- His youngest son, Brian, was killed in action on the the very first night of World War II. His oldest son Roger was later killed in the final months of the war.
- Served as Second Officer on the Titanic.
- His command, the destroyer HMS Falcon sank six years to the day that the Titanic sank.
- Was originally assigned to the Titanic as First Officer, however Captain Smith decided at the last minute to bring over his chief officer from his last command, which meant Chief Officer Murdoch was reduced to First, and Lightoller in turn was reduced from First to Second.
- Had a tattoo on his left arm. He is only one of two Titanic officers to have a tattoo (the other being Harold Lowe).
- He admitted murdering unarmed prisoners of war in 1918 following the sinking of the German submarine UB-110, an incident widely viewed as a war crime.
- A heavy pipe smoker, he died during the Great Smog Epidemic in London.
- Lightoller may have been responsible for the mass loss of life on the Titanic, taking his captain's orders to load "women and children" onto the lifeboats as "women and children only". Several vessels that were launched from the ship's port side were only half filled and he famously allowed just one man, a mariner who could help guide the boats, into the lifeboats.
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