GALLANT FIGHT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 250, 4 August 1941, Page 8

GALLANT FIGHT

VICTIM OF GERMAN RAIDER. POINT-BLANK SHELLING. LONDON, July 18. The gallant fight against heavy odds put up by the Australian and English crew of the motor-ship Rabaul with a German raider has been told by a survivor who comes from Sydney. Against eight six-inch guns, fil’d point-blank, the gunners of the Ramuil fought until the ship was on fire and sinking. Some of them died at their post . In the battle two Australians and seven Englishmen were killed, and three Australians were wounded. Poured in Shells. The narrator, Irving King, aged 19, of Vaucluse, said the Rabaul was in the South Atlantic, bound for the Middle East. It was a cloudy night on May 14, when they sighted the raider Temesis, which poured in six-inch shells when the skipper refused to scuttle the Rabaul. The first salvo killed two Australians one of whom was manning the forward gun, and four of the Englishmen in the crew. “In all,” said King, “twenty-one shells struck the Rabaul, causing fires and lighting up a horrifying scene. We lay down in an alleyway, clad in pyjamas and thinking that death was near. The flames forced us up on deck. After what, seemed an- eternity the shelling ceased. Burning oil covered the deck .and the Rabaul was listing so badly that I slithered into the scuppers where I was badly burned by acid from burst containers. Leaking Lifeboat. “Wo lowered a lifeboat in the blinding glare of the Temesis’ searchlight. The Temesis began to move causing us to fear we were goners, hut the lifeboat was leaking and the ifcter casks had been holed; but the Germans were manoeuvring to shelter xis while they ( helped us aboard. They also lowered a launch to search for survivors. “We were transferred from the Temesis to the Japara on May 30. The Japara was a 3000-ton supply ship from Brazil. She had no prepared accommodation for prisoners, hut her crew did their utmost to make us comfortable. The Temesis, to prevent us mutinying, sent four guards with a machine-gun and hand grenades to the Japara, Rescued by Warship. “The days passed uneventfully, and we all grew hoards because there was only one razor among 78 prisoners. We were transferred on June 16 to the Alstertor, winch was a converted banana ship with first-class prisoners’ accommodation. iShe had a crew of 1/-year-old cadets. We were permitted to. be on deck all day. “We sighted British warships, at 2 p.m. on June 24, and the skipper told us to ‘jump for our lives’ as the ship was being scuttled. Wo rowed to a, warship and I was nearly made prisoner because I was wearing a ‘souvenired’ German cap.”