Master Edmond Roger Navratil, 2, was born on 5 March 1910 in Nice, France.

He boarded the Titanic at Southampton with his father, Michel and brother Michel Jr. The family was travelling under the assumed name of Hoffman, Mr Navratil had stolen his two sons from his estranged wife Marcelle.

During the voyage the boys were looked after once by Bertha Lehmann, a Swiss girl who spoke French but no English, while their father played cards for a few hours. It was the only time he let them out of his sight.

Edmond and his brother were recued in Collapsible D, their father perished.

Aboard the Carpathia, the boys, unable to speak English, were dubbed the Orphans of the Titanic, when they turned out to be the only children who remained unclaimed by an adult. First Class survivor, Miss Margaret Hays agreed to care for the boys at her New York home (304 West 83rd Street) until family members could be contacted.

Marcelle Navratil, recognized her boys from newspaper stories and was brought over to America by the White Star Line where she was reunited with her sons on May 16. The three sailed back to France on the Oceanic.

In later life Edmond worked as interior decorator and then became an architect and builder. He was married.

During World War II he fought with the French Army, was captured and made a prisoner-of-war. He managed to escape from the camp in which he was held, but his health had suffered and he died in the early 1950s aged 43.

Articles
Evening World, 22 April 1912, No Light on the Mystery Hiding the Identity Of Two Waifs of the Sea

References
Don Lynch & Ken Marschall (1992) Titanic: An Illustrated History. London, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0 340 56271 4
New York Tribune

Contributors
Hermann Söldner, Germany