HE was a quiet, private man. So the thought that Sidney “Sid” Worrall might be part of an exhibition at one of Scotland’s busiest museums makes his granddaughter smile.
Mr Worrall was a cook on the passenger liner SS Athenia when the boat was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in 1939.
Badly burned and thinking he might die, Mr Worrall gave his watch to fellow passenger Gerald Hutchinson, who took it back to Canada.
Read more: Watch sparks search for family of Athenia cook
Mr Hutchison died in 2015 and his son, Rob, decided to return the watch to Glasgow and gifted it to the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.
It follows an appeal last week for Mr Worrall’s family to come forward and help the museum fill in the gaps about the cook’s life.
The plea came after museum curator Emily Malcolm discovered Mr Worrall had survived the sinking. He died in 1973.
The publicity resulted in Mr Worrall’s granddaughter, Catherine Muir, and nephew, Ernie Worrall, coming forward.
Neither had known the story of Mr Worrall’s watch and did not know each other.
Ms Muir, who was close to her grandfather, said: “It’s been very emotional for me. I’ve been close to tears a few times during my visit to the museum today.
Read more: Watch sparks search for family of Athenia cook
“We lived near Sid in Law village and my brother George and I were in and out of his house all the time.
“For the last three to four years of his life he lived with us, as his health failed.”
Ernie Worrall, a psychiatrist, said he remembers Mr Worrall’s mother telling the story of how the family heard the Athenia had gone down but they did not know whether he had survived.
A neighbour had been at the cinema and watched a Pathe newsreel about the sinking and was sure she had spotted Mr Worrall coming off the rescue boat.
She went to Sid Worrall’s mother who ran to the cinema and caught the manager locking up for the night.
He allowed Mrs Worrall to sit in the theatre and watch the newsreel.
Ernie Worrall, 74, said: “Sure enough, it was Sid. Imagine how that must have felt, sitting there in the dark and suddenly seeing that her son was alive.”
Sid was the second fish cook on board Athenia and, when the torpedo struck, a large pot of boiling oil tipped over him, burning him very badly.
Read more: Watch sparks search for family of Athenia cook
He was taken on a rescue ship to Galway, where he and another cook were given treatment.
Ernie said he was made aware of medical notes for Mr Worrall from the time of his hospital stay in Galway.
A doctor travelling aboard the Athenia treated his burns with a mixture of ink and tar.
Sid Worrall went back to sea a year later, even though he had been badly burned.
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