FROM SOUTH POLE TO NORTH SEA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16339, 23 March 1915, Page 6

FROM SOUTH POLE TO NORTH SEA.

LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER RENNICK HEROIC DEATH. : (FftOK OU» OWN CuBBKBPOMDBin.) LONDON, January 19. Out in the heavjng North..Sea since the. war began have been men on active service who previously havo sailed to the Antarctic; they are not oa one ship, but are scattered among different commands, and they form, the subject of an article in- Mr T. P. (SConnor's paper, " Great Deeds of the Great "War.'i , It falls to this writer- to mak,e known to the, public for the first time how heroic was the end of Lieutenantooramander ,H. de P. Rennick, who had' previously been on board the Terra Nova, and whose never-failing good spirits and boyish nature made him loved .by the whole crew. Out in the Antarctic nothing daunted him, and the characted he earned in those lorg nights when the blizzard howled round the snow-covered shacks at Hut Point passed out with him in an exit which is "unsurpassable in its bravery. ALWAYS CHEERFUL. Thus the story runs: —"On the outbreak of war Lieutenant-commander liennick was appointed to the cruiser • Hogue, and his shjp, together with the Cressy and the Aboukir, was gvien the difficult task of patrol duty in the- North Sea. Stories o£ Kennick's cheerfulness during the trying days of that vigilant watch, come from an officer who -was attached to the explorer by the firmest ties of friendship, 'lhe trials of the watch, the discomfort of the winter conditions, wore nothing to him, for he had well earned the lesson taught by days and nights when the mercury .slip? below zero and there is little warmth in the wet sleeping bag., ■".■..,.'■■: •'When the Hague received her deathblow from the stealthy submarine; Lieutenant Rennick was one of those' who might have been saved. He preferred to save others. He was a strong swimmer, and quite easily made his way in the water to one of the many planks that had been cast up from the sinking ship. Ho might have held to that plank until the'. rescue ship, came up. But his thoughts were not for his own safety. Struggling in the water near him were many men unable to swim at all. To one of these the-lieutenant promptly swam with his plank, giving the poor felloiv his own chance; of safety. H& found other planks, but on each. occasion' he refused to avail himself of their support; he always towed them through the bitter, moaning sea until he reached and saved some seaman struggling in a desperate plight. . '. ..'-.■■■,.- HIS LIFE FOR HIS MEN.

"Four times he accomplished this heroic act of self-sacrifice, then under the stress of the sea and the cold and his own great efforts, his strong frame weakened, and while swimming to yet another baulk of timber his strength failed him, 'and he sank, going to his death as his friend and comrade 5 , Captain Oates, had gone, heroically, simply, and uncomplainingly. . " Rennick's last great act has never been properly honoured. It is known to .but a 5

few, for' in the' confusion of that disaster there -were not many sailors who lived to tell of hb devotion. It is only from an officer's lips that the story has- been told. But it is a story magnificent in its spirit; it is well for us to know of this man.who could live so staunchly and die so superbly." Lieutenant-commander Renniek was married to a daughter of Mr A. S. Paterson, of Dunedin.

Paymaster Drake is on board the fighting ship, Undaunted which has had several narrow escapes, and was very nearly destroyed by torpedoes while engaged in the destruction of enemy vessels.

"COMMANDER EVANS—THE MAN!" AN APPRECIATION.

Commander Evans, who has been doing able work with tie destroyer flotillas which are guarding our Eastern shores, is classed as a man of "the true sea-type." His face is that of a fighting man, "from the thin keen forehead to the swelling strength of the great and resolute jaw. It is the face ,of a man tenacious and, obdurate in , the face of all difficulties. It is not, however, the' face of a ruthless or' ugly nature* Beneath tho great" strength of purpose is tha great Etrength of humanity and sympathy. In relaxation he can be the most boyish of mm and tho most sterling and companionable' of comrades. His charity is as large as himself, and he is always doing kindly actions. ...

" Like, an inspiration, the spirit of Scott hangs over the North Sea, smiling an encouragement and a . benediction over our waiting and watching ships, and- like a cross above the trenches hangs the vision of that lone cairn which memorises a ' gallant gentleman's undying act.' The spirit of Scott and the spirit of Oatee_ are the spirit; of the two services; from their quiet, their uncomplaining, their noble,. and their lonely deaths the spirit which is of our race re-. vives upon the waters. Scott and his -valiint company still drive our long ships forvard against our foe along "the smoking

seas."