WORK OF NAVAL GUNNERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 166, 11 July 1918, Page 2

WORK OF NAVAL GUNNERS.

. The. fighting too was nii 1 , a verv invitingplap to be in (says a writer in the ■Oaily -Mail}. Situated at the head of the foremast, it had somewhat the appearance of the flange surmounting \ n giant- candlestick which had been fantastically decorated with pieces of quilted cloth. These were splinter matstrung around the top as a protection against enemy fire. One entered t-be top by creeping hand over hand up a sort of-skeleton ""ladder niade of iron grips riveted flush upon the mast. Climbing these was a difficult wav of getting heavenward. As the ship rolled so the mast swayed. Sometimes ■ one lay flat upon it. Next- moment one would be clinging desperately beneath it. Entrance to the top itself was obtained through a- narrow hole. through which one emerged and squeezed with care amid men's legs, piled ammunition, and the pedestals of guns. As for the top itself, once inside one found it to be a small circulr compartment with a narrow slife running around it, through which several small-calibre •weapons poked vicious noses. In the centre sfood an officer directing operations. At the guns were men ready to. press the firing keys., while others kept the belts of ammunition filled. Eachone was ~on- the stretch," : and as the officer gave the order the guns beganspouting a deadly mixture of lead and flame through the orifice. . Hardly a word was-spoken, for the sufficient reason that voices were drowned by the fiendish.-rattle of the guns. T; matic riveting machines were! runnirn. sounded as though half a dozen auto in this tinv chamber, while every no v. and again the lessor noises were drown

Ed and cartridge belts refilled. Just as "pom-poms." ißapidly boxes wera opem •:}?:■'■•■> Hammer beats of the rapidly tie guns emptied them. ?siiioKe> acna ana asphyxiating, back into the faces of the gunners. But they fought grimly on. Oocasion.it

.;- *? es „" w >Pe away the blinding fo«r. continually men tried to spit the ng tumes from their throats. Then suddenly there came a. detonation loudei than all, followed by a half-stifled in -s a man fell across the breech of his f" and rolled lifelessly to the floor. An enemy shell had entered the top md out one of the guns tempunmlv ut ot action.

Carefully the wounded gunner was moved aside and another took his place at the firing key. .Men might fall, b,t the fight must go on. And it did. 6th.«r shells came in. More men dropped. 'J he ••athetic heap of mangled humanity few momentarily larger, yet the outpouring = tream of fire and lead continued to : o", ivom every part of the tops ]>eripherv. Guns jammed. Men tugged them ilea-, ind grasped newly filled belts, rattli-.ig these through as q-uickly as the guns would carry them.

By now the floor had become a gh.ist'y litter of. spent shell, spent men, and >lood-stained clothing. The revolting debris of war piled higher each second. No more commands came from the officer. He was "down and out." Scarce y one of the top's complement remained inwounded, but they kept the guns gong all the same. At last their fire began to slacken ■Mid guns fell idle because there was !one to use them. Some of the weapons ;ad become casualties also, through diect hits injuring their mechanism. Before the battle was over only one ;f them continued working. That one -as a "pom-pom," w r hich a wounded

marine handled aS best- ho. could. Of a]' those, stationed in the-top he-,v|as thf only oui' left capable of working a gun and he determined to keep it going U the end. . ..

-No* faitCy , enough description of an actual fight War is not beautiful anvwherc. in ;

warship's lighting top it assumes a v>n ugly aspect.