WAR NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 16196, 18 August 1916, Page 6

WAR NOTES

[By Ex-Yeoman.]

LONDON, June 28,

WHAT WE OWE. What a debt we owe the Navy will never be recognised by people, and only partly so by others. It is nothing unusual to meet people who say they ara unable .to take any real interest in the war, and who quite fail to realise that they really are concerned. If, however, one asks these peoplo without imagination if they would bo interested in th» work of firemen trying to put out a fire in their house, they reply; "Oh, of courso I should, but that would be a personal matter." That the Empire is on, fire 3-nd the gallant sailors and soldiers are trying to put out the flames and save us from ruin is not so widely appreciated as it should be. One gets a faint idea of what the Navy has done when reading the really splendid description of the submarine service as told by Mr Rudyard Kipling in a series of articles he has just penned. It would be well if every man and woman throughout the Empire could read these articles, for some .of the incidents related would arouse gratitude in even the selfish crowd. Imagine a submarine working amongst the ice of the Baltic, her thin skin being scraped and bumped by floating ice, and masses of it on her conning tower, so that a man had to be constantly at work scraping it away, otherwise it would not have been possible, to open it. Then think of submerging under such circumstances, and the feelings of the crew when wondering if they would find ice above them when trying to rise. Little do we, who owe our food to the Navy, realise the sacrifices made for us by the gallant sailors. Another remarkable series of adventures is related by Mr Kipling about a submarine on duty in the Sea of Marmora. Enemy.boats were all around, whilst mines, both floating and anchored, were constantly encountered. Nothing daunts our men, however, and this particular boat came up and gave a Turkish gunboat a torpedo although surrounded by enemies. Ouf little submarine was on the surface long enough to see his torpedo hit the mark, but hasty submerging was then necessary, as men on an enemy hoat were leaning over and trying to grapple the periscope. How one can admire such splendid fellows, who thus ran into the very jaws of the enemy so as to get off a torpedo! Another eyeopener is when the commander of a submarine reports that he wa« compelled to submerge quickly after discharging a torpedo, as one of his periscopes was dam--aged by a shot, and he dare not risk tTie remaining one. as if that were out of action he would he blind. One other incident throws a further light on the work of our submarines. One commander relates how he stopped a number of ships containing refugees bound for Constantinople, and the delight of- the passengers on hemp allowed to proceed, instead of being "Lusitaniaed," as they expected. THE MAN OF THE HOUR, Me Hughes, of Australia, has every right to feel pleased with the appreciation he has received in England. The banquet tendered to him in London at the week-end was marked bv some very important speeches, which, 'if thev are earned out. will mean the adoption of a policy advocated by the writer in these notes since the war and elsewhere mamyears ago. The most important is in recard to an ImrTerial Parliament, and Lord Losebery touched the. spot when he said the Crown and a judicial committee of the Privy Council would not suffice to run the Empire after the war. What every patriot must remember, however, is that the Government as at present constituted have shown by their actions that they arc not Imperialistic, and that measures likely to help the Empire and harm Germany are not in favor among our socalled leaders. It will not do to forget these things, for if the men in office havo the making of peace there is no tellinc what will happen. Writing about this matter, further indignation has been created by a recent announcement that no fewer than 22.0CK] Germans are still at large in the United Kingdom. Many of them are of military acje. though age makes no difference. Worse still, a large number hold positions of an official character, whilst others ars in banking and financial circles, and therefore able to do much harm. HEROES. Every day brings further proof tha,t the lighters of the present arc even greater than the warriors of old. When men got to close quarters it was natural that they were roused to the highest* pitch and did de:ds of daring. If needs courage of a greater quality to hang grimly on to a trench when being shelled and unable to hit back, as is often the lot of infantry. This seems to be the general opinion 'of men in a position to speak with authority. Home of our super-heroes havo indeed done wonderful things. Take tlio case of Company Quartermaster-sergeant E. S. Beech and Lance-corporal Vickery, of the 7th Battalion Scaforth Highlanders, for instance. These brave men mounted the parapet of a trench at a critical moment, and though exposed to heavy fire, cheered up the men by playing well-known tunes on mouth organs. Well do they deserve the D.C.M. they each won. Another wonderful deed was that of Private S. Littleford, 9th Manchestcrs, who saved the lives of many comrades by throwing a bomb out of a' trench, being wounded in the arm by the explosion. The splendid deed "of Captain Martin Leake, K.A.M.U., who gained a bar to his V.G., is recalled by the action which has secured the. V.C. for Captain J. A. Sinton Indian Medical Service. In spite of tho fact that he was shot through both arms and the side, he refused to go to the dressing station, but went on attending to the wounded undor heavv fire as long as daylight lasted. - No wonder our officers and men are loud in praise of each other, and feel confident "of beating the enemy. THE BLUE ANGELS. Whilst riding in the train recently with a London soldier en route for tho front after a short leave, the writer was much impressed with tho way ho praised tho Indies who look after our soldiers at tho \..M.C.A. huts and other canteens He said they never seemed to be tired of helping, though, to use his words, ." some of them are titled ladies, who have not been used to work." The cockney then made another remark which one hopes will come 'x'. 10, . VI j: : "P? action of theße "•»<! other Indies will do a lot to end the wide breach between classes hefore the war."