BOOK OF THE WEEK

Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1934, Page 13 (Supplement)

BOOK OF THE WEEK

' MINOR NAVAL CONFLICTS

(By

U.S.)

“Smoke On The Horizon’’ ' (Mediterranean Fighting, 1914-18). V’ce-Ad-miral C. V. Usborne. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., London, per A. J. Fyfe Ltd-, New Plymouth. Price 8s 9d. The author calls this record of naval warfare a story of “minor engagements,” but seeing that they included the naval operations supporting the Gallipoli campaign they are thrilling enough to merit, a less modest description. The restraint of the book is its most remarkable characteristic. Experiences that are a gamble to the limit with death are referred to as ordinary duties. There is no attempt at describing the horrors of. war, but there are very able and interesting efforts made to show how the Allied navies met entirely new war conditions, how British, French, Italian and German sailors showed a disregard of personal risk, and how near to collapse was Britain when the submarine of Germany bid fair to rule the waves. The book opens with the sorry story of the escape of the German .warships Goeben and Breslan and their acquisition by a Turkish government sore at the decision of Great Britain to retain possession of the warships she was building for Turkey. Diplomacy blundered then and through all the negotiations with the Turks, or the history of the Great War might have been very different. Until ,the coming of the submarine to Mediterranean waters the Allied naval forces had fairly complete control of the situation. The Austrian fleet was bottled up in the Adriatic and the German in the North Sea, and if the Allies could not use the Dardanelles neither could the Turks and their allies come through the Straits without the "risk of engagement. But the .submarine altered all that. The toll of shipping taken in the Mediterranean became appalling, and for some months, it seemed, as though the efforts to suppress the submarine were fruitless, or at any rate,, inadequate to stem the ’ mischief they were causing. Ultimately, as the world now knows, defensive ■ measures, were . effective. The risk- of service in German submarines became too great and with the refusal to man them' came the certainty of defeat for Germany. This book, plain record of thrilling encounter as it is, does not rely upon policy for its interest. It is the story of how the navies carried out instructions of which they did. not always approve, and it is a record of personal intrepidity that warms the blood of any Briton to read of. , , Take the story of the first submarine to traverse the heavily mined Dardanelles, the 8.11- under the command of Lt. Norman D. Holbrook. The vessel was bld in construction and design, and she had to pass under five miles of mines, , and through a was swept by Turkish searchlights. Yet. Holbrook succeeded and torpedoed a Turkish battleship .by way of a souvenir of his visit. The effect, says Admiral Osborne, was great “It injured the whole fibre of Turkish morale, and correspondingly heartened that of our own forces. It robbed .mine-fields of some of their terrors, showing that submarines could negotiate them, and had, an immense effect upon the campaign.” Work of another sort was the patrol of the Syrian coast by. the old cruiser Doris. The story of the negotiations for the demilitarising of Alexandretta is of the navy at its best. The Turkish military commander tried bluff. . If Alexandretta v/ere shelled, he would shoot the English prisoners in Damascus. The bluff failed, and the story of the destruction of the Turkish railway plant is very amusing. “The engines had no steam up; therefore, said the Turks, they could not be brought out into the open.” Let the Turkish soldiers drag them out, was the imperturbable reply of the British naval officer. The fires were lighted and “at length these came a puffing and with a shrill whistle and a cloud of steam a large engine clanked slowly out.” But patrol of the Syrian coast was the lighter side of Mediterranean naval activities, and then came the inquiry from the Admiralty whether it was practicable to force the Dardanelles using ships alone. Admiral Carden decided the risk was worth taking, and the long-drawn-out naval and military operations in and around Gallipoli commenced their heroic days. . On the very day the Anzacs made thenmemorable landing the only Australian submarine in. action made her way through the Straits, under or through the minefields,, and through the Narrows into the sea of Marmora. The story of the landing, and particularly of the “River Clyde,” is told from a new angle. No writer can add any lustre to the imperishable bravery of that epic of modem warfare. But the book shows to whom was due the conception of the “River Clyde” as a landing stage, and how the Fates seemed to fight against British valour and hopes. It is a story that can never fade, and this description of it from a naval officer not concerned with the strategy of the landing force, but only with the navy’s duty to get the soldiers ashore, has an interest that is very refreshing even in regard to a happening that has been so frequently described and discussed. Bravery was not a British monopoly. Admiral Usborne pays tribute to the gallantry of the French and Italian sailormen, who were always willing to seize the chance of adventure, knowing that failure spelt death. After Gallipoli came the anti-sub-marine war in the Mediterranean. It was not spectacular as a rule, but there were, purple patches. Take the story of the Italian Merchant Service officer Riggio, who devised a special small motor torpedo craft “able to heave itself over wire obstructions and so get into an enemy’s harbour where it could use the torpedo.” Riggio’s objective was Trieste, where an Austrian fleet was lying. He succeeded in his attempt and the Austrian fleet was minus a battleship when the intrepid Italians withdrew. Then there is the swimming. of an Italian naval surgeon into the impregnable harbour of Pola, towing with him a specially designed machine. It consisted of two mines loaded with a strong explosive charge and of a compressedair propelling apparatus. Sometimes the “infernal machine” dragged the man after it, sometimes he had to pull it along himself.. The description of that terrific undertaking is beyond conden--1 sation. It deserves to be read, and read again. Once again bravery was rewarded and the day of the Allies’ victory brought nearer. But despite all bravery can do. and there was abundant courage shown by the enemy as well as by the Allies, war is an ugly business.

Children ! Purchase your school books here and receive a matinee ticket for Everybody’s, Opera House, or Regent Theatres for every 7s 6d spent. For smaller amounts you will receive a pencil sharpener. All Text books and stationery in stock. A. J. Fyfe Ltd., Devon Street, New Plymouth, Phone 1397*