A MAORI WAR VETERAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19388, 24 July 1926, Page 12

A MAORI WAR VETERAN.

ADMIRAL SIR E. FREMANTLE.

BIRTHDAY PASSED

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] LONDON, June 17. Admiral Sir Edmund Fremantle, who served, in the Maori War from 1064 to 1866, celebrated his 90th birthday by attending the Ascot meeting on its opening day. In the morning he received a bouquet containing ninety red roses. He is the only living flag officer who was born in the reign of William IV.

Sir Edmund entered the service in 1849 when the old sailing vessels were still the bulwarks of the navy. "My first vessel was the Queen," he said, recounting some of his experiences, "which I joined at Plymouth. She was a three-decker and carried-a crew of 500 men. In those days we bad no training vessels at all, and a young man had to go straight to a seagoing ship to obtain groundwork and training. On the Queen' we even had to give aid in fitting out the mess. -Now everything is supplied by the Government. "Of course, I always thought the Queen .was the. finest yessel in the service, and she certainly had a reputation for being a very smart vessel, We flew the flag of Sir William Parker while we were sailing .in the Mediterranean. He was at one time one of Nelson's captains and commanded a frig&te at Trafalgar. On our boat we were very strictly disciplined by Captain Charles Wise, who, although he was a very good fellow, was a real tartar. I had hardly joined as a midshipman when I attracted his attention. He had a perfect loathing of sailors wearing gold watch chains, and before coming to sea I had had one given me for my birthday. As soon as he pointed out his objection, of course, I put it away in my locker, but I felt a bit sore at the time. Some years afterwards I met the captain again, and was a bit taken aback to find that he had a watch-chain. "If a man appeared on deck without a ribbon on his hat, he was pretty sure of a flogging if the captain saw him. We also had to work every day of the week, and there was no question of knocking off on Sunday; in fact, we had to get' up at 4.30 in order to scrub the decks and be ready for service. However, we all liked our captain and were proud of him, as being a groat sailor and a smart officer, who was always very kind to those who tried their best to do the work properly. I spent three very happy years on the Queen. "I am not sure," added Sir Edmund, "if I didn't enjoy the middy life as much as that of an admiral. I was very proud of be'ing even a midshipman in the admiral's galley. I am a direct descendant myself of one of Nelson's captains, Captain Thomas Fremantle, who commanded the Neptune at the Battle of Trafalgar. Mv son, Admiral Sir Sydney Fremantle, and my grandson, Sub-Lieutenant Edmund Fremantle, are still in the service, and so we are a thoroughly naval family." Sir Edmund keeps his diary written up every day.