A survivor of a forgotten passenger liner sunk by the Japanese in the Second World War has told GB News he jumped into the water just moments before the ship was struck for a second time.
Abdul Gaffer Osman, 91, is one of the living survivors of the forgotten tragedy of the SS Tilawa in November 1942.
The Tilawa was en route from India to South Africa when it was torpedoed twice by an Imperial Japanese I-29 submarine.
The British India Steam Navigation Company liner was carrying 958 people and 6000 tonnes of cargo, including silver bullion destined for the South African mint.
In total 280 people were killed in the first attack on a passenger liner in the Indian Ocean.
It’s a story that would have been lost in time if it wasn’t for Tilawa 1942, the organisation, who for almost 20 years, have found survivors and descendants across the world and got them to tell their story.
Osman, who was just eight years old at the time the ship sunk, was onboard with his mother, brother, aunt, and uncle.
He told GB News: “Midnight, two o’clock, blackout.
The Tilawa was en route from India to South Africa when it was torpedoed twice by an Imperial Japanese I-29 submarine
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GB NEWS
“People were pushing each other and we were all pushed and forced to jump off the ship and into the water.
“There was no time to think. There was no other way to save your life.”
He described having to hold on to “a plank of wood” with “15 to 20 other people” as he watched a second torpedo hit and sink the ship moments after he’d made it into the water.
It would be two days before he would be found.
Abdul Gaffer Osman, 91, is one of the living survivors of the forgotten tragedy of the SS Tilawa in November 1942
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GB NEWS
British ships HMS Birmingham and SS Carthage swiftly mounted a rescue operation, and a total of 678 of the 954 people on board were saved from the water.
Abdul Gaffer Osman added: “It was cold and the waves were huge going up and down.
“The British came to save us, and I was lifted out of the water.”
In Leicester on Sunday, more than 300 people attended the 83rd anniversary event.
In a presentation, people learnt more about the discovery of the wreckage by Argentum Exploration in December 2014, and how deep-water investigation company Magellan, and others, were able to map the site in March 2025.
A memorial plaque has been installed onto the wreckage which sits more than 4000 metres deep.
The ship has become known to the descendants of the passengers and survivors as the “forgotten Titanic”. For many, their stories are finally being heard.
Rakesh Patel was at the event after he discovered his mother was a survivor.
He said: “They were looking to man the lifeboats, but in the commotion of it all, my six-year-old mother got detached from her parents.
“My grandfather, my mother tells us, said, ‘look, either we’re all getting off this boat together, or none of us are getting off’.
“On the lifeboat there was only a little bit of water and some biscuits. My mother says they were given a sip of water each and every so often and a piece of a biscuit. That fascinated us.”
If it wasn’t for the sacrifice of radio-officer E.B. Duncan, the location of the ship may have never been known.
During his remarks at the anniversary event, Emile Solanki from Tilawa 1942, told his story.
He said: “He was prepared to die with the ship.
“He kept sending out those distress calls, those last known location coordinates, until the very end.
“If it wasn’t for E.B Duncan, those survivors may have never been found by HMS Birmingham.”
He added: “May our hard work continue to ensure that one day the SS Tilawa will no longer be a forgotten tragedy.”