Titanic Memories Will Live On

Local Bray Park resident Robert Martin has a passion to preserve the stories of the historic ill-fated Titanic.

This devotion to the Titanic has seen him spend over a decade researching and producing a film about the Titanic's fatal maiden voyage. He is now presenting lectures in the Moreton Bay area to share his stories.

Robert believes the most important stories in life are true stories.

They are the most powerful. I love history and capturing history on film and in music,� he says.

Robert's interest in the Titanic began when he was just a boy, but it wasn't until 1985 when he read a newspaper article about the discovery of the Titanic wreck that his interest was ignited. Some years later, he attended a Titanic exhibition in Brisbane. It was there he met the youngest son of Titanic survivor Edith Haisman, who was selling a book he had written on his mother's survival. Robert, a musician, decided to write a song about this and later the idea of a film was conceived, and so too Robert's journey of discovery into the Titanic story.

Robert's dedication to preserving the history of the Titanic has seen him travel to Belfast, Ireland to the shipyard Harland and Wolff, where the Titanic was built. He researched stories of the remaining survivors and interviewed Millvina Dean who was only two months old when she was placed on a lifeboat and was rescued. Her story of survival was to become quite well known. Robert's research also took him to Southampton to visit the dock where the passengers began their journey on the Titanic.

The film is an eighty-minute documentary style film called 'Titanic 100 Years Then and Now'. It tells various stories and includes re-enactments. These were shot in Redcliffe and in Bray Park as well as Belfast and Southampton.

Robert has been giving his lectures on the Titanic history in the Moreton Bay area and is continuing to do so. He gives a very detailed power point presentation, tells stories of survivors and shows artefacts from the Titanic's sister ship RMS Olympic, which was virtually identical. Robert even has a guitar made from wood of the RMS Olympic, which he has on show. Robert's presentations will be taking place at libraries, museums and a variety of social clubs.

Robert describes his research and making of the film as the most interesting and fulfilling journey of his life ' researching one of life's most unique and historic events.