail room to begin rescuing the mail. It has been estimated that the workers retrieved up to 200 sacks of registered mail and had carried them to the upper decks on the slim chance that it might get rescued. Even as water began to fill the post office, the men admirably answered the postal workers call of duty to save the mail from destruction. Their admirable efforts might have cost the men their lives; as they tried to get the mail above deck, their chances of getting aboard one of the precious few lifeboats, while slim at best, vanished completely as the chivalrous call for women and children first seized the day.

Link - Thanks Tony Servies!