Line Up - Edith Russell

Edith Russell recalls how nobody took the incident seriously at first. They had snowball fights with ice from the iceberg, and Edith carefully locked up her valuables before reluctantly making her way to the lifeboats. She reveals details of her inappropriate attire - a tight sheath dress and velvet pumps - and her toy pig, which she carried to safety.

Edith Russell was a fashion writer at the time, and later went on to report from the trenches during World War I. She lived at Claridges Hotel in London during her final years and died in 1975. Pictured is the first class staircase on the Titanic (courtesy of Corbis).

Originally broadcast 14 April 1970.