ORDEAL IN TASMAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22963, 15 February 1938, Page 14

ORDEAL IN TASMAN

IYACHT FROM AUCKLAND VOYAGE OF AURORA STAR GALE AND MOUNTAINOUS SEAS ' [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT] ' Sydney, Feb. n The 41ft. yacht Aurora Star, which left Auckland for Hobart on January ■lB us' a competitor in the transtasman yacht race, reached Sydney on Tuesday after a fast passage of less than four days from Lord Howe Island. Her crew, gave a graphic' description of the Tasman cyclone which the yacht encountered a few days after weathering the north end of New Zealand. The' yacht was hove-to continuously for 72 hours in a howling south-west gale which blew her about 400 miles north of her intended course, to the vicinity of Lord Howe Island. After this ordeal the crew decided to withdraw from .tha race and visit Lord Howe Island. Mr. H. E. Terry,; owner and master of the Aurora Star, said that the yacht proved herself to be wonderfully seaWorthy when hove-to under a staysail. The gale and mountainous seas she had encountered, he had since heard, had delayed transtasman steamers for as long iis two days, and he was not surprised. He estimated that the wind at times blew at between 70 and 80 miles an hour. The height of the seas was awe-inspiring, but the craft rode -them splendidly, and at no time were the occupants in danger. The yacht was not damaged. The Aurora Star remained at Lord Howe Island for five days before leaving for Sydney. Mr. Terry intends-to spend a few weeks in Sydney and he may mjike a cruise along the Australian coast before returning to New Zealand.

BAR TO VICTORIA CROSS

MODESTY IN A VILLAGE RETIRED ARMY DOCTOR [from our own correspondent] LONDON, Jan. 29 At "Marshalls," a country house hiding in a narrow lane behind the village of High Cross, in Hertfordshire, there now lives the only living man ever to have won a double Victoria Cross. He is Dr. Arthur Martin Leake, who recently returned to England on his retirement after 34 years' service as chief medical officer of the Bengal Nagpur Railway. In his room surrounded by trophies and numerous photographs of soldiers in uniform Dr. Leake is willing to discuss any subject except himself. It was during the South African War, when serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps, that he was awarded the Victoria Cross. The award was made for great devotion to duty and self-sacrifice at Vlakfontein, February 8, 1902, when ho went out into the firing lino to dress a wounded man under very heavy fire. When ho had done all he could for him lie went over to a badly wounded officer, and while trying to place him in a more comfortable position, he was shot three times. In 1912-13 Dr. Leake served in the Balkan war, and 1914 found him serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps on the Western Front. In February, 1915, a notice concerning him appeared in th« London Gazette, an extract from which reads: — "Bar to Victoria Cross. For most conspicuous bravery in rescuing, while exposed to constant fire, a large number of wounded who were lying close to the enemy's trenches." Dr. Leake in his leisure time is a cartoonist; many of his original sketches have been reproduced in magazines in India.