ON A Q-BOAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLVII, Issue 10807, 30 December 1926, Page 6

ON A Q-BOAT.

SERVICE WITH SANDERS.

FIGHT THAN WON THE V.C

I (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, December 29. Mr «T. M. Wall, Master-at-Arms on the tourist ship Carinthia, served as gunner and boatswain on the mystery ship Prize, under the late. Lieut.-Com-mander W. E. Banders, V.C., D. 5.0., Auckland's naval hero, whose exploits against German submarines during the war will liye, in history. Mr Wall was a boy on the Calliope, and commenced diis great war in khaki —he smiles at the thought—an . the naval expeditionary force that fought the Germans and the coloured troops in the Cameroons. Upon going Home after that disturbance had subsided, he was posted to the destroyer Narwhal upon which he went through the Battle of Jutland., This ship got a couple of scratches on the funnel, but otherwise came through sea till ess.

Dangerous Service. Then came the call for volunteers to mail the Q boats, the mystery craft which had to tackle the submarine menace. One was a three-masted schooner, which, under the German flag, had been engaged in th© prosaic occupation of carrying salt from S'pain to Newfoundland, and bringing back salt fish. The outbreak of war caught her in Falmouth, and because she was the , first prize, taken was so named 1 . The last kind of vessel to be suspected of being a submarine killer, she was commissioned for the job. A 20-h.p. motor engine was put in her, which, according to Mr Wall, was able to, drive her at six knots when it did go. Lieut.Commander Sanders was given eoni- - mand, -and Petty-Offleer Wall became* 1 her gunner. She had three 12-pounder guns—two aft and one forward:. Those aft were hidden behind a kind of lattice, and the other was in what was called a lighthouse. The screens dropped at the touch of a lever, but, contrary to common impressions, tlie- guns were not instantly ready to fire. They had to be hoisted by levers into position, then loaded and sighted. Point blank was practically their only range, because German submarines were then mounting four-inch guiis'. They had to be lured close to enable the small guns of the. Prize to sink them. When Sandersi Won the V.C.

The exploit of April, 1917, vaguely located uponi the D.S.M., which came to Mr Wall at the time his commander occurred aboiit. 100 miles south-west of Fastnet on the south-west 'coast of Ireland. The submarine—kme of the latest, Germany had produced', came to the surface about 1000 yards away, and at once opened fire. She circled round the schooner at about that distance, pounding her all the time. At the outset, the panic party, well 'rehearsed in this most realistic drama, had done its piece. “Actors!” exclaimed the ex-gunner. “You couldn’t imagine it. They dashed about the ship, letting go ropes, and starting to let one boat drop and then chasing off to the other side to have a go at tlie boat there. The skipper was a great man for a smart ship, but by the time his panic boys had got the boat down and were pulling off like inad, they had done almost as much mischief as the shells from the submarine. All the while the gun crews were lying flat on.' deck behind their screened guns, and it was a mighty unpleasant job. There wasn’t an inch of armour anywhere, and the only thing to do was to lie tight, hope for the best, and wait for the submarine to do the silly thing by coming in close. The commander was the only man who saw everything. He was in a thing that was supposed to be a galley at the foot of the mam mast.

A Brave Leader. “L think the reason why everyone was able to stick it out. was his example. He did not know fear, and any man could be brave who was near him. lie had an extraordinary influence. in his room he had a motto in network above the door, * Fortuna ravet Fortibus. 5 When I found out that it meant ‘ Fortune favours the brave,’ I reckoned the ship had the right sort in: command. And if ever a man followed liis motto to the last letter it was Sanders. The coolest man 1 ever met!

“Well, the submarine, haying decided that the abandoned ship was burning. and sinking, came up astern, and her shells then had most effect. How anyone lived I don’t know, but we' Rad only six wounded. As she got in close, the commander came creeping along the deck from his galley, but he held the fire until she was within 60 yards. If we had opened sooner the submarine could have brought his fore torpedo tube to beam ‘ INow let her have it,’ said Sanders to me in a quiet matter-of-fact way. Down came the screens, up came the guns, and -before the Germans had time to realise the trap,' two guns had shells into her. Her gun crew might have put up a fight, but our bit© was too sudden, and down went the submarine. Courtesy to the Vanquished. “The panic crew picked up one man, the German captain. He was taken to the poop, where he asked what we would do with him. A man who had been seteing ‘ red ’ replied: What you would do with us.’ Then the commandant appeared, and I shall never forget his quiet greeting to the German: ‘Good evening, captain. 5 It was just as if they were meeting at tea. For everyone’s ears he added: ‘He has fought arid lost, and ho will not be ill-treated. 5 55

Mr Wall spoke in glowing terms of the personality of Commander .Sanders, as a leader who had not merely the respect, but the devotion of his men.