SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8177, 1 May 1919, Page 4

SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR

FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. A Whisky Story. A remarkable story was told at a Masonic banquet the other day, says a correspondent of a London paper. During the campaign in German West Africa a British officer, who had been severely wounded, was taken prisoner. As a gracious act his comrades on the British side sent to him, under cover of the white flag, two bottles of whisky, which they hoped would prove useful to him. One can imagine the surprise of the British officers when, some time later, they saw the prisoner return to camp. He had been released by the Germans purposely to convey to the senders of the whisky the thanks of the German officers. The note stated, in effect, that the officer prisoner had been exchanged for the whisky, the brand of which the Germans had not seen for eighteen months! Girl Stowaways on a Troopship. Two girls, one English and one French, who stowed away at Liverpool on board the U.S. transport Louisville, were detained by the immigration inspectors at New York, who are considering how soon they can be sent back home. Meanwhile a naval court-martial will try a commissioned officer and several petty officers, who were charged with having knowledge of their presence aboard. At Liverpool the girls said they wished to see a member of the crew, giving the name. They were allowed on board, and did not leave the vessel. When they were discovered they were assigned a state room, where meals were served them regularly. The Hun Pirate in Belgium. The Germans built great “train sheds” in the water to shelter their submarines at Bruges, Belgium, from bombs dropped from the air. The sheds have concrete roofs lift, thick, and are of massive proportions. From early in 1917 until the Huns were forced to abandon Bruges altogether, 4000 workmen were employed in building the great sheds for the undersea boats.

Hundreds of concrete pillars, each 2ft. thick and 25ft. high, supported the heavy roof. Eight of the shelters had been completed, and the ninth was being built, when the Germans decided to run along home. Largely owing to the offensive naval operations off the Belgian coast, assisted by aircraft, the two harbors became exceedingly unhealthy shelters for such comparatively fragile craft as submarines, and after the bombardment of May, 1916, the large floating docks at Ostend were towed around to Zeebrugge, and so up to Bruges. Following up this initial victory with vigor, British airmen commenced, in January, 1917, an intensive bombing campaign, directed chiefly against the docks at Bruges, the lockgates, and harbor at Zeebrugge, and the ship canal itself, which was, of course, the only outlet by which the submarines could gain access ot the sea. Some idea of the severity of these attacks may be gained from the fact that no fewer than 6123 bombs were dropped upon Bruges docks alone, while a similarly large number were dropped upon Zeebrugge and Ostend.