PRECIOUS MAORI SKIRT
THE RAMILLIES' WAR-CHARM Rec. 9.20 a.m. LONDON, Sept. 13 , The Press Association's naval correspondent says there is something mor< precious than gold on board the battleship Ramilles—a Maori skirt which was presented by a Maori chieftain when the Ramilles visited New Zealand in 1939. The ship's song says:
"In Wellington this ship was blessed With the Maoris' full tradition: A skirt of grass was given her To guard her on her mission. In action and in battle's sway This ship shall have no hurt, Provided that the captain wears This gift, this Maori skirt."
Nobody is allowed to touch the skirt except the captain, who must take it to the bridge himself and wear it *in action. Captain Keble-White, of -the Ramilles, is" so tall that the skirt dangles around his knees. The Ramilles has steamed 138,000 miles during the war. Rome, radio claimed three times that she-had been sunk. The captain has worn the skirt on all critical occasions. As the ship's song testifies:
"He wore it in Sardinia, In the Bismarck chase as well, He wore it, too, at Bardia, And in the Atlantic swell."
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 65, 14 September 1943, Page 5
Word Count
190PRECIOUS MAORI SKIRT Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 65, 14 September 1943, Page 5
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