THE REVOLT AGAINST WAR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20876, 16 November 1929, Page 10

THE REVOLT AGAINST WAR.

"STUPIDEST,- MOST BARBAROUS METHOD (T SETTLING DISPUTES. ’ NAVAL COMMANDER AND U-BOAT CAPTAIN. Our cable news in yesterday's issue contained the following message transmitted by British Official Wireless from Rugby on November 13: —• A German ex-naval captain and a former officer of the British Navy who met on board a U boat in 1017 ami agreed that "war is rotten.” will appear together at a meeting in support of the League of Nations Union next Monday at Reading. They are Commander Norman Lewis and Captain Ernst Hasliagon. Cofmuander Lewis’s decoy ship was torpedoed by a U boat which was commanded by Captain llashagcn. He was picked np by the submarine, kept on board for 19 days, and treated with courtesy and kindness. When the submarine reached Heligoland the two officers shook hands before Commander Lewis was handed over as a prisoner. They will meet again for the hist time since then when Captain Hashagen roaches London on Friday. Commander Lewis will entertain him and introduce him to naval officers at the Pangbourne Naval College, The latest number of British Legion, the organ of the organisation of that name—the October number—contains an article which is of special interest inasmuch as it was written by Commander Lewis and describee the episode, of his capture by the U-boat of which Captain Hashagen was in command. Commander Lewis writes;— Before writing an account of my experiences as a i prisoner in a German Üboat, I will give a short description of what the U-boat warfare was. I certainly claim no literary merit, but can at least guarantee the strict accuracy of this narrative. The torpedoing of merchant ships by U-boats being against the rules of war was rather unexpected by Great Britain, and measures had to be devised to meet this peril. How great a' peril it was may be understood when it is realised that iu

the spring’ of 1917 there was only a few weeks’ food in. the country, and U-boats were being built faster than we could sink them. One of these measures was the decoy chip or Q-ship. The Q-ehip was generally a merchant ship, steamer, sailing ship, or fishing smack, with hidden guns, flying any nag, manned by the Royal Navy or_ Naval Reserve. Their name, decoy ships, describes them: they cruised the seas, hoping to pet a U-boat to attack them, and if possible lure her to her destruction. A considerable number of U-boats were destroyed in this way. The most successful captain was ' Commander Gordon Campbell, V.C. (now Admiral), who was responsible for, I think, three U-boats. At the beginning of the war it was easier to bag a U-boat than in 1917, when the German Government declared unrestricted U-boat warfare, which means they torpedoed every ship on sight without warning. At the beginning of the war, however, the Übont would signal to a ship to surrender, which gave the Q-slup a much better chance of luring her on. Truly a dirty business all round, but as wav itself is a murderous, stupid affair, it always seems io be a waste of time condemning some particular form of warfare; do away with war and atrocities will cease. And now my actual experiences. On April 30, 1017 —the most disastrous week of the whole war for our shipping—--1 was in command of the Decoy Ship Ql2, a sloop of some 1500 tons, but in the course of her construction she had been altered in appearance to pass for a merchant ship. It was about 1.30 p.m. on a fine spring afternoon, we were steaming along some 200 miles off the west coast of Ireland. I was on the bridge, when suddenly one of my seven look-outs reported. “ Periscope ou the starboard bow. Sir.” 1 saw it instantly, about 500 yards off. and pave the order to the helmsman to port his helm with a view to ramming or dropping a depth charge on the U-boat. Before the ship answered her helm, however, the same look-out reported, ‘‘Torpedo fired. Sir,” and the track of the torpedo was plainly visible coming directly' at us. It was an anxious moment. Would the torpedo go under ns or would it strike ns? Onr doubts were soon at rest, for the torpedo lift the ship fair amidships between the engine room and the stokehold, A terrific explosion occurred, followed by another when the boilers exploded. The effect was disastrous; my biggest boat was thrown on to the deck, my wireless came down. (lie disguise of my guns bccanv; exposed, and the ship was split in two, with a huge gap at the waterline on each side; she was pract : cally in two bits, probably held together by one fractured beam. I immediately got into touch with the first lieutenant and the chief engineer, who both agreed that the ship could not float ■ more than a few seconds, th; latter reporting _ that everyone in the stokehold and engine room tiad been killed, I therefore reluctantly gave the order to abandon ship, and with the assistance of a bluejacket threw- the iron safe, containing the confidential books, overboard. 1 should say that the behaviour of the men was admirable, and we got away in our three remaining boats without any mishap. 1 1: the meanwhile the U-boat was cruising around the ship, submerged, with bur I periscono above water, while we pulled ami drift d about one mile and u-half from the ship, and the U-boat finally came to the surface about a mile from us, we being in a direct line between her ami the ■ ship. We watched the men come np i through the conning tower, clear the guns I away, and train them apparently on us, I Here I may say that at this moment wc | felt more than uncomfortable. In comj mon with most people at that time under | the influence of war propaganda, we be--1 lievpd that (he Germans would show ns | no mercy.

