AFRICAN LABOUR BATTALION

Otago Witness, Issue 3315, 26 September 1917, Page 37

AFRICAN LABOUR BATTALION

A TRAGEDY OF THE WAR. (Fbom Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 27. One of the grimmest and most prosaic tragedies of the war is disclosed in an inquiry now proceeding into the loss of the West African liner Mendi, as the result of a collision in the Channel on February 21 with the Belfast steamer Darro. Built in 1805, the Mendi was owned fey the British and African Steam Navigation Company, and was requisitioned by the Government for war transport purposes. There were six lifeboats and a gig on board, capable of oarrying 296 adults; also 45 rafts and 1100 lifebelts. The Mendi reached Plymouth, having on hoard 88 officers and crew and 806 officers and men of an African labour battalion, and about 4.30 on the morning of February 20 she left Plymouth under Admiralty orders with an escort. The weather was hazy. About midnight she used her syren, and, as the weather became dense, she slowed down to half-speed. Other vessels in the vicinity were also using their sounding apparatus. The Darro, from Havre for Liverpool, was steaming 12i knots, and was not sounding any signals. Counsel for the Mendi said that while the master of the Darro was plainly breaking the rules, he might have been perfectly justified in the special circumstances. _ One ship was not carrying the regulation lights, the other ship was; one was going dead elow, the other full speed i one was making signals, the other, up to the moment of the collision, was deliberately making none. According to the evidence, the Darro, which had given no signals hitherto, on approaching the blew a long blast and put her engines full speed astern. She struck the Mendi nearly a right-angle blow, and then the ships separated, as both were going full speed astern. The effect of the low on the Mendi waa that she took a very heavy list to starboard, and the uort boats could not be lowered. She sank in about 20 minutes, and there were drowned 607 of the African natives and 29 of the crew. Only 195 were saved. The ooint was whether proper steps were taken in the circumstances to do the best that could be done to save the native labourers. So far as counsel's instructions went, the Darro took no steps whatever to render assistance to the Mendi or thoso aboard of her, with two exceptions. A' boat was lowered to pick un three people seen on a raft that was floating by, and an accomodation ladder was lowered when they saw two boats full of people come alongside. STORIES OF SURVIVORS. Captain Henry Arthur Yardley, the master of the Mendi, said he was floating for an hour and a-half before being saved by a destroyer. There were hundreds of Kaffir " boys " around him as he was floating, and most of them died from exposure. Eventually he came across a raft with 14 or 16 " boys," who had lifebelts on. One died from exposure on the top of the raft. The natives were warned by whistle after the collision oociured. _ Sir R. Acland: Do you think many of them were killed by the ship cutting into you?—-Sure to be, sir. They were in the holds between decks, whioh had been fitted for them. The Darro struck in far enough to out off esoapo from the hatchway into No. 1 hold. From the moment the ship was struck to the time he was thrown into the water thero was only a quarter of an hour. The natives knew exactly what to do in an emergency. Herbert Woolwright, chief officer, said that every effort was made to save life after the collision When he found he could not get to his boat he dived overboard. When he looked round a moment later the Mendi had disappeared.