WAR MEMORIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 113, 16 May 1938, Page 10

WAR MEMORIES

FIRST NAVAL BATTLE A VISITOR'S STORY SON OF ADMIRAL VON • TIRPITZ To have been rescued by a British cruiser after his ship, the German cruiser Mainz, had been sunk undei him in the Battle of Heligoland Bight is one of the experiences in the life of Herr W. von Tirpitz, son of the late Admiral von Tirpitz, of the German navy, who arrived here today by the Awatea in the course of a world tour. Herr von Tirpitz is travelling with Drs. P. Lederer and A. Reithlinger, who are leading German doctors. The three are. directors of I. G. Farbenindustrie, a big German chemical firm, and they are studying general economic conditions in the course of their tour. At the same time, they intend

seeing as much as possible of the scenic beauties' of New Zealand. The firm produces pharmaceutical and photographic material, and its branches in New Zealand will be visited. The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, which took place on August 28, 1914, is remembered as the first serious contact between' the British and German naval forces'in the Great War. The action commenced at daybreak, and developed into a series of confused fights in misty weather upon a calm sea. At about 1.30 p.m. the action was broken off, and the British withdrew i under. Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, the sweep into' Heligoland Bight by the British light naval forces having been completed. .... One British cruiser, the Arethusa, and three destroyers were daipaged, with a total casualty list of 35 killed and 40 wounded. The Germans lost 1242 officers and men, killed, wounded, and prisoners. Three German cruisers, the Mainz, Koin, arid Ariadne, and one destroyer were slink, and the cruiser Frauenlob was badly crippled. BATTLE AGAINST ODDS. The German light cruiser Mainz pursued three divisions of British destroyers 'at about 11.30 a.m. After a 20-minute chase, four British cruisers were sighted coming out of the haze, and the Mainz turned to escape in the mist. She was hit twice by the cruisers, and; the destroyers turned back again in; pursuit, ■ Shortly after noon,. she was damaged by torpedoes from destroyers of the fourth division.

The Mainz, cornered by overwhelm-1 ing odds, turned arid dealt savagely with her attackers. The destroyer Laurel's after funnel was blown away and her captain severely injured; the Laertes was stopped dead by four hits from ,the same salvo; and the Liberty's mast was <sshot away and her captain killed. Under the concentrated fire of cruisers and destroyers, however, the German vessel was soon a helpless wreck. She struck colours at 12.50 p.m., and eighteen minutes later rolled over and sank. CMm'fnander (afterwards Admiral Sir Roger) Keyes put his ship, the destroyer. Lurcher, alongside the doomed vessel, and rescued 348 of liet crew, narrowly escaping as she sank. In his memoirs, Admiral von Tirpitz said: "August 28 was a day fateful, both in after-effects and in incidental results, to the work of the German Navy." , PRISONER OF WAR. "We came across, overwhelming odds," said Herr von Tirpitz in an interview today. "It was a terrific battle. We fought until all our guns were put out of action, and then we went down. I was taken out of the water by. a boat's crew, and was taken to England by the cruiser Liverpool, together with many other wounded and unwourided prisoners. We were landed at Leith, and from then on I passed most of the war period in a camp in Wales. In the latter part of the war I was exchanged to Holland, where. I had a somewhat better life in a neutral country.... -

"It was a horrible thing to be a prisoner of war when a young man, but I cannot cpmplain as to the treatment given me. It is riot a /pleasant thing to be penned up with a lot of other people in an enemy country. However, it is all over now, and I hope that such a thing will neve? happen again." j After the war, Herr von Tirpitz, left the German Navy with the rank of commander. Soon after he was a journalist for a short period, and' about ten years ago entered his present firm. He is to be in New Zealand two or three weeks. "I have heard about this country," he said; "its beauty, its hospitality, and its lack of poverty. I have heard a lot about it, but I want to see for myself." Asked about the situation in Germany, he smiled, and said: "I am a private person, and my outlook is not political. 'It is six months since I left Germany, and a lot has happened since then."