Scissors from a lifeboat of SS City of Cairo : Mrs M H M Gordon

Pair of blunt nosed scissors with long slim blades fastened by a single screw in the centre and finishing in two small rounded handles. They were were part of a life boat first aid kit.

Associated with Margaret Hope Maberley Gordon who survived the sinking of the passenger ship SS City of Cairo in the South Atlantic in 1942. The ship sailed from Cape Town, and was torpedoed by a German U-boat on 6 November. When the ship was abandoned Mrs Gordon found a place in lifeboat No. 4, in which these scissors were part of the First Aid kit. Her husband drowned when the vessel sank. She and the ship's Third Officer, James "Knocker" Whyte, were the only occupants of the lifeboat to reach safety, when they were rescued off the coast of Brazil, 52 days later on 27 December. The other 15 occupants of the boat died during the time at sea. Mrs Gordon later joined the Women's Royal Naval Service and returned to Australia in 1946. On 27 September 1944 in New York, Mrs Gordon was awarded the British Empire Medal for her gallantry during the ordeal.