Again I must digress to tell a trim, funny story; my steward, a butler in private life, those this rather trying moment to say, “ I’m afraid T left your cabin in a terrible state, Sir.” and at that instant the U-boat fired, a tense moment, and then to our considerable relief we board the aboil pass overhead, saw it strike the ship somewhere in the bows, saw the ship break in two, and go down vertieallv in two halves. The U-boat then came towards us and asked for the captain, an honour I had no wish to claim,, and certainly with no can. collar, tie or coat, and a very dirty old pair of blue trousers. I looked more like a tramp than a naval commander. However, ibere was no getting out of it, so we pulled alongside, and a young officer «.cauainted mo with the rathm-

obvious fact that I was a .prisoner. I was taken down through the conning tower to the captain, who asked me if I had any weapons or papers, to which I replied in the negative, and then, still being under the influence of propaganda, and expecting to be led off to instant crucifixion, was somewhat surprised to hear him say, “ Come and have a drink.” Being of a tactful nature, I had one. From then during the 10 days I was a prisoner there, I had nothing but kindness to record: all the cigarettes and wine I wanted, I lived in the officers’ mess and had a good bunk, and more still, chivalrous and considerate treatment that could not have been surpassed. I had many conversations with (lie captain, who, except that he believed that he was helping to save his wife and children from the starvation our blockade wa3 inflicting on them, had no liking for his job of sinking defenceless merchantmen. I must confess that war began to take on a somewhat different aspect when I found our enemies so very much like ourselves, ami so very different from what propaganda had made them out to be. During the time I was a prisoner some six steamers anti six sailing ships were sunk, the former lay torpedo and the latter by gunfire ami explosives, after the crews had left the ships. The procedure of torpedoing, which was frequently done at night, might bo of interest. The U-boat always cruised on the surface, a ship would be sighted, the Üboat lying tow in the wafer and invisible to her, would steam full speed on the surface in order to got wop ahead of her victim, carefully noting the course and speed. When in position tin: U-boat would dive, occasionally pulling up her periscope for a second or two to correct her course, finally, if a perfect calculation had been made, she would find herself some hundreds of yards on the bow of her victim, and then torpedo. From my bunk where I slept, I. could see the torpedo tube with the crew around it, ns we slowly, relentlessly and silently crept nearer, then the officer's orders, followed by a hiss as the torpedo left the tube, a short interval, and then an explosion as the torpedo found its mark, I think it was at this time that I got the spirit of the League of Nations. Think of it; what did this explosion portend? Loss of lives and valuable property, widows and orphans, and the next day perhaps, the sinking of the U-boat itself, more lives, more widows, more orphans, and to what cnd?_ Supposedly civilised, Christian countries, tearing one another to bits like tigers; the crass stupidity of it all appalled me. What curious things interested one at that time! The warrant officer who wore an arrangement at night to keep ’bis moustache a la Kaiser; the doctor who

was growing a beard, and assuming he started the day he left port, I computed the time the U-boat had been on her cruise. The joy one day when, after sinking a ship, an officer brought me 12 American magazines to read; I rationed myself to half-a-oue per diem. On one occasion, however, the career of the U-boat nearly came to an abrupt end. It was a misty morning, and I was on deck, when suddenly out of the fog came a small British cruiser. We hurriedly descended through the conning tower as she fired on us, we dived and crept away under water. Soon came explosion after explosion, getting nearer each time, and then one so near as to shake us badly; I fully realised that if the next was closer we should be done for, and amidst my own natural fears was the wonder whether the TNT that was being dropped on my bead was being made by my own wife, who happened at the time to be working in the biggest TNT factory in Great Britain. However, the next was further off, and wc crept away to safety. Alter 10 days we returned to Germany via the Channel, having a torpedo tired at ns by a British submarine on the way; finally arriving at Heligoland I was taken across the dockyard to a torpedo boat, which took me to Wilhelmshaven, where I was treated with the same consideration as I had received in the U-boat. I lunched with the officers, who crammed my pockets with cigarettes to last me for my journey across Germany. After passing a day in the naval barracks at Wilhelmshaven I was taken by a naval officer and a bluejacket to Karlsruhe, where f stayed about six weeks, and then to Freiburg for the rest of the war. On my return to England I heard that ray crew had been picked up the day after' Ql2 was torpedoed. In conclusion, it might interest your readers to know that tlirough the German Embassy I have just succeeded in getting in touch with the German commander of the U-boat that captured me. one of the most famous captains of the U-boat service, and have received a letter from him with the photos published on the previous page. Some, extracts from the letter may lie of interest:— I “AH the world often tells nonsense, and it would be far better if every body would believe only what they witnessed themselves.” “ That the German U-boat crews never have boon such barbarians as the newspaper wrote, yon had the opportunity yourself to make sure of.” “ 1 would only be too pleased if wc could keep the thread we newly knitted, upright/’ And what is the moral to all this? Why, that war is the stupidest, most barbarous method of settling disputes ever evolved by man. and that the British Legion, composed of those who have suffered by it. and the League of Nations Union, composed of those who abhor it. should work shoulder to shoulder to sec that never again is it let loose to cause destruction and misery -n this fair world of ours.