IN NICK OF TIME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 118, 22 May 1942, Page 5

IN NICK OF TIME

! REMARKABLE RESCUE EMPRESS OF ASIA STORY 1. 1 - ! Sydney, May 20. Members of the crew of the Empress of Asia who are now in Australia tell the full story of the sinking of the, transport and of how the sioop Yarra, in the face of grave danger, rescued a large proportion I , of the liner’s troops. j I Mr. W. H. McArthur, one of the en- . I gineers on the Empress of Asia, said - | that, on the morning of February 4 s Ihe troopship was in convoy with four [ other transports in Banks Strait, f I which at that time was known as . I “Dive-bomb Alley.” t' Suddenly at breakfast a formation II of Japanese bombers came over and s dropped bombs all round the ship, but ? without effect. On the following day, when the Empress of Asia was within i I sight of Singapore, the Japanese again 1 I came over in force. I One bomb crashed through the ; I decks and exploded in the first-class ’ | saloon, setting it on lire. Desperate > I but futile efforts were made to con,i I trol the fire. - ' Then a second bomb burst just s | astern of the bridge. Speed was di- ; i minished and the ship was soon in a bad way within sight of her destination. Appearance of Yarra The Australian sloop Yarra then came on the scene. “I take off my hat to those Australian sailors,” said Mr. McArthur. “We were at that moment drifting in a minefield, and our ship was ’ ablaze, but that did not deter the commander of the Yarra. “He brought his little ship alongp‘ side our port quarter and made fast . with lines. Troops and members of ' | the crew swarmed over the decks , s into the Yarra. p “By this time the lire was so fierce that the soldiers and crew forward were cut off by a wall of flam*, and all they could do was to take flying leaps into the watei and wait to be picked up. Few of them, however, were injured. “Even while the rescue was going . on the Japanese were still lashing at >-[ us, and the Yarra’s anti-aircraft guns, n meanwhile, were right on the rrzirk. •- They brought, down three bombers to . my knowledge; two fell simultaneously in the sea. * ' “There must have been 2000 of * us on the Yarra, and I heard the commander shout a warning not to move our positions for fear of capsizing the sloop. “We managed to escape the minefield, and the commander stuck to his perilous job till no more men could . be rescued. We crawled into Singar| pore with our ship still blazing in the „ i distance, and all of us were thankfiy s I to be spared to toll the story of the | miraculous escape in nick of