"JUST A FIGHT."

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 14185, 30 December 1916, Page 2

"JUST A FIGHT."

HO-W ,ONE FEEI*S,IN A NAVAIi

BATHjE.

A LIEUTENANTS. YA^-N.

"And— about ■ ,this Jutland fight ?" <1 hiiited, not for, the fir(?t time, to a lieutenant of one of thfe destroyers. ,esnga,ged, just after .the fight (writes .^lr Rudyard Kipliiig, m the fourth oi his series oi articles). . , . , , "Oh, that was .just a fight. There wag more. of. jt -than any other fight, v l suppose, but I' ekpe'ct : all modei^n. nava actions must be pretty much the same." ' !But ywhat does on©-; do-^how} does onf feel?" I insisted, though I knew it was hopeless., , - - •-•■ ( ■■.";;.->• --■■ ■-; -\i ■-. s-'v ■ "'Qne does one's job. Tilings are happening 1 all-.the itjme. A mail, may b^ right .urjder your nosia> one minute—seryingiH. gun..^.or-; something, and. the next minute ;he isn't there." .

' 'And one . notices that at , the . time?" . ."Yes; .. But ihere|^iio time . t<j, keep on noticing: it. Yoßk-^ot to carry -on somehow or other. show stops, -i tell you vfhat one ooje© notice, though, If one- goes below for anything, or has to pass through a flat somewhere, and one sees the old wardroom clock ticking, or a photograph -pinned «P> <&. anything of .that sort, one notices that. Oh yes. and there was another thing — the way a ship seemed to blow up if you were far off 1\er. ...,. You'd see.. ..a,: glare, then » blaze, a^d ..t)jen,tlie snioke-Hmiles higlv lifting quite slmvly. ' Then you'd get the row and the jar of iferr-just like bumping over submarinos. Tb^"* i% i on » while after p'raps ; yow run through a regularrain of bits of burnt^pape-T comuigj down on the decks— like .showers of volcano ash, y,bu Jviipw."/ 'ili.e .door of the operating' i'bom' seemed just about tft dp'an, but it shut,- again. • ■••

HUN: ■ GUNNERY' VARIOUS

"And t! 1 © Hun's -gunnery?!!' 'i

''That was various. . Stometimes theybegan quite < well," arid went ' tb" pieces after they'd been strained a. little; but sometimes they pick-sd up again, '^here %vaa one- Hun-boat . that'- got " no end ot, a -hammering, arid it seemed to do" her gunnery good. She improved tremendoiisly till we' sank her. I expect * we'd knocic out some scientific Hun m the controls and. he'd been succeeded by a man who" knevr how."' ". '. *

It used to be //.Fritz" hist.yeap. yhen they ■-■sppkV.of/ the* en^my;' . " so^'.. it^'i?Hun, 'bi% a^.;l^hayo heavd^ "Xahuh," ,l>eiiig/a superlative, 'of Yanob. . liy the N'a.pplepnip . wars We. call)eH; thje Wertchimaii,. too' 1 many ■ liamefe' foil iitiy ofte;' of them to end«x i -e ; but this is i\\s sxfj-6 o\ standardisation.. - , ■■■'. ._/,;■.-.-..:/■ ' "Arid what about our iiowea* Deck ?' X continued.- ' '.'•:• ■ . ■•■

;• "They? Oh, .they carried on as *«ual. It takes a lot- to ' ■, itoyvesk .Ithe Lower "Deck when they're busy." And he mentioned several, li.ttle things than confirmed this. Th.cv had a gr^at deal to do, an 4, they-., did ;it sere'liely;, t*eea«s3 ;they had been traio^cl <>n under jail conditions, without pajiicking. What they did m the Avay 6{ -ninning repairs Jn*as e.yeu more wonderful,, if thftt J'e ,p6»9^ble, than thei^ nbrWaJ Routine. , : i /■•■•■■' ' ' ' '-^V '' ■

; ; ' V. '<•'" : 0 &.p.&k::X ...,'.: '■': • Talking of picking" u& th£r© wasian instance of ajniosfc i unparalleled! Joss which lmd stuck m ■'th©' | ', : liieutehant-'s memory. A spJ^ie^-maaV,. to one of the officers m one of o^t'ishjpsp that was put down,. had. go j t.,five J "da.ys' leave from .the trenches, winch .he spent^wifch relative 'aboard, &Wk *k?.H d j ii, for the whole performance^,', -He had been employed. m- helping £o.'sjsot r and had lived up a, mast till v tb.'e ship' sank, Jwhen he stepped off. info tfle water an.d swani about till ho was fished out .. and put ashore. * By 'that time, the^tale'goesj his engine-room-dried -khaki had shrunk )mlf-way up his legs and arms, m which cpstume he reported himself /to, tji.e WUr 'Office, and pleaded for one little day's extension of loaye to make himself ' decent. "Not a bit of it,", said the War OHioe. "If you chose to spend your leav> jplayiiiig with 1 sailormen , and getting \eet; all . over, that's .ycrvir concern. . Xod will, return to duty by to-night's boat,-^ jThis may be a libel -on. the; WjO.., b»jU it sounds like theiri.) "And he had to./' paid the boy, "but 1 expect; he spent the week at Headquarters telling generals all about thef. fight." • : • ; "TOO- NEAR WBEQRJSAT. 1 ' • ."And, of course, \the Admiralty, gave ; you lots of leave?" ' , '" ,;• i.,4 ; "Us? Yes, heaps. Wo had no^liing: to. do except clean down and oil up, and 1 be, i - ea<ly to got o sea again}. in a' few hours." ". :;,;.: „ .\^;y:' ./7 - i That little fasii was bro^gKjj'.out at. t-jie end of almost every . destroyer s repo.ftV l",Havinet returned -to base at sucK aiid such a tiiiip, I tock m oil/ eic., arid reported wftdy for -'sea at "',■■ o'clock:'.' fWhe'n yon. think of the amount of v \vovk a sljip. needs,-, even ;'. after peace manoouvres, you can idealise what had to pc done on tho hed»'of an':" action. Not m the thick of the fight, I Not ill. tiro pr^s of, tUo .pdfls, Bo the heroes oome to' tlieir' height ■ .' i Ov. we kriovr (\\e> demi-godH, [That stands pvev till peace. , We can only perceive ' . Men. returned from the seas, % . i Very, . grateful , for leave. - \

They grant us sudden days Snatched from the business of war, We are too close to appraise What manner of men they are.

And whether their names go down With age-kept victories, »-»- Or whether they battle and drown. Unreckoned is hid from our eyes,

They are too near to be great, -, But our children shall understand When and hm\ our fate Was changed, and by -whose hand.

Our children shall measure their' worth. We are content to be blind, For we know that we walk on a newborn earth With the saviours of mankind.